Meet our Pro-TEAM
Captain Chris Granrud
Rainydaze Guide Service
Chris Granrud and his wife Kelly are the owners of the widely popular Rainydaze Guide Service in International Falls, Mn. Their guide team services both Rainy lake and the mighty Rainy River. When Chris is not guiding with customers, he can be both seen and heard giving seminars across the Midwest; publishing outdoor articles; appearing on television episodes; working sports shows; or communicating with other anglers on his various social media platforms. Chris is a tireless ambassador for the sport of fishing and has been a full-time fishing guide and fishing personality for the last 15 years.
Follow Chris and his team of fishing guides on their facebook page at Rainydaze Guide Service.
Chris is a proud pro staff member of Clam Outdoors, Vexilar Inc, Skeeter boats, and JT Outdoor Products
be sure to check out his website at www.rainydazeoutdoors.com
Cell phone: 218-290-6102
Email: mr_rainy1@yahoo.com
Ted Takasaki
A Hall of Fame Legendary Angler, Ted is one of the top competitors on the FLW Walleye Tour and the Professional Walleye Trail. Ted won the prestigious PWT Classic Championship in 1998 and the 1995 PWT Top Gun Angler Award. In 2002, he smashed the all time, one day PWT tournament record with limit of 5 walleyes that weighed 53.2 pounds!
From 1999 to 2008, Ted was the President of Lindy Fishing Tackle, one of the nation’s largest freshwater fishing tackle manufacturers. During that time, the company doubled revenue and quadrupled profit under his leadership.
He was also a part of the Master’s Walleye Circuit (MWC) Team of the Year in 1991. His credentials include qualifying for the MWC Championship 5 times, the PWT Classic 11 times, and have made it to FLW Walleye Tour Classic 7 times, with several top tens to his credit.
In addition, Ted was a part of the team that won the coveted 1993 Mercury National Tournament held on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin. He has been featured in many national outdoor magazines, has conducted hundreds of walleye seminars across the Midwest, hosted numerous TV shows, and is considered one of America’s leading walleye experts.
Keith Kavajecz
Keith Kavajecz, of Deerbrook WI, is a professional walleye fisherman, specializing in tournament fishing, saltwater fishing and walleye fishing promotions. Keith is a “Legendary Angler” inductee into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and a past co-host of the popular The Next Bite TV show
Over $1,000,000 In Career Winnings
Kavajecz has been featured in publications including In-Fisherman, North American Fisherman, Walleye Insider, Fishing Facts, Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, Sports Afield, and Bass & Walleye Boats to name a few. He is a book author, is featured on several walleye videos.
Keith is a top ranked pro and product consultant for Tracker/Nitro Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Mercury Outboards, Berkley Soft Baits, Berkley Lines, Berkley Hard Baits, Berkley Fusion 19, Off Shore Tackle, Power-Pole, Moonshine Lures Shiver Minnows, EGO Nets, Clam Ice Fishing, JT Outdoor Products, G2 Gemini, AIM Anglers Insight Marketing, RLVNT Sunglasses, PowrTran Kicker Steering System, Blackfish Outdoor Clothing, Dakota Lithium Batteries, Lowrance Electronics and Kavajecz Tile and Stone.
Captain Donnie Obert
Lifetime Pike and Musky Angler. Started walleye fishing in 2017. Took a huge leap of faith and started guiding full time in the spring of 2018. Have been a full time Multi-Species Guide on Rainy Lake/Rainy River since! I spend about 75% of my guide trips chasing walleyes with the other 25% split between crappies, pike, bass and sturgeon. My favorite thing about guiding is the look on a clients face when they “get it” when they understand the situation, and the presentation and they start to smash Hooksets with confidence!
Brett King
Brett King is from Hager City, WI and has been fishing tournaments for over 25 years! Being a highly accomplished tournament fisherman, Brett has some pretty impressive wins under his belt including wins in the NWT, AIM Walleye Series, and FLW tour. In addition, Brett took the NWT Angler of the Year title in 2018. When Brett is not fishing walleye tournaments, he is spending time with his family and he is also an avid hunter and ice fisherman. Brett’s son is following in this dad’s footsteps of tournament angling where he presently fishes for bass at the collegiate level. Brett also attends many boat shows in the off season. Brett’s home body of water is the Mississippi River which he says is also his favorite body of water to fish. He says he mainly fishes Pool 3 and Pool 4. Brett says that his favorite technique to fish walleyes is using plastics, both casting and vertical fishing. Capt. Ross Robertson has made his complete living chasing walleye as a full time professional angler for more than 20 years. Through the years he has worn many hats including time as a fishing guide, boat salesman, TV host, outdoor writer, product designer, tournament fisherman, speaker, radio host and podcaster to name a few. Ross fishes ice-out to ice-up on the Great Lakes. He spends the majority of the year walleye fishing on Lake Erie’s Western and Central basins.
