Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail nfp

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Illinois Muskie Tournament Trail nfp

The IMTT is an Illinois Not-For-Profit Corporation set up through the cooperation of existing muskie clubs throughout the state.

In 2026, the IMTT will conduct 6 tournaments on the following lakes: Banner Marsh (Wheel Lake), Lake Heidecke, Fox Chain of Lakes, Evergreen Lake, Lake McMaster, and the IMTT State Championship on Kinkaid Lake. Our mission is to promote interaction and camaraderie among muskie anglers while helping maintain and expand Illinois fisheries. Formed in 2002, the IMTT is unique in that we work as a statewide adjunct to the Illinois Dept of Natural Resources www.dnr.illinois.gov, Illini Muskies Alliance www.illinimuskiesalliance.org, several Muskies Inc. chapters www.muskiesinc.org and independent muskie clubs. The IMTT conducts a tournament trail each year. We are a not-for-profit entity with 33% of each tournament's entry fees combined with 100% of our fundraising efforts being donated to improve the Illinois fisheries, promote the sport of muskie fishing, award scholarships, and donate to our youth program. The IMTT awards an annual scholarship to one or more students majoring in Fisheries Biology or a related field. The IMTT also conducts a Youth Program which allows for reduced entry fees for youth anglers and encourages youngsters to participate in muskie fishing. As such, our tournaments are not just about the fisherman, but also about promoting the sport and improving the fishery for future generations.

10/11/2026

The IMTT hosted its 2026 Fall Classic on Lake McMaster on Saturday, October 10th. The day started out cool with a southeast wind and disappearing clouds. The south to southeast wind and few clouds remained throughout the fishing day.

The muskies decided they wanted to continue their theme of a challenging 2026 season. There were a couple of fish contacted and lost, but ultimately only one fish hit the net, but that fish showed muskie that Lake McMaster is capable producing.

The winning team of Robert Unzicker and Tanner Boyle were awarded all of the prize money from the event with Robert's 48.25" catch. The fish was well deserving of also taking home the Big Fish pot.

The IMTT will close out the 2026 season in just under a month when we hold our 2026 Championship Tournament on Lake Kinkaid on November 7th & 8th. If you have been unable to attend an IMTT event this year, but are interested in fishing at the final event, please send us a message.

10/06/2026

The IMTT will be back on the water this Saturday on Lake McMaster. Please message us if you have any questions.

For anyone attending the State Championship on Lake Kinkaid (Nov. 7th & 8th), to get in on our block of rooms at the Holiday Inn in Murphysboro, you need to book your room by October 15th.

09/28/2026

The IMTT kicked off the second half of the 2026 Trail on Saturday, September 26th on Evergreen Lake near Bloomington. Anglers started the day with a cool morning, a few clouds and a slight northeast breeze. As the day progressed, the clouds and the breeze disappeared and anglers fished under calm conditions with a bright sky. The muskies did not appear to feel very active with those weather conditions and it made for a tough day on the water.

There was one team that was able to register a fish during the event. Their catch was the only registered fish for the tournament, which resulted in a nice payday. The winning team of Gerald Fantin and Jarid Tomnitz were able to land a nice fish (43") into their net when Gerald hooked up around 2:30 in the afternoon. Being the only fish registered, Gerald and Jarid took home the prize money for all three places and Gerald also took home the Big Fish Pot.

The IMTT will return to the water on October 10th, for the Fall Classic on Lake McMaster, before wrapping up the year with our State Championship on Lake Kinkaid the first weekend of November.

09/08/2026

We are now 2.5 weeks away from our first fall tournament on Lake Evergreen and our second tournament of the fall will happen two weeks later on Lake McMaster.

Check out our website: illmuskie.com for information on tournament rules, registration, payouts, etc. Feel free to message us with any questions.

08/24/2026

We are less than 40 days away from returning to the water for the second half of our 2026 Trail. We will be starting our fall events at Lake Evergreen on September 26th.

