Will the Lake Erie NWT be won trolling or casting?
|
|
|
The next NWT event is happening Apr 9-10 on Lake Erie out of Monroe, MI. It’s a ton of water to cover and no doubt folks will be catching ‘em a pile of different ways. 🤔 Do you think it’ll be won trolling or casting?
Last time the NWT hit Lake Erie’s Western Basin early in the season like this was Apr 18-19, 2025 out of Port Clinton, OH. Let’s run thru the baits that claimed the top-3 spots....
🥇 John Hoyer with a 2-day total (10 fish) of 69-13
|
|
|
John Hoyer who won ‘er all – the the tune of $116K+ 🤑 – throwing jigs and fluke-style baits.
> “After several days of Small Craft Advisories, the cans area was the cleanest water I could find. There were still prespawners too. I knew I could drive around and find fish, but a pod of big ones was still a needle in a haystack.”
Hoyer drove straight north out of Port Clinton. When he got north of D can, he started to see the greenish water he sought. Slowing his Ranger to 20 mph, he marked three big ones and stopped to investigate, even though he had yet to arrive at his intended destination.
> “They didn’t bite in the morning, but that was normal. They started biting at 11, and it was game on....
Day 2 started calm, but then blew relentlessly out of the northwest. Hoyer again visited the cans, stopping when he observed the right visibility. Never did he travel more than 10 miles from the ramp.
> “It was the same thing. There was some aggression where they would follow the bait, but the bite didn’t really start until 11 or so. It was blowing like crazy, so it was hard to land casts accurately. At times, there were 3-, 4-, and even 5-footers.”
> “Battling those conditions was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in tournament fishing. I learned a lot [that] week. The prespawners were floating west in the undertow – hugging on the bottom out of the current. The prespawners were heading west, and the postspawners were heading east and generally sitting up higher.”
> “It was still a reaction bite, but a reaction bite within a small strike zone. The bites either happened instantly, or they denied it. It’s like you were forcing them to make a decision.”
Hoyer was casting with both 5” Berkley Power Jerk Shads (left) and 4” PowerBait Minnows (right). Both baits were rigged with standard 90-degree ball-head river jigs – 3/8-oz in calmer conditions and 1/2-oz in the wind. His best colors were Smokin Shad, Albino, Magic Man, and Chartreuse Shad. When the sun was out, he would opt for the brighter colors.
|
|
|
> “The deeper fish liked the Smokin Shad with the blueish color. Magic Man was a great color to go back on them with.”
He was throwing them on a 7’ 1” medium, extra-fast action Fenwick World Class with 10-lb Berkley FireLine and a 12-lb Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader.
And if I had to guess, he’s probably already been able to get his hands on that new Berkley Lab Series Minnow we mentioned earlier this week.... Ruh roh!
🥈 Hunter Nitti with a 2-day total (10 fish) of 64-10
|
|
|
> “Even though we’re scoping, every lake is very different. At Erie, they are constantly moving, and there are huge schools. It gets a little crazy. Where I was at, there were a lot of prespawn fish, and the water temperatures were still cold. I think that was the biggest factor. It could be a plastic – it could be a heavier hard bait. They were just reacting to it.”
By tournament time, Nitti had it nailed down to a #7 “perch” color Rapala Jigging Rap, a “legendary perch” color Jigging Rap Magnum, and a CrushCity Freeloader. The best color for the Freeloader was gizzard shad, and it was rigged on either a 1/2-oz or 3/8-oz VMC Hybrid Swimbait Jig.
|
|
|
> “My go-to rod for forward-facing sonar is nothing longer than a 6’ 10”...I can make more accurate casts with a shorter rod. I tend to use a medium-light, fast-action rod...nothing heavier than that. Paired with a 2500-sized reel rigged up with 15-lb Sufix 832 braid and a 14-lb Sufix Advanced Fluorocarbon leader.”
Hunter ventured 11.5 miles north from Port Clinton to an area in between B and C can. At times, he was within sight of Hoyer, although the two never communicated on the water. Nitti said he learned to identify prespawners on his electronics, not simply by size, but also by behavior.
> “All the guys that live out there have been cranking their whole lives. Cranking is what they do, and they know more about cranking than we do. We’ve now brought forward-facing sonar out there, and the change is going to be noticeable.”
🥉 Ryan Buddie with a 2-day total (10 fish) of 64-05
|
|
|
At the time...Lake Erie local Ryan Buddie was surprised, but not stunned to see casting take 1st and 2nd at the trolling capital of the world.