Mike Tietjen
Mike is a fishing enthusiast and influencer residing in Brookings, SD. Although Mike enjoys fishing anywhere that fish swim, The Prairie Lakes Region of Eastern South Dakota is where you will most likely find him throughout the course of the year. Mike is a multi specie fanatic when it comes to fishing. Understanding a particular species of fish, the seasons and presentations always makes fishing a learning experience to him. You can catch Mike in action on a variety of outdoor television shows, social media and youtube. Mike’s Minute is the name of his Social Media (Facebook) and YouTube platforms! The concept of Mike’s Minute is to educate and entertain in a minute or less! Check it out!
Mike has many fishing buddies, but his favorite is his wife, Tina. She’s been known to “outfish” Mike on more than one occasion! Mike also has three son’s: Matthew (25)(Mike’s Business Parter at American Family Insurance), Jaxon (20) and Logan (17). The Boys give Mike much joy in this life.
Mike joined the JT Outdoor Products Family in 2019 and hasn’t looked back. He has vast knowledge of the product line and is a true believer in “Technique Specific Rods”. You can always find him at Seasonal Outdoor Shows at the JT Outdoor Product Booth visiting with other fishing enthusiast! In fact, Mike LOVES JT OUTDOOR PRODUCTS so much that he decided to open a JT OUTDOORS PRO SHOP in Brookings, SD! The store opened in 2020 and has been an incredible success. The store offers an opportunity to educate the consumer and provide the latest and greatest of JT Outdoor Products. The Pro Shop also offers many other products that the angler will find useful with their passion.
Joe Okada
Joe Okada has been fishing professionally since 2008 and has earned multiple top-5 AOY finishes in FLW, AIM, H2H and NWT tours with a couple wins along the way. He spent 20 years guiding on Lake Michigan, Green Bay and inland waters around WI. Joe loves the preparation and tinkering aspects of fishing. Working with JT on unique and technique-specific rods over the past few years to complement continuously evolving strategies have been a rewarding partnership on and off the water.
Matt Gutchess
Matt has been captivated by fish of all species and the waters they call home since his earliest childhood memories. A hobby to start as a boy, turned into a passionate career upon returning home from the US Army in 1994. Years of guiding and chartering have given way to content creation and teaching thousands about the joy and satisfaction of a fishing life. Matt’s message of positivity resonates deeply with all his YouTube viewers on The Awakening Angler Channel. His passion and perspective have built a dedicated core that grows every day. Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, Trout & Salmon, Perch, Panfish, and even a Catfish or Carp occasionally, from all over my home state of New York and beyond. This year Matt has branched out and has created WalleyeFest which is a 2 day Walleye fishing derby on Oneida Lake along with an accompanying 3 day festival. Matt is creating the largest fishing event in NY.
“Keep ur tip up”
SOCIAL MEDIA:
YT: THE AWAKENING ANGLER
IG: the_awakening_angler
FB: @theawakeningangler
Randy Topper
I am a fishing guide and co-founder of Hang Loose Outdoors. I grew up on Pokegama Lake in Grand Rapids Minnesota. My whole life I dreamed of being a fishing guide and chasing trophies at every tournament available. The path I chose in life delayed this process a bit but here I am living my dream. I knew before I could live my dream I needed to establish myself. After high school I went straight to work obtaining my Associates degree in forestry. After I achieved my AAS degree, I wanted to see the world so I joined the Army. The Army taught me many things about life and helped me pay for my next college degree. The next few years I worked on earning my Bachelors in Natural Resource Management and with a few active duty hiccups from Uncle Sam, I achieved. Over the years I’ve done many guide trips and fish on average 8-10 walleye tournaments a year. I love tweaking small details and putting the pieces of the puzzle together. I’ve been with JT from the ground floor to where it is now and couldn’t be more proud. We’ve managed to secure numerous top 10’s these past 5 years and I truly believe its because of these technique specific rods. I’m excited to see where this team takes us.
