Muskie anglers take Ranger Boats World Championship prize

Matt Snyder, Tower and his fishing partner Chris Riebe, Elgin, Illinois are pictured in their brand new 2017 619 Ranger FA boat powered with a Mercury motor.

OCTOBER 24, 2016 — Matt Snyder, Tower and his fishing partner Chris Riebe, Elgin, Illinois, both muskie anglers well known in the Lake Vermilion fishing community, take home the 2016 Professional Muskie Tournament Trail (PMTT) World Championship following their muskie fishing success on Lake Miltona, Minnesota. (Lake Miltona is north of Alexandria, Minnesota.) The pair were contestants in the Ranger Boats World Championship held last weekend, October 22 and 23.

Snyder and Riebe participated in two PMTT events earlier this season to qualify for the tournament held on Lake Miltona. The first brought them to the Eagle River Chain in Wisconsin, back in June, to participate in the Mercury Marine’s Summer Challenge. The second qualifying event they attended was the Musky Hunter Magazine’s Fall Meltdown held in September, on the Madison chain in Wisconsin. The other qualifying event was the Cave Run Lake Vitaminerals Spring Shootdown held in June. The pair was not able to travel to Kentucky for this event.

Matt caught both of the muskies which together earned the team its win. Both fish were taken on Saturday.
According to Snyder, Sunday’s weather was adverse and they did not catch any fish. Other participants found fishing to be poor as well and only one fish was caught on Sunday through the efforts of the entire tournament field. Snyder and Riebe were far and away the winners of the event. The next closest fishing team lagged 105 points behind when all the fish were measured and reported.

Snyders’s first muskie measured 43 and one-half inches and his second a whoppingly fat 51 inch leviathan, estimated to be around 40 pounds. The two impressive fish earned the pair a prize package worth $40,000. Part of the prize package includes a brand new 2017 619 Ranger FA boat powered with a Mercury motor.

When asked how the duo prepared for this tournament Riebe said, “We spent most of our time mapping out, we didn’t do a lot of fishing. We’ve been here since Monday we laid over 300 icons on the lake to mark where the weeds are as they’re dying down and not just fish where the drop offs are on the charts—on the map—it’s pretty inaccurate with where the fish are actually hunkered down and sitting and eating.”

When asked is he is looking forward to the next tournament season Snyder said, “Next year?—this year we fished two of the three events. We did not go to Cave Run. We caught fish in all of the events we fished together so we hope to see everyone back and do it all over again next year.”

Matt Snyder, pictured left, displays his fat 51 inch muskie. the fish weighs in at an estimated 40 pounds. Chris Riebe, Elgin, Illinois, Matt’s fishing partner, is pictured on the right.

Matt displays the first muskie he caught in last weekend’s Ranger Boats World Championship. The fish measured 43 and one-half inches.