> “I wouldn’t have bet on it, but I thought it could be done. If there was going to be a time, this was going to be it. The Western Basin is fairly shallow, and you can hit those fish with a bait that doesn’t have to fall super fast. But what really surprised me, is that they were able to do it on day 2 in those winds. To hit a moving target in conditions like that is really impressive to say the least. It’s inspiring what they did.”
Buddie considered fishing the same general area as Hoyer and Nitti, but instead opted to head east to Loraine Harbor, which is where the Black River dumps into the lake.
> “I had thought the prespawn thing was kind of a lottery this time of year, so my mentality was finding the thickest postspawn fish, and those are located to the east. I thought I had a chance to win, especially with what the casters faced on day 2.”
The Delta pilot and part-time charter captain traveled 45 miles to reach his area. On day 1, that was no problem. Getting there on day 2 was manageable as well, but he knew getting back would take time.
> “I told myself I would have to leave at noon. That would give me three hours to get back.”
Buddie’s pattern consisted of flatlining crankbaits on day 1, and running snap weights to get deeper on day 2.
> “My best crankbaits were #12 Berkley Hit Sticks, Deep Bandits and #11 Flicker Minnows. I would run two of my rods with firetiger and two with white-based colors. With sun, the white colors were best.”
|
|
|
He was running 7’ 6” medium, moderate-action Fenwick HMGs and old-school Abu Garcia Alphamar LC-16s spooled up with 10-lb Berkley Trilene XT mono.
In addition to bait tweaks, day 2 also required a slight change in location.
> “In general, the bait is attracted to the Black River’s warmer water, and then the walleyes follow suit. It took me a while to find them on day 2. They were in the same general area, but had stacked up where the current from the lake was hitting the break walls. At 10:45, we only had two fish, but we ended up catching a dozen.”
Buddie used a Fish Hawk X2 to monitor his trolling speed.
> “I think one of the huge things was understanding the speed and the current. You can do that by watching your boards, but it’s not precise enough. With the Fish Hawk, you can see the speed that the baits are pulling through the water. My display said I was going between 1.2 and 1.4 mph.”
> “Not only does it tell me the lure speed, but I could also find the key current seems and eddies, which were the ambush points for the walleyes. It was almost like fishing a river over there with all the wind we had funneling water.”
|
|
Dylan Nussbaum's #1 walleye bait anywhere, anytime 💯
|
|
|
Dylan Nussbaum is a PA walleye hammer on the NWT that has made a name for himself with his FFS prowess and his ability to sack up quality fish wherever walleye swim. We hopped on a call and got to talkin’ baits, and he spilled the juice on the bait that he relies most on when he’s chasing walleye, a...
> "Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ and VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig – that's something I've been talking about for probably the past 3 years.
> "I've thrown it at every single event. I will always have it in my boat – it's one of those deals that just works.
> "Whether it's bottom fish, suspended fish, river fish, it doesn't matter. It's just my go-to in any situation. It doesn't matter if it's 37° or 80° water temps.”
|
|
|
Q: What about that bait gives you so much confidence in it?
> "Number one, ElaZtech is so key for a couple different reasons – it's indestructible, [and] it's buoyant.
> "[The buoyancy] is a huge thing for me. Z-Man and I were doing a little bit of underwater footage with it. Pulling that thing across the bottom, when you slack line it, that thing will instantly float straight up like a Ned rig. When you're fishing for bottom fish, that's absolutely key.
> “Even when you're fishing for suspended fish, it just keeps that bait very [horizontal] and very supple in the water. It's just killer. It's a bait you can speed up and slow down to fit pretty much any situation.
> "Along with that, it's salt-infused and scented. In my opinion, I don't think there's a better minnow style bait out there."
|
|
|
Q: What's your go-to size and colors for that bait?
> "The 4" is pretty standard for me across the whole country. A 3.5" is probably my second option, and third would be the new 3".
> "I usually like the smaller baits a lot more – it's a lot easier for them fish to inhale that bait and you get better hookups.
> "For color, #1 for me is 'perfect perch', #2 'bad shad', and #3 is 'pro yellow perch'. That's basically the 3 colors that you need anywhere in the country, any watercolor, any condition.” [pictured from top to bottom]
|
|
|
Q: Is there a reason you lean more on perch colors?
