We are thrilled to announce the launch of Outside T/G, a platform dedicated to celebrating the hobbies and interests of our amazing employees, beyond the scope of our T/G Buck Pool. Whether you’re an avid fisherman, a camping enthusiast, a passionate cyclist, a green-thumbed gardener, a dedicated coach, a crafty creator, love to hike, or a softball superstar – we want to hear from you, the sky is the limit!
Outside T/G provides a separate website where you can share your adventures through pictures, podcasts, videos, and more. Our mission is simple: to have fun, get to know each other, deepen our connections, and possibly snag a prize along the way! You can even include your family and our valued customers in the excitement!
Starting today, we invite you to submit your photos or videos to outsidetg@tweetgarot.com. We will even be doing a series of short podcasts! If you’re interested in sharing your stories or adventures just shoot us an email at outsidetg@tweetgarot.com.
To add an extra sprinkle of excitement, we’ll be conducting a monthly prize drawing. Every submission automatically enters you for a chance to win!
Let’s embrace our diverse interests and celebrate the passions that make us who we are! We can’t wait to see what adventures await!
A Bay of Green Bay Legend in the Making – Aug. 15, 2026
Seven AM sharp. Nine boats rumbled to life at the launch on the Bay of Green Bay. The sun was climbing fast, and the water was a bit choppy to start. Seven hours. That’s the window. The kind of day where the walleye either bite like they owe you money or ignore you for seven hours like an ex-partner. Today was going to be interesting. Tweet Garot Mechanical had thrown down the gauntlet. A full tournament. Bragging rights. And most importantly: a massive pile of fish to brag about for the rest of the year.
The Contenders Leave the Dock
Joey Hartjes pulled away from the dock with his co-angler, already pointing toward the deep water with the confidence of someone who’d done this a thousand times. “Six fish,” he said to himself. “Six big ones.”
Two boats back, Justin Beck and Cody Dziekan compared notes with their co-angler, their tackle boxes already organized with the precision you’d expect from BAS guys—everything labeled, everything backed up, everything tested. A year of learning a thing or two from Tyler Knauf and the BAS department had sharpened their edge.
Steve Dickey and Doug Wagner settled into their rhythm with the steady focus of a maintenance crew running through a checklist. Calm. Methodical. No drama.
The rest of the fleet spread out: Zach Leiser, Wyatt Malsin, Tyler Knauf, Arnold Simonar, Leann Claus, and Mike Podnar—each boat a potential upset, each skipper convinced their fish were biting today.
The Bay of Green Bay stretched out before them, 1,400 square miles of walleye territory. Nine boats. One champion. Let’s go.
Weigh-In: The Final Tally
2 PM. Back at the dock. The results spoke for themselves.
Placement
Anglers
Total Length (6 Fish)
1st
Joey Hartjes & Co-angler
164.5″
2nd
Justin Beck, Cody Dziekan & Co-angler
152.5″
3rd
Steve Dickey & Doug Wagner
140.75″
4th
Zach Leiser & Co-angler
109.5″
5th
Wyatt Malsin & Co-angler
97.75″
6th
Tyler Knauf & Co-angler(s)
74.25″
7th
AJ Simonar & Co-angler
55.5″
8th
Leann Claus & Co-angler
24.75″
9th
Mike Podnar & Co-angler
24″
Special Awards: Biggest Walleye of the Day: Joey Hartjes, 29.25″ Smallest Walleye of the Day: Zach Leiser, 11.5″
The Winner Takes it All
Joey Hartjes stood on that dock with a grin that said it all: 164.5 inches. Champion. That six-fish stringer was the measure of his skill, his knowledge of that bay, his ability to find walleye when they didn’t want to be found. It was a 12-inch margin over second place. In tournament fishing, that’s dominance.
But here’s the thing about a 9-boat tournament on the Bay of Green Bay: everybody did something right. Everybody caught fish. Everybody earned their place in the standings.
Back at Tweet Garot
Monday morning rolled around. The trophy hardware gleamed on Joey Hartjes’s desk—silver and blue catching the light, the weight of it settling in nice and hard. Champion. 2026. Bay of Green Bay. Steve Dickey walked by, saw it, and nodded. Last year’s champion passing the torch to this year’s. That’s how it works out on the water. You bring your A-game, you execute, and if you’re better that day—164.5 inches worth of better—the hardware comes home with you.
