BAY CITY, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)-Yamaha Pros Brett King and Joe Okada took first and second place during the second event of the 2018 Cabela’s^® National Walleye Tour last Friday, June 15, on Saginaw Bay in Michigan. During the two-day tournament, King brought in 10 walleyes weighing nearly 50 pounds, to capture the win. Okada brought in a two-day total of 49.71 pounds, officially finishing only .12 pounds behind King.

At the conclusion of the day-one weigh-in, King had an inkling that the stars were aligning. He had a productive area to himself, the right bait, and most importantly, the right conditions to make a long run and fish specific rock structure precisely.

King said the reason he chose to venture so far away from Bay City was quality. Other anglers were catching dozens of walleyes, but most were in the 12- to 19-inch range. But even in the best conditions, the run was treacherous and required a fuel stop.

“With the right conditions, I was willing to take the gamble and make the run, knowing I had reliable Yamaha power behind me,” said King. “I put over 400 miles on my new boat during the two tournament days. It’s a daunting thing to think about those runs. Everything has to go perfect, and this time, it did.”

For claiming the second event of the 2018 season, King’s total winning purse was $59,355.

Cambridge, Wis., pro Joe Okada worked the same program as King in generally the same area. The two are friends and practice together on the National Walleye Tour.

“Finishing second is not what I was expecting. I was expecting to take a beating and just hopefully scrounge up some points. I was seriously debating running 60 miles in the other direction,” said Okada. “I’m fine with second; I really am. Brett was the minister at my wedding a couple months ago. For what I put him through and how nervous he was, this is the least I could do to return the favor.”

Yamaha Marine products are marketed throughout the United States and around the world. Yamaha Marine Group, based in Kennesaw, Ga., supports its 2,000 U.S. dealers and boat builders with marketing, training and parts for Yamaha’s full line of products and strives to be the industry leader in reliability, technology and customer service. Yamaha Marine is the only outboard brand to have earned NMMA^®’s C.S.I. Customer Satisfaction Index award every year since its inception. Visit www.yamahaoutboards.com.

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Please see photo of Yamaha Pro Angler Brett King attached