Dylan Maki
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to become part of Hang Loose Outdoors, in Grand Rapids MN, about two years ago. Since then, I’ve taken the fishing to a more competitive level. I have competed in a few Cabela’s MWC events, a few AIM tournaments, and a few other smaller tournaments. Between the pre-fishing, camping, talking about fishing, and the actual tournament, it is my favorite time of the year. I have also started guiding under HLO and I’m having a lot of fun relaying knowledge and good times with people that don’t get on the water as much as I do, especially when I get the opportunity to take a kid fishing. I currently bought my first house in Cohasset but I’m hardly there because I’m usually fishing!
Tyler Wolden
I rely heavily on having the best gear in the industry and JT Rods have been a huge factor to my success. But also with fishing up to 10 different tournaments a year the most important thing is the support at home. I have an amazing wife Cate who holds down the fort while I’m away. We have two amazing kids, Tirstan and Josie.
Colt Anderson
Fishing guide and outdoor writer/field staff for Hang Loose Outdoors
Jarrid Houston
Owns and operates Houston’s Guide Service.
Jarrid is a professional fishing guide, promoter, and educator for the sport of fishing. Jarrid specializes in fishing the prestigious waters of Lake Superior and the St Louis River, as well as other areas of the Duluth/Superior and NW Wisconsin areas. Jarrid also hosts a number of seminars at sports shows and writes field reports for a number of media outlets including Visit Duluth, Outdoors Wisconsin Fun and Explore Minnesota.
Corey Jahn
Born in Grand Rapids, MN I spent most of my time fishing Lake Winnibigoshish and spending time at the family cabin. At the age of 12 my dad got me a little boat with a 25hp and I would take friends out on the big opener. Growing up playing sports it took a lot of time away from fishing and after college I missed the competition. Dad and I entered our first tournament in 2009. Fished a few that year and needless to say I was hooked! At heart I am a rig and jig fisherman but with fishing many different lakes I spend a lot of time trolling leadcore, pulling bottom bouncers and inline weights. Tournaments I fish are the Minnesota Tournament Trail, Leech Lake Classic, GRAHA Walleye Shoutout and AIM. Dad and I have many top 5 and 10 finishes over the years and have claimed father/son team of the year 3 of the last 4 years in the MTT circuit. Along with father/son title we have finished in the top 5 team of the year race the last 4 seasons. Beyond tournament fishing I truly believe in giving back to the sport by donating guide trips to events and taking people out and showing them a great time. FISH ON!
Brock Anderson
Brock Anderson co-founder/operator of Hang Loose Outdoors/Hang Loose Guide Service (www.hanglooseoutdoors.com)
Everyone has a bad habit or two or ten. I have several. The worst of my so called bad habits has something to do with tossing the to-do list in the garbage and heading out fishing. I’m addicted to fishing and it’s taken over my life!
I grew up in Northern Minnesota. My father hooked me on the outdoors at a very young age and that’s all it took.
Today, I spend every second of free time on the water sharing my passion of fishing with others. I am a part time fishing guide in the Grand Rapids, MN area. As co-founder and operator of Hang Loose Outdoors, I believe we have the best group of young guides that make every outing a fun and exciting one.
When not guiding, I enjoy tournament fishing. Nothing increases a fisherman’s knowledge and skills like tournament fishing. It’s crazy what you learn and what you’ll keep secret for one extra bite!
When the competition is not around, there’s not much I will hide. I enjoy educating the public on anything outdoors. I will tell you what works and what products help me be successful. Educating, promoting, and creating smiles in the boat makes up for all the early mornings, sleepless nights, and finding the to-do list back on the counter every time. Yes, I have an awesome and understanding wife too.
Mike Peluso
http://mikepelusooutdoors.com
Captain Clark Baldwin
Operates Woody’s Walleye Service & pool4andmorewalleyeguides.com. I have fished walleyes for 55 years with most of my time spent on the pools of the Upper Mississippi River near Red Wing Minnesota. I spend about 150 days a year on the water with clients in just fishing for fun. Our company primarily guides on pools 3 through 7 on the Mississippi but also specialize in trophy walleye Adventures in Green Bay, Oconto, and Peshtigo Wisconsin. I started using JT Outdoor Product rods 5 years ago long before I joined the staff. In my opinion these are the best multi-specie rods on the market.
Menomonie Wisconsin is where I call home. I retired this year and I’m going to be guiding full time. My passion is educating people on walleye fishing and helping them create a memory that will last a long time.