Andersens sweep NWT, Skags can disintegrate, Big wave trolling tips

Brothers Kent and Adam Andersen just went 1-2 🤯🏆🙌 at the Lake Oahe NWT out of Mobridge, SD!

They took home a combined $97,014 in cash + prizes, but it was also so much bigger than that…. I’m going to pull a few quotes from this National Walleye Tour Insider Report because they said it better than I ever could:

> The Andersen family is revered in tournament walleye circles for their ability to precisely troll and rig deep structure. The late David A. Andersen, a boat control master, was both a gentleman and a fierce competitor, and those qualities are apparent with his sons Kent and Adam. This week at the final regular season event of the 2021 National Walleye Tour season, presented by Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, the Andersen boys made their father proud. While Kent rallied from 9th to win the tournament, older brother Adam finished 2nd and claimed the final spot in the 2021 NWT Championship.

> Lake Oahe is special to the Andersens for several reasons. When Kent was 15, dad allowed him to travel along to the Missouri River impoundment on his first tournament trip. Sadly, the last place Kent saw his father alive was also Oahe, at New Evarts, the same resort the Andersens stayed this week.

> Kent: “With my father being a professional angler, I was always dreaming about this back when I was a kid. I was always telling mom that I was going to be a professional angler when I grew up. I’ve cashed a lot of checks, had a handful of top 10s, but to finally win one, it’s amazing. To do it on Lake Oahe, it’s extra special. The last tournament my dad fished was here back in 2016.”

🙏🙏🙏

Full scoop on how the bros caught ’em here. Few quick details below on this crazy bite:

They were trolling cottonwood trees that topped-out at 45-50′ in 85-100′ of water! Had 2 leadcore rods in the front and 2 with 8-oz snap weights off the back. Ran 12′ leaders of 10-lb Berkley FireLine and trolled at 2.0-2.3 mph.

Said that #9 or #11 Berkley Flicker Minnows were the top producer, but also caught fish on Rapala Jointed Shad Raps and Berkley Flicker Shads. Color was not important:

> Kent: “It was more about putting the bait in front of their face. I could see the fish on my Humminbird. It looked like lights on a Christmas tree. Some trees are in 45′, some 50′ with an occasional high one. I think the fish were keying on that 40-50′ range. That’s where the most active fish were. I knew if I went and trolled the trees for 6 hours, I was nearly certain I was going to get 2 of those big, big bites each day.”

> Adam: “It’s pretty cool to go one and two with my brother. It’s hard to imagine that even happening. We’re kind of beside ourselves. And we get to go fish one more tournament [both bros qualified for the NWT championship on MN’s Otter Tail Lake] which should be a structure tournament, right up our alley. It was a heck of a week for us.”

Absolutely amazing, fellas!!

I’ve also gotta send some huge props 💯 over to my bud Drake Herd who finished 3rd at Oahe – dude has been crushing it this season with 3 top 10s in 4 NWT tourneys. Caught his fish at Oahe running deep points and humps in 30-45′ with a #9 Rapala Jigging Rap. Said he had to use more natural perch colors ‘cuz the fish wouldn’t touch the bright ones. Also said they were casting at specific “fish that looked more aggressive on the [Garmin] LiveScope.” 👊 Congrats dude!

Next the top 40 pros will be headed to the no-entry-fee NWT Championship on MN’s Otter Tail Lake Sept 22-24.

One of the things you should maybe be doing at the ramp to help stop the spread of invasives (but I don’t think is required?) is tilting your motor all the way down and letting any water drain out before launching or leaving – you’d be surprised how much will come out of there.

That’s part of my usual ramp routine, and it ALWAYS freaks me out that I’ll get busy doing other things and forget to trim back up before driving off. Especially if there’s an AIS inspector at the ramp doing a survey…seriously appreciate everything they do [!!!] but the only time I seem to miss a step (forgetting a buckle or strap, the drain plug, or whatnot) is when I get busy talking and out of my “normal process” or rotation that I always do those things in. Can anyone else relate?

This pic posted by JP DeRose on Insta hit me right in those anxious feels:

Yikes! I mean starting to drive off is one thing, but you’d almost have to try to make it from point A to B without feeling or hearing THAT going on. #LetTheSparksFly

Assuming they were either:

A) Heavily-bumping the music,

B) The catalytic converter is somewhere not attached to their tow vehicle, or

C) They were having one of those moments where you don’t even remember the drive home ‘cuz you’re mentally beating yourself up for getting your butt kicked by the fish:

🙋‍♂️ 60% of the time, it happens every time.

And believe it or not, it’s not of a fish….

Dane Heid of DH Custom Baits sees your custom crankbaits and raises you custom-painted Rapala Fillet Knives:

😍 How cool is that?!?!

Lol. Love it or hate it, they straight-up get bit!