> "It's really just a confidence thing, and 'perfect perch' is a great imitation of a lot of different species."
Q: Why do you prefer that Moon Eye Jig?
> "It's a thin wire hook, which a lot of people are afraid of, but in my opinion, it's one of the best hookups.
> "I catch little walleyes, giant walleyes and I never worry about the hook. And, it has probably one of the best bait keepers on it for a Z-Man. Once you get it up over that bait keeper on that thing, you're not ripping it back off. It's basically superglued on.
> "3/8 oz is my standard. 30 feet [deep] is where I'll start going a little bit heavier – 1/2-oz jigs. If it's really windy, really nasty, they're 30 feet or deeper, I'll even jump up to a 3/4-oz.
> "If I have to jump up to a 3/4-oz, I'll still use a Moon Eye or use a VMC RedLine Series Tungsten Swimabit Jig – it's a lot smaller and gets down there a little bit better.”
|
|
|
Q: Do you work that bait like a traditional jighead minnow?
> "With LiveScope, it's all over the board. I really let the fish tell me what they want. A lot of times, it's way more aggressive. I'm probably one of the most well known guys on tour for being aggressive, like bass style fishing for walleyes.
> "If they're aggressive, I just try to get it away from them even faster...if they're really lethargic, just start slowing everything way down.
Dylan's Jerk ShadZ setup:
> Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ, VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig, 10' leader of 10-lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon, Sufix 832 braid mainline, 2000 size spinning reel (smaller reel balances smaller rod more), 6' 8" MF discontinued Kast King spinning rod.
|
|
First look at the new Garmin and Lowrance stuff 👀
|
|
|
Few of us from the Target Walleye, BassBlaster, and Target Crappie fam got on-the-water demos of the new Lowrance Live 360 and the new Garmin 360 + SpyPole. Few notes before we dive in:
- Below are our combined impressions.
- We all know Humminbird, some Garmin LiveScope, and a little Lowrance.
- There was A BUNCH to absorb and keep straight – 2 different brands, 2 similar concepts but very different tech. Definitely easier to learn if you are real familiar with one brand. Apologies if we get anything wrong or leave something out.
- There's only so much space here – so this is not everything, and might not even be what's most important to you.
- The pros don't even have this stuff, or have barely had it, so they don't have a lot to say about it yet.
Garmin
|
|
|
A few quick deets from BassBlaster on Garmin's new Spy Pole – a turret system that links up with your Garmin graphs, the touch-screen models:
- SpyLink – Anchor lock and then independent control of LiveScope. Move Scope with the toller foot pedal while locked.
- SpyLock – Lock on a waypoint with FFS – If you see a fish and need to slow down or turn, can you lock onto that target, reposition the boat and never lose the target? If so, that's huge. (We don't know the answer – thought about it after we got off the water.)
- SpyScan – Scope scans back and forth automatically on manually a set range
- True Motion Technology – You can make a 360 scan and drive onto or around that 360 map. It stores about 1 football field of data. Maybe more of a bass thing, but if you wanna keep track of certain targets....
That means you can capture your 360 scan instead of it constantly refreshing. Like Humminbird, Garmin 360 makes 1 revolution or you can set a certain scan range if you just want a piece of the pie.
- You need a Force troller to make this all work, plus the new SpyPole and new GT360 tranny. It will work with the Kraken troller, but won't mount on it.
- It comes with a "gesture remote" you can put on your rod or a lanyard to control some things with.
The coolest deal?
For me, at least – this new overlay if you have the GT360 and an LVS34. Kinda a tie-in between seeing all that stuff working together – you know exactly where your FFS is pointing and what's there:
|
|
|
Lowrance
Lowrance gets Live 360 from 2 180 ActiveTarget XL transducers.
Coolest thing we saw in the demo was the ability to have Live 180/Scout and the regular/Forward FFS view on 1 screen. And in our demo we saw zero interference:
|
|
|
No interference because of what the Lowrance folks call Ping Sync – precisely timed sonar pings when paired...for that reason.
I've said it once and I'll say it again: I think live Perspective view is one of the most underutilized things in fishing. Btw if’s not only for shallow water...if you have it set right, you can see suspended fish on it.
Few notes:
- No tools to switch the transducer angle = big. If you’re going to make something multi-purpose, it has to be ultra-easy to switch between the purposes.
- The XL tranny apparently uses a different frequency, so fish and I think baits look a little smaller. Something to know and get used to.
More info
A bunch of good, short videos are on Lowrance YT.
|
|
The Revolution Sonar FFS Aiming System is wild! 🤯
|
|
|
Quick rundown on what the Revolution Sonar is – a motorized electronic module for your FFS 'ducer that mounts to your trolling motor shaft, controlled by its own foot pedal, that can turn independently or in sync with your trolling motor steering.
Here's a 15-minute YT vid from BassBlaster where the owner, Ron Bird, runs through just about everything. If you're a FFS guy or just a tech and machining guy, definitely worth watching it all.
|
|
Sneaky MN panfish loophole? 🕵️♂️
|
|
|
If someone would have bet me $1,000,000 that they could legally use this rig in Minnesota, I probably would have said “yeah right, I wish!” and taken that bet.
|
|
|
* Illustration by Peter Sucheski
That graphic is from an awesome Scott Mackenthun write-up in Game & Fish called Under the Ice: Drop-Shot Rigging for Pressured Panfish.
It’s not that I don’t trust Scott (he’s a GREAT and incredibly knowledgeable dude) but you just obviously can’t believe everything you read on the internet...whether folks are purposely being deceitful, they’re just flat-out uninformed, or maybe not conveying their message in a way others can understand.
To be safe, I did a little digging thru the 2026 MN Fishing Regulations (100-page PDF) and sure enough I found this listed on page 37:
> MN DNR: “Up to 3 artificial flies are allowed on 1 fishing line with no restrictions on distance between flies when fishing for bass, crappie, rock bass, sunfish, or trout.”
Well I’ll be danged! 🫠 Learn something new every day!
Bummer it can’t be used for icing jumbo perch, or cold-water walleye, but still wild to me that it’s even an option for any species LOL.
Few excerpts from the Game & Fish write-up below:
> While most ice-anglers aggressively fish baited jigs beneath flashers, a drop-shot’s subtle presentation can trigger bites from wary panfish. Lindy pro-staffer Bob Bohland [RIP man 😔🙏] realized this roughly 15 yrs ago at a North American Ice Fishing Circuit event at Chisago Lakes in MN. He and his fishing partner had noticed that many of the bigger bluegills and green sunfish were glued to shallow weeds and becoming really picky. Fish were quite spooky, too – the result of anglers running and gunning all over the place. They were also keying on small forage – refusing anything larger than a size-16 fly – however, these dainty offerings were taking too long to reach the proper depth.
> It was then that Bohland began piecing together a solution. Could he simply tie up a few Palomar knots, add a drop-shot weight and a few small flies, drop the rig down and coax these fish out of the weeds? It took a little research on the legality of such a technique, but he eventually got clarity – Minnesota allows the use of up to three flies on a fly rig, including those fished through the ice. Bohland took it a step further and tipped the flies with plastics and live bait. His newfound technique produced phenomenal results.
> “As we found out, we could sit in one hole and watch these fish, give subtle motions to our flies we were putting down there and make the fish commit. It really was eye-opening.
> “Discovering he could fish flies with live baits or plastics also freed Bohland up to experiment with colors and plastic body styles. And with today's many hand-poured and production plastics – including mayfly larvae, caddisflies and stoneflies – designed with precise details of segmentation and appendages, he had ample options.”
How cool is that?!
So obviously I had to get out and do some playing with it 😏 eve caught a few in the meantime. Hope you enjoy the video!
|
|
|
Well, this is awkward.... 🫠
|
|
|
Guide Jason Groll is already doing BIG Rainy River things up on the MN/CAN border.... 👀 He said the city came in and opened up the Birchadale access just yesterday – wich I was baja'ing north!
|
|
|
Have a great weekend, Target Walleye fam! 👊 And don't forget to re-spool those long rods – it's coming to a hookset near you....
|
|
|
Sign up another fish-head!
If you're forwarding Target Walleye to a friend who loves to walleye fish or want your fishing buddies to get these emails, just send us their email addresses and we'll take care of it! (We won't sell the addresses, use them for spam, etc.)
|
|
|
FRIENDS OF TARGET WALLEYE
|
|
|
Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jay Kumar, Chris Philen, Brett McComas and other diehard fish-heads like you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye He was discovered in Brainerd, MN after years of wondering how in the heck people break into the fishing biz. He's in it now, but still can't answer that question.... Brett is one of those guys who majored in marketing, only because there was no such thing as a "fishing degree" at the time.... Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com
|
|
|
|
|
