The National Walleye Tour is happenin’ right now out of Sault Ste. Marie, MI on St. Marys River, and connecting Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The NWT has never been there before and the last pro-am walleye derby happened waaaay back in 2005.

Lets just say the pro’s rigs aren’t the biggest on the water…it’s a good thing that Worldwide Marine boat has good insurance (lol):

These awesome Dustin Samplawski shots also help put things in perspective:

Lot of water to cover — some talked of making 100 miles runs! — yet someone always tracks ’em down. After day 1 that somebody is David Kolb who’s leading with a 5-fish bag of 30.97 lbs:

Caught his day-1 bag with a combination of pitching jigs and ‘crawlers (3 fish), casting Rapala Rippin’ Raps (2 fish) and trolling (1).

Way to grind ’em out, dude! David had a 6.47-lb lead going into today (the final day) but I wouldn’t want this guy nipping at my heels:

That’s ^ fish-head John Hoyer — won the last NWT event outta Marinette, WI — who cast his way into 2nd place with 24.50 lbs:

Sorry…where were we? Oh yeah:

Good luck to ’em! Will follow up with the winning deets in the next Target Walleye email. ‘Til then you can watch the final weigh-in live right here that’s wrapping up now, or smash the refresh button on the live leaderboard.

Boat control is a big deal when it comes to catching more and bigger walleyes, but what if you don’t have all the fancy gadgets (Talons and Humminbirds and Vantages oh my)??? Old-school techniques like drifting can still put a pile of walleyes in the boat, especially if you play the wind right:

Like Joel said, make sure your drifts are lined up over fishy-lookin’ stuff, else you’re just out there for the sun tan:

If the fish are holding tight to a specific spot, that’s when you wanna hit ’em with a hard-bodied jigging bait like a Jigging Rap, Puppet Minnow, Shiver Minnow, etc. But of course they aren’t always grouped up where you can sit on ’em…. Bottom-bouncers are a killer (and super easy) way to search out those mid-summer fish when they’re spread out in smaller pods.

It’s a numbers game and you’re just flat-out gonna put your bait in front of more fish if you’re constantly moving but able to fish at the same time. I’ll cruise around at 2.0-2.5 mph with a Northland Butterfly Blade Super Death Rig until I graph a pod, then back off the speed and drag over ’em.

Awesome thing about those polycarbonate “Butterfly Blades” is you’re able to cover water quickly, but can also slow way down (when necessary) to 0.25 mph and they’ll still spin.

I like running ’em with a 6″ Impulse Nightcrawler ‘cuz they have a nasty-good action when twirling on that Super Death hook. No messing around with re-baiting, keeping ’em alive, or having the proper bedding to take across the Canadian border. #Money

Better look at the setup in this vid:

Do make ’em in harness and single-hook versions too for you live-bait guys/gals.

Picked a random lake and pointed out a handful of spots I’d be itchin’ to check right away. I highlighted the 19-24′ edge ‘cuz on a lot of lakes that’s where the deepest weedline seems to taper off, and pods of fish like to roam.

I’m a sucker for tight breaks on the edge of feeding flats, inside corners ‘cuz fish love to PILE in ’em (play the wind), and slow-tapering points they can slide up and down:

Caught by walleye junky Andy Walsh on Lake of the Woods. His program:

Andy had one of my worst fishin’ nightmares happen the other day…. His Sunday fishin’ trip was cut short thx to an emergency vet visit after his pupdawg Millie (named after Mille Lacs) found out just how sticky-sharp Salmo’s hooks are:

My GSP spends more time in the boat than chasing pheasants, so those pics have me extra-er more paranoid now. Glad it turned out okay, man!