But here’s what everyone at Tweet Garot already knew by Tuesday: Next year, the competition will be back on the Bay. Word travels fast in a mechanical contracting shop. BAS guys, HVAC technicians, sheet metal fabricators, plumbers—the Tour de Green Bay has a way of making people who’ve never held a fishing rod suddenly interested in learning. Because that’s what the Bay of Green Bay does. It calls to you. Those walleye are out there, waiting, hiding in the structure and the deep water, and somewhere across the company, someone’s thinking: “Next year, that hardware is mine.” The challengers are lining up. The office is already buzzing with talk. New faces will show up at the dock. Proven competitors will refine their strategies. And Joey will wake up next August 15th knowing that everyone else is coming for him.
That’s the beautiful part of a tournament like this. It’s not just about 164.5 inches on a measuring board. It’s about the incredible walleye that the Bay of Green Bay has to offer. It’s about the strategy, the skill, the luck, and the grind. It’s about nine boats on the water, seven hours of focus, and the kind of friendly competition and great comradery at the award ceremony that makes a team better.
Tracking the TG Buck Pool shouldn’t mean digging through old texts or emails or trying to remember the website address. Good news: you can add the TG Buck Pool site straight to your phone’s home screen, so it opens with a single tap — just like an app.
Why Bother? No more searching. Once it’s on your home screen, TG Buck Pool is one tap away. No typing in a web address, no digging through your browser history. Check standings, report your harvest, or see if you’re one of this week’s prize winners the moment you open your phone. Perfect for a quick look before, during, or after a hunt. Looks and feels like an app. It’ll show up with its own icon right alongside your other apps, even though it’s just a website. No app store, no downloads. This isn’t an app you install, it’s a shortcut your phone creates for you. No storage space, no updates, no hassle.
How to Add It We put together a quick step-by-step guide with pictures for iPhone and Android. Just follow the instructions on the document below. Once it’s added, checking the Buck Pool is as easy as checking the weather. Give it a try before the season kicks off in September!
Subject: Save the Date – 2026 Bay of Green Bay Walleye Tournament (8/15/26)
Attention all Anglers,
The 2026 Bay of Green Bay Walleye Fishing Tournament is just around the corner! Save the date of 8/15/26 and join other anglers across all Tweet Garot locations for a chance to take home cash prizes and the 2026 trophy, custom made by the Wrightstown fabrication facility!
This friendly tournament will use the Fish Donkey App, so anglers can fish from any launch they choose. That means you can stay in calmer water if winds pick up on tournament day, making it easier for smaller boats to participate too.
What you need to know:
You may fish the tournament but must have at least one Tweet Garot employee on your team (Up to 3-person teams, 2-person rules).
Measuring boards will be provided for use on the day of the tournament.
Walleye bag counts will be a total of your top 6 biggest fish.
You must follow all local and state fishing and boating regulations.
There is no Team of the Year payout, so feel free to fish one tournament or all of them!
An additional payout will go to the team that lands the shortest walleye.
The smallest walleye must be part of your 6-fish bag limit.
New this year: a bonus payout for the team with the largest non-walleye fish species.
That means catfish, sheepshead, pike, musky, and more all have a chance at taking home a prize!
Award ceremony: Join us at D2’s (530 Larsen Orch Pkwy, Hobart, WI 54155) starting at 4pm for food, beverages, and prizes!
A flier is attached that you can download and hang up for team members who may not have a Tweet Garot email, so they can learn about the tournament and join the fun!
Text or call with any questions: Tanner Weise – (920) 883-5634 Tyler Knauf – (920) 610-0180 Justin Beck – (715) 697-9918 Jim Vitort – (715) 451-8963
This weekends fishing tournament on Lake Wissota was great. We saw a fair number of fish caught.
1st place with 109.35” for 6 walleye Greg “Dauber” Backhaus and Tate Brown 2nd Place with 100.75” was Zach Leiser and Aaron Bravick 3rd place with 83.5” was Justin Beck, Cody Dziekan and CJ Thurner
Largest walleye Dauber and Tate 21.5” Smallest walleye was Dan Cater at 11.5”.
The first ever Marquette TG Walleye Tournament is in the books and it did not disappoint. On May 30th, 7 boats and 17 anglers hit the water for a day that delivered stunning scenery, fierce competition, and what we are pretty confident amounted to hundreds of Walleyes caught. Not a bad way to kick off a tournament tradition.
With a six fish stringer format, every inch mattered and the standings proved it. The top three teams finished within just 1.25 inches of each other, keeping the competition alive from the first cast to the last weigh in. A special shout-out goes to the two boats and four anglers who made the trip all the way up from Wisconsin. That kind of commitment to compete means the world to us, and we hope it was worth every mile.
After a full day on the water, the crews gathered at Jasper Ridge Brewing Company in Ishpeming for pizza, apps, and well earned awards. Congratulations to Team Carter Peterson for taking home both the biggest stringer and the largest Walleye at 22 inches. And hats off to Jim Vitort on Team Justin Beck for landing an absolute gator of a Northern Pike at 37.25 inches. That fish had people talking all night.
🏆 Six Fish Stringer Results
Place
Team
Total Inches
🥇 1st Place
Team Carter Peterson
119.50″
🥈 2nd Place
Team Justin Beck
118.75″
🥉 3rd Place
Team Braden Reinhart
118.25″
Sponsor Thank You
A huge thank you to Standard/Wittock Supply for donating a Milwaukee Impact Set as our door prize. Your generosity made the day even more special. We could not do events like this without partners who show up for the community.
What a fantastic day on the water! On April 25th, twelve teams hit Petenwell Lake for our company fishing tournament. The action was incredible — anglers reeled in over 100 walleyes throughout the day, with more than 42 legal walleyes brought to the net. Tight lines and great camaraderie made for a memorable event all around.
The 2026 tour schedule is now taking shape with four tournament dates currently on the calendar:
Lake Petenwell — April 25, 2026
Deer Lake “Marquette County” — May 30, 2026
Lake Wissota — June 27, 2026
Green Bay — August 15, 2026
Lake Nokomis — September 12, 2026
All tournaments are currently set with a 7:00 AM start time and a 1:00 PM finish time. To help anglers prepare, the boat ramp locations for the W.R., Altoona, and Tomahawk tournaments have also been marked inside the app.
There has been some conversation about adding dates in our new Traverse City and Marquette locations. With May and July still open, there may still be time to organize something. If a representative from either of those locations is interested in helping set up an event, please contact Justin Beck or Jim Vitort.
More updates will be shared as plans continue to develop, but the 2026 tour is officially starting to come together.
For the first year of our photo contest, we’re calling this a big win.
A total of 71 voters participated, each selecting their two favorite photos from this season based on their own perspectives and preferences.
Congratulations to Ryan Sustman, who took 1st place with 9 votes and won a $100 Fleet Farm gift card, courtesy of Chris VanderLogt of Quality Insulators.
We’d also like to recognize Matt Zimdars and Joe Kapla, who finished just behind Ryan with 7 votes each. Great work to all who participated, and thank you to everyone who voted!
The Tweet Garot Walleye Tour is coming back in 2026! Justin Beck, Jim Vitort, and Tanner Weise have been hard at work organizing this year’s tour. Here’s a list of the dates and locations:
Lake Petenwell – Saturday, April 25 Lake Wissota – Saturday, June 27 Green Bay – Saturday, August 15 Lake Nokomis – Saturday, September 12
Here are a few things to know for the 2026 Tour:
$55 entry fee per boat per event
Will use Fish Donkey App
Only one team member is registered on app
Search for TG on the app and join the desired event
Fish are measured in inches
No weight
Everyone will get a measuring board that must be used and returned after the tournament
Starts at 7:00 AM
Ending varies per event
Payouts
Top three 6-fish walleye bags
Longest walleye
Shortest walleye (must be part of 6-fish bag)
2-person teams
At least one member must be a TG employee
No limit to number of persons in boat
Six lines in water max per boat at any time
2-person rule
Any size walleye can be registered through app
Must follow all laws and regulations
For more information text or call:
Justin Beck: 715-697-9918 Jim Vitort: 715-451-8963 Tanner Weise: 920-883-5634
Congrats to Brady Weidman with his buck taken with the bow in in the late season! Brady is a Service Technician out of the Wisconsin Rapids location. Check out his story:
January 4th, 4:00 p.m. Waushara county.
It was a crisp afternoon with some freezing rain. When the quiet broke, the food plot started to come alive. One by one, does filtered out until there were nine of them feeding in front of me. Then he appeared! My hunting partner had crossed paths with this buck more times than we could count this year, but could never quite seal the deal. Now he was standing in my lane. I watched him closely, knowing patience would matter more than anything. When he took that final step and turned just enough to give me a perfect quartering away shot, everything slowed down. I drew, settled my pin, and released. The arrow hit perfect, driving through and stopping in the off side shoulder. The impact was solid and unmistakable. The buck went down right there, expiring within seconds, the heart and lungs completely dismantled. Clean, ethical, and exactly how every bowhunter hopes it ends. As I walked up on him, the season replayed in my mind. The frustration from September, when I hit my target buck but never recovered him, still lingered. That one had weighed on me all year. But standing over this deer, I felt a sense of closure. After a season filled with close calls, hard lessons, and unfinished business, this buck was the perfect ending to the 2025 archery season. A reminder of why patience matters, why persistence pays off, and why we keep coming back!