06/08/2026

On Saturday, June 6th, the IMTT wrapped up the spring portion of the 2026 Trail, hosting the Mike Sule Memorial Tournament on the Fox Chain of Lakes. Anglers fished the day under clear skies, calm winds, and warm air temperatures for the majority of the day, with a few clouds and a little wind showing up near the end of fishing.

The muskie fishing was tough for the day despite a number of other species being caught during the event. Anglers reported a bunch of northern being caught, but there were walleye, catfish, bass, and even a bowfin caught on the day. At the end of the event, there were only three muskies over the 30-inch minimum recorded, with the largest fish (and tournament winner) hitting the net with just 10 minutes to go in the tournament.

1st Place went to the team of Colton Thomas and Marina Riddle with Marina reeling in a beautiful 47" fish. This fish also won Marina the Big Fish Pot for the event.

2nd & 3rd Place were determined based on a time tie-breaker, with 2nd Place landing their fish about 4 hours before 3rd Place.

2nd Place went to the team of Dave & Zach Hebeda with a 30.5" fish that Dave caught within the first hour of fishing.

3rd Place went to the team of Rick Miscinski and Scott Urquart with Scott landing a 30.5" fish in the middle of the fishing day.

We congratulate our winning teams and want to thank Kurt at Musky Tales for always being a very helpful and gracious host.

The IMTT will be off the water until the end of September. When we return in the fall, we will hold events on Lake Evergreen, Lake McMaster, and conclude the year on Lake Kinkaid. We hope those who were unable to join us this spring can come out and join us this fall.

06/01/2026

On Saturday, May 30th, the IMTT hosted its second event of the 2026 trail with the Jake Wolf Memorial Tournament on Prairie Lake at the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area. The anglers fished the day with a decent amount of clouds with some breaks with sunshine. The winds were light to moderate from the east-southeast throughout the day.

The muskies did not appear very ambitious with that east wind. Only one team managed to register a fish during the event. First place went to the team of Q Carlson and Mark Rue with Q landing a 35.25" muskie around 11am. Being the only fish, that gave Q and Mark all of the prize money and Q the Big Fish Pot for the event.

Congratulations to Q and Mark.

The IMTT will be back on the water this coming Saturday, June 6th with our Mike Sule Memorial Tournament on the Fox Chain of Lakes. Participants can register the morning of the event at Musky Tales. Please be registered by 5:30 with fishing starting at 6 with talk off by the Musky Tales ramp. We will provide dinner for participants at Musky Tales after the event with a raffle with tickets for sale. If you have any questions, please reach out.

05/08/2026

We have two events that are now less than a month away. Check out our website for further details or shoot us a message if you have any questions.

04/28/2026

***ANNOUCENMENT***

Due to the risk of Heidecke Lake not being open for our May 30th Jake Wolf Memorial event, the IMTT Board has chosen to change the location for this event to Prairie Lake in the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area. We will hold the tournament from 6am-3pm on Saturday May 30th.

Anyone who is interested in staying at Panther Creek Lodge for the event needs to contact Phil Gutmann to discuss arrangements.

Anyone who has questions about this change, or the new location, please contact us.

04/26/2026

The IMTT kicked off the 2026 season on Saturday, April 25th with our Spring Classic Tournament on Wheel Lake at Banner Marsh. We were happy to s ee several new anglers come out and participate in the event. While being a pretty nice spring day, the post-front conditions with a decent Northeast wind did not make the muskies active.

The muskie action was few and far between with only a few fish seen. There were three fish hooked but two of those did not make it to the net. Only one fish ended up in a net and was the tournament winner. The 39" fish was caught by Steve Krackowiecki around 12:30. Steve and his partner Mike Jacob won the event and collected all of what would have been 1st-3rd prize money. Steve also got to take home the Big Fish pot for the day.

Our next event is schedule for May 30th. We were originally scheduled on Lake Heidecke, but low water conditions have forced us to go ahead change the location for our second event to Prairie Lake. We will be updating our tournament flier and website for that event this week. If anyone has any questions, please contact us.

Address

303 E Center Street
Troy, IL
62294

Website

http://www.illmuskie.com/

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