This comment from @hookedupwi under Troy’s Instagram post wins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for selling the Ned rig:

> Imagine you found a bait that catches a smallmouth bass almost every single time you put it in front of one, works at any depth and takes very little skill to fish correctly. If you had such a lure, you would probably use that lure all the time, right? Now imagine that same lure is also the toughest SOB you’ve ever seen and you can literally catch 100 fish on one bait without needing to change it out. Amazing? Yes. NOW imagine that this little bait is actually very inexpensive and readily available at almost every single tackle shop in the country. I suppose you are thinking “there is no such bait…it’s not possible…there couldn’t be….”

Dude nailed it! And yup, they work for walleyes too….

Btw if you’re curious what Troy has been up to lately, let’s just say typical Troy Lindner things 😂 like catching a bass from shore…from a boat….

And sticking a mondo, humpback hybrid (green sunfish/pumpkinseed) on a dang VMC Tokyo Rig lol:

Only you, Troy!

NWT pro Korey Sprengel sure does:

Apparently that was only about 1/3 of how many he’d start his day with at the Lake Oahe NWT – was losing a zillion thx to pike and snags. And you wonder why these fellas and fellettes can literally tie knots with their eyes closed!

Here’s Korey talkin’:

> “Slid through the last NWT in 16th. Not a pretty pre-fish for me and I chose to skip the crowds and stay close. I knew going in I was going to have to work hard and boat as many pike as possible to get to the walleyes I was hoping were there.

> “I was fishing pretty shallow (15′ or less) ripping swimbaits with the 3.5” Berkley PowerBait Ripple Shad being best. The pic of my deck is about a 1/3 of what I started each day with between the pike and snags it was part of the game. Each pike bite was just as exciting as the next because the anticipation if it was a pike or a 30-incher was what kept me going. Settled for some 23-24s on day 1 for overs and got that 30″ on day 2.

> “I’m sitting in 6th for the AOY race but more importantly I’m happy I made the championship after the start of the year. Looking forward to Ottertail in Sept!”

Go and get ’em!

1. US/CAN border: Still no clarity on how the rules will change…

…for recreational US boaters and anglers who cross the border on waterways without anchoring or setting foot on Canadian soil.

2. OH: New fish-cleaning facilities planned for Lake Erie.

And say “bye bye” to barrels filled with carcasses…these new state-of-the-art fish cleaning stations “will be outfitted with the Barracuda, a high-speed grinding machine that reduces the entrails, skin and bones to a slurry, and uses a stream of water to continually flush the mess down the sanitary sewer.”

3. Did you know OH does NOT have a state fish? 🤔

They have a state gemstone, state fossil, state prehistoric monument, you name it…BUT lawmakers can’t agree on which fish to name the state fish LOL.

Btw OH is just 1 of 3 states to not have a state fish – IN and IA are the others.

4. MI: No walleye stocking this summer on Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell.

Basically: “Rearing fish is a lot like farming. Some years are good and some years are not.” And 2021 was not-so-good according to the DNR.

5. MN’s northwest region fisheries supervisor, Henry Drewes, is retiring.

After a 35-yr career at the DNR. The highest-ranking state fisheries biologist in the region will finally be getting a little more time to fish – congrats and thanks for all that you’ve done to better fishing in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

6. ON: Fort Frances is launching an online walleye derby…

…with $5K in prizes. Happening Aug 13-22 and costs just $25 to enter ($10 for youth).

7. More Lowrance products standard on White River boats.

Tracker, Nitro, Triton and Ranger Boats.

8. Garmin had another huge Q2.

> Operating income of $371 mil, a 97% increase over the prior year quarter.

Marine was up 66% year over year.

9. Brunswick also had a big Q2.

> …[net sales] up $567 mil from the 2nd quarter of 2020.

> Additionally, versus the 2nd quarter of 2020: Propulsion segment reported a 64% increase in sales…Parts and Accessories segment reported a 42% increase in sales…Boat segment reported an 80% increase in sales….

10. Bass Pro Shops’ debt upgraded.

> S&P Global Ratings upgraded its issuer credit rating on Great Outdoors, the corporate name of Bass Pro Group, to ‘BB-‘ from ‘B+’ as the retailer’s performance “has been resilient with sales and EBITDA growth continuing through the 2nd quarter this year, ahead of our expectations.”

> The rating agency also noted that Great Outdoors, which also owns Cabela’s, is expected to close the nearly $800 mil Sportsman’s Warehouse acquisition later this year, which will bolster its scale in a cash-funded transaction.

> …the company is redeploying about $800 mil of cash to acquire Sportsman’s Warehouse, a chain of about 120 stores. This use of cash bolsters the business but comes with execution risks.

Jon Thelen’s top tips for trolling cranks in BIG wind.

And uff da was she ever rollin’ that day!

“When your girl says she’s not hungry and you come back with fries.”

– That’s the caption under this NPAA post of a walleye getting it’s 2-for-1s on with Walleye Nation Creations Shaky Shads:

Shout-out to Jared Pokrzywinski on sticking his new PB walleye to the tune of 32″ and 12 lbs! Even better: He got it done on game day as that fish helped him win the co-angler side of the NWT on Lake Oahe. 🔥 Congrats dude!

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH