…and he found the hawg trough! Sacked up 80.33 lbs (10 fish) over 2 days to take home the ‘dubyah’ and an $86,921 payday:

If you’re wondering how he caught ’em, here’s the short answer:

Lol! Okay now to dive in a bit deeper:

Said he would rip the lipless hard when the bite was strong and slowly pull the rod upwards when the bite was stingy. Used a standard “redfire crawdad” color in dirtier water, and switched back to the custom-painted “purple gold tigre” when it was clear.

I tracked down DH Custom Baits to figure out which lipless we were talkin’ and see what that “purple gold tigre” color was all about. Here’s a look-see at ’em (before the clear coat) along with the overnight package that was zipped Hoyer’s way. #CustomerServiceDialed

Fished both baits on 10-lb Berkley FireLine Ultra 8 Carrier with a 12-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluoro leader. Had the leader tied to a snap and believed it gave the baits a more-erratic fall:

Earned it, dude! Nice guys finish last 1st.

Btw — If you’re not following John Hoyer’s Instagram yet, better get on it! If he’s not in shut-off-the-phone-and-don’t-talk-to-me-pre-fish mode, he’s giving away daily tricks + techniques on his IG stories…for sure worth a click.

Some of my biggest walleyes EVER have been caught on a jigworm…which I believe you kids call Ned Rigs nowadays (lol). Lots were caught on accident while bassin’ in the weeds, but more and more on purpose…. This one here’s a Gull Lake, MN walleye, not Mille Lacs where they eat anything. 😉

True story: In our local walleye league last week, I didn’t have a fish in the boat until 8:45 pm (weigh-in’s at 9 pm). Finally picked up a Ned Rig — which I’d rigged up on purpose — and stuck one on my first cast to a 7-9′ weed flat. Really wish I would’ve busted it out earlier so I coulda maybe got some gas money back that night!

The Ned Rig has become one of the hottest finesse-’em-up bass presentations but really it’s nothing new in the Midwest. I’ve been throwing one for about 15 years now, and the guy that showed me had been using it since the ’70s. The biggest difference imo is that a Ned Rig should technically have a more-buoyant plastic on the back, so it floats up off bottom.

Basically it’s a compact little treat (usually a stickbait) slapped on the back of a mushroom-shaped jighead — believe Gopher Tackle made it first, but lots of options are out there now for jigheads.

One of my favorites is the VMC Finesse Half Moon Jig. Lighter is better, so typically a 3/32- or 1/8-oz is what I tie on first…will occasionally bump up to a 3/16-oz if the wind is rippin’. This one’s paired with a 4″ YUM Dinger with a bit of the head nipped off for a flush-er mount:

Light braid gives you that extra casting distance and feel. Either 8-lb Sufix 832 or NanoBraid, with a 7- or 8-lb fluoro leader. My leader length varies depending on water clarity…no shorter than 4-5′, but up to 12′ long for spooky clear-water fish.

I’m almost always throwing natural colors to mimic craws or perch pecking at the bottom. How to fish it depends on the day…usually for me it’s more of a slow drag with little hops, just creepin’ and crawlin’ that thing along. Seems they usually hit it in the first 10-15 seconds of the bait hitting bottom, so after that I crank up and repeat.

Careful though: Some days it can be tough to keep those brown and green carp off it lol. But I’m an equal-opportunity hooksetter, so bring ’em on. Here’s a few hefty Ned-eaters from the last couple weeks here in the north country:

Came across this pic of Johnson Outdoors’ Tim Price testing a prototype 20′ Minn Kota Talon made outta…steel (lol)?

Okay, not really…but it does look like he has a 15-footer on the back, which is pretty mind-blowing. Minn Kota’s gonna have to stop calling ’em shallow-water anchors, and start calling ’em medium-water anchors….

If you (somehow?!) still haven’t seen/heard of the Minn Kota Talon, it’ll pin you down with the push of a button in 8′, 10′, 12′ or even 15′ depending which model you have. #TalonDown

The newest models added bluetooth to work with: the upgraded remote, new Talon phone app, allows you to do software updates, and link to some Humminbird units. Bonus LED light on the top cap for after-dark missions.

Can get a Tilt Bracket for ’em if you’ve got a low garage door (like I do) or find yourself sneaking under sketchy bridges/culverts to your favorite fishin’ spots. Pretty sure Brian “Bro” Brosdahl only has ’em ‘cuz it makes it easier to explain to visual learners how Talons work, when he gets asked at nearly every gas station stop and boat access — comes with the territory!

I’ve got a 12′ Talon on the back of my rig. Between that and the Spot-Lock on my Minn Kota Ultrex, only reason I ever put an anchor in my boat is if the regs require me to…for instance Canada where I believe you either need to have an anchor or an oar/paddle on board:

Minn Kota does have a deal goin’ on until the end of the month that’ll help ease the $$$ pain…get a $500 mail-in rebate when you buy any two 12′ or 15′ Talon shallow-water anchors. Spendy stuff, but honestly can’t imagine fishin’ without ’em now.

Love the caption on this Jason Mitchell Outdoors FB post:

Try not to chuckle at some of these comments under the original post:

> Kind of like the kid in school that had to wear husky pants.
> It’s got “kankles” for walleyes.
> They’re actually very common…seen thousands of them on every fishing trip…people with no brains that is.

Lol! The comments section also proved that anything is possible when we’re talkin’ strange catches:

One of the stranger ones came from Brandon Hillman who caught a Detroit River walleye with two rows of teeth up top — thing was more “snaky” than any pike I’ve ever caught (real snake on right):