Ambassadors
Mark Courts
Minnesota’s Mark Courts and has been fishing professionally in both bass and walleye tournament circuits since 2000. In the span of nearly 25 years, Courts has had over 35 Top 10 finishes and has placed first in two tournaments. Courts has come to rely on Connect-Ease products over the years to provide reliable, fail-proof, and reliable, clean power to his electronics, whether he’s fishing pro bass tournaments or competing at National Walleye Tournament (NWT) events.
Randy Howell
James Niggemeyer
Mike McClelland
Connect-Ease user and Arkansas-native, Mike McClelland, has won eight tour-level events, amassed 35 Top 10 finishes, 67 top 20 finishes, and more than $2 million in winnings throughout his ongoing career competing in B.A.S.S. and Major League Fishing (MLF) events.
Blake Smith
CONNECT-EASE PRO WALLEYE ANGLERS
Brett King
Hager City, Wisconsin native Brett King learned to fish walleyes as a youth on Mississippi River Pool 3 & 4 and has never looked back. With a pro walleye fishing career that spans nearly 30 years, Brett has notched wins in the NWT, AIM, and FLW professional walleye tournament circuits. In 2019, Brett took NWT Angler of the Year.
Brett started working with Connect-Ease founder, Cal Munkvold, over a decade ago, looking for a better way to rig, manage, and maintain clean power to his trolling motor and sophisticated fish-finding electronics. Brett’s input was invaluable in Cal’s design of GRAPH-POWER to meet and exceed the growing needs of professional tournament anglers. Check out the video here!
Brad Mork
Platte, South Dakota's Brad Mork is a walleye expert, with years logged on the waters of the Missouri River system and Lake Francis Case. He fishes both the MWC and NTC professional walleye circuits besides local tournaments.
Mork runs a 2020 Skeeter WX2060 with a Yamaha 250SHO, Lowrance GHOST 36V trolling motor, and (3) 12" Lowrance units, including Active Target forward-facing sonar. Powering his system, Mork uses (3) Norsk Lithium batteries and (1) Optima all networked with Connect-Ease battery power solutions for both the trolling motor and his electronics.
Mork reports: "I had a drop in voltage and interference that would clutter up the screen of my FF sonar. I knew there had to be a better way, so I went with Connect-Ease. I haven't had any problems since. With the correct wire size along with the tinned wire in a protective covering, dedicated for each graph and Active Target black box, I can get clean power to all my devices for a crystal clear picture for a long day on the water."
Joe Okada
2024 marks Madison, Wisconsin-based Joe Okada's 20th year fishing walleyes professionally. He cut his tournament fishing teeth on the MWC in 2004 -- and cites a 2012 MWC win on Green Bay with his dad as the highpoint of his career.
Since, Okada has notched numerous Top 10 finishes in MWC, AIM, and NWT walleye tournament trail events.
Joe runs a Yar-Craft 210TFX and loves fishing big waters, especially situations where he can cast swimbaits, one of his favorite techniques.
CONNECT-EASE FISHING GUIDES/CHARTER CAPTAINS
Brian "Bro" Brosdahl
Location: Grand Rapids, MN (Red Lake, Winnibigoshish, Lake of the Woods, and hundreds of other open-water and ice fishing lakes)
Web: https://brosguideservice.com/
Phone/E-mail: +218 340 6051
Target Species: Walleye/Perch
John Campbell
Captain John Campbell has fished Lake Okoboji and the Iowa Great Lakes for decades. He knows where the fish are hiding—and how to catch them! Prior to full-time guiding, Campbell fished the highest levels of walleye tournaments for over 25 years, finishing as one of the top anglers of all time.
Retired from a career tournament angling, Campbell enjoys teaching people how to become better anglers. Over the years, he has been a mainstage-featured speaker at outdoors shows in Minneapolis, Chicago, and throughout the Midwest. John has appeared in hundreds of TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines along the way as a true walleye expert.
A typical day on the water with Campbell is a fish-catching experience with walleyes, muskies/pike, bass, bluegills, perch, and crappies. Campbell ensures everyone gets in on the action and personally teaches each client what they need to do to put fish in the boat. For many families, a day in the boat with Campbell is the best day on the water they’ve ever experienced. To book a trip, you can reach Campbell at head_bake@yahoo.com.
Johnnie Candle
Location:
Winter: Carrabelle, FL
Spring/Summer: Devils Lake, ND
Web: https://johnniecandle.com/
Phone: +701 371 9431
Target Species: Walleye, Redfish, Sea Trout
Capt. Clay Shidler
Location:
Crystal River, FL
Web: https://hangemhighsportfishing.com/
Phone: +352 586 2748
Target Species: Inshore - Redfish, Snapper, Sea Trout; Off-Shore - Gag Grouper, Red Grouper, Red Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Hogfish, Cobia, Amberjack, Kingfish, Grunts & Sea Bass
CONNECT-EASE FIELD STAFF
Ty Macheledt
Third generation Otter Tail County, Minnesota fishing guide turned federal agriculture agent, Macheledt works every day from 5 am until 3 pm, then fishing Lake Sakakawea until dark (or when his wife tells him it's suppertime). Lucky to live right on the NW North Dakota reservoir, Macheledt is a very skilled angler whose kept up with the latest in technology and is constantly refining his game through many hours on Sakakawea, the Missouri River System, Fort Peck Reservoir in Montana, Ontario--and occasionally back on Otter Tail Lake.
Although his government work schedule prevents fishing major walleye circuits, the young Macheledt and his father (a fishing guide on Otter Tail Lake in MN) and other partners have placed high in the ND Governor's Cup over the years.
Macheledt runs a 2024 2090 Warrior Tiller, Norsk Lithium Heated-Core Batteries, and a combination of Garmin and Lowrance electronics, including LiveScope, MEGA Live, and MEGA 360 Imaging. He is a great resource for using electronics with walleye-catching techniques; for example, monitoring bottom bouncers in real-time by pointing his tiller-positioned LiveScope behind the boat.
Ty is also a JT Outdoors and Northland Fishing Tackle field staffer, constantly testing new JT rods and Northland baits for numerous walleye techniques -- and offering his feedback to the companies. In his mid-30s, Ty fishes every day and is fond of saying "You can't learn new techniques by sitting on the couch."
Speaking to Connect-Ease products, Macheledt says: "It really removed the intimidation of rigging, especially with all the graphs and live imaging I'm using on my boat. I have a lot of batteries and different makes of graphs and FF sonar, and it took the best in rigging materials to give me the absolute cleanest power possible so I can always see my bait and fish, super bright and crisp."
CONNECT-EASE CERTIFIED RIGGERS/INSTALLERS
Helm Marine, South Dakota
Dan's Southside, Minnesota
The Boat Center, Wisconsin