12 Months of Master Angler - Decorated Angler Wins March Contest

Congratulations to Josh Mutchler! His Master Angler burbot action photo was selected as the winner of the March edition of the 12 Months of Master Angler photo contest.

He has won a $1000 gift card to Cabela’s along with a pile of awesome HuntFishMB gear.

Brandon, MB resident Josh Mutchler caught this Master Angler burbot on Cedar Lake out of Cook’s Campground and Cabins. “I was looking forward to this trip all year,” Josh explained. “I needed one more burbot to get my Specialist badge for this species and this is one of the best places to get one. We arrived just in time to squeeze some fishing in that evening and wouldn’t you know it, the very first bite of the trip was a 32.25 inch fish!” The Master Angler benchmark for burbot is 30 inches. A Specialist badge is earned when an angler catches five Master Angler fish in a species category.

Josh shared that he caught the fish in the winning photo with a glow-in-the-dark Northland Buckshot Spoon tipped with a piece of cut bait. “My good buddy and fellow avid Master Angler Thomas Dunn snapped this photo on an iPhone. It was just before 9pm and mostly dark out by then so he lit the shot with his headlamp and the flash off.” They ended up doing very well the entire trip targeting larger female burbot with most of their efforts focused on a 10-15 foot flat with gravel bottom.

Josh is a well-decorated Master Angler having caught qualifying fish in 23 different species categories. He has incredibly earned a Specialist Badge in 17 of those species with Burbot being the latest one added to the growing list. “This open-water season I plan to finish off Freshwater Drum and White Bass. The drum are all about putting time in and getting the big bites. The white bass I’ve missed the big spring runs the last few seasons, but I plan on making sure I get out there when it’s on this year for sure.”

We asked Josh how he planned to spend the $1000 Cabela’s gift card. “I’ve had my mind set on picking up an Aqua-Vu underwater camera for awhile now. But according to my friends, I should also think about buying a flasher unit as I don’t own one. I’ve done alright ice fishing up to this point not using one though so we’ll see.”