NWT Championship Recap

History of Devils Lake

The final stop of the 2015 NWT was the Championship on Devils Lake in North Dakota. I had never been to Devils Lake and I was not on a team so I had to come up with a plan focused on a few areas. This was easier said than done. I had read about the water rising over the years but I didn't really understand it until I hit the water.

Devils Lake is a glacial lake that has been fluctuating up and down over the last 10,000 years. In 1940 the lake was only 2 feet deep. According to the North Dakota Water Commission Devils Lake covered 43,000 surface acres in 1993. At its peak in 2011 this swelled to 211,000 acres a rise of 46 feet http://www.swc.state.nd.us/4dlink9/4dcgi/GetContentPDF/PB-206/DL_Quick_Facts.pdf. This was evident by the number of roads, trees, bridges, combines, barns and everything in between that is flooded. As you can imagine there are a lot of places for walleyes to hide. For more history of Devils Lake check out this link http://tourism.devilslakend.com/what-to-do/explore-history/the-devils-lake-flood-story/.

Pre-Fishing

I arrived Saturday afternoon and got on the water with my buddy Rich around 3. Expectations were low for the first day we just wanted to get out for a few hours to get a feel for the lake. We started with Jigging Raps and I tied into this monster white bass.

This was a good sign. The reason the walleyes are so fat on Devils Lake is because they are eating white bass and perch both of which are abundant. We caught a bunch of little walleyes and I missed a giant. We pulled up to our next spot, popped my jigging rap a couple of times and bam, Papa John.

Crap, the first legal fish I catch is over 10 pounds on the first day of pre-fishing. It is like winning your first hand in poker. I sent this picture to a friend and he said "you used your big fish card already?" Unfortunately, he was right but it was an awesome fish!

The next few days we spent looking for similar spots. I was just amazed with the never ending back bays. You would see a dozen boats go back into an area and I had no idea where they went or how they got there as my map was showing water to shallow to navigate. I did find an area that had some nice fish in Pelican Lake. We caught 2 nice fish trolling a small stretch that was away from boats. Unfortunately, we could not replicate this later in the week so by tournament day I ruled it out.

Catching fish was not a problem it was finding the right fish that was becoming a challenge. We did find a spot that had a lot of fish in the 18 to 19 inch range which were fun to catch but they weren't going to help me during the tournament. With so much water to cover I decided to change my strategy and fish the lake like a river. I concentrated on the bridges all of which had good current. There were a lot of fish at the bridges with most being small. However, we did catch a couple in the 4-5 pound range. I thought I could get 15-17 pounds at the bridges if everything went well and I would start and finish my day at the Papa John spot. 

Tournament Days

On day 1 I ran to my Papa John spot and had it to myself. Most of the fish we caught were small but we did catch a fat 18 incher that I reluctantly put in the box as you could only keep 8 fish, weighing your best 5. We then ran to the bridges where we must have caught 100 walleyes. Again most were small but we did have our chances. We lost a four plus pounder and I netted the jigging rap rather than the 20 inch walleye that was on the line. It was that kind of day. We were throwing back 18 inchers all day, then the wind really picked up making boat control difficult. I had to box a couple of 16 inchers at the end of the day to fill our limit. This was not the day I had hoped for finishing with 5 walleyes that weighed a disappointing 8-05.

I was pretty much out of the tournament but with Papa John swimming around there was a slight chance a could post a big number. I did the exact same thing on day 2. No Papa John so I headed to the bridges. Things went a little better as we were able to connect on 3 fish over 20 inches and kept 2 18's by 11. I could have stayed there to get a 15-16 pound limit but that wasn't going to help so we spent the rest of the day looking for big fish. That didn't happen and I ended up with 5 that weighed 13.24. That resulted in a finish of 47 out of 77 NWT Results.

Although disappointed it still was a great experience. I was never really on them but I put the best plan I could to give myself a chance. I fished a clean, drama free tournament. There was a lot of drama for the tournament which involved a back hoe, a county road and a flooded lake. I didn't even know it existed but it did explain why some boats were disappearing. This caused quite the ruckus which was amusing. 

All in all it was fun year. I ended the angler of the year race in 33rd place NWT Angler of the Year. It is hard for me to look back and think I should/could have done much better. Oh well, I learned a lot and if I am able to apply those learnings the results will follow! I am looking forward to 2016!

2015 Schedule - Here's My Chance

I have been anxiously waiting for the 2015 fishing season since November, 2008. New Years Day 2015 marked the start of the seventh year with my employer. I love my job and I love that I now get four weeks of vacation! This extra week will allow me to fish all four National Walleye Tour Tournaments along with one of my favorites, the MWL IL River. With gas prices at the lowest level since I began fishing tournaments and a schedule that fits my strengths, my opportunity is now.

MWC IL River - March 20-21

The longest running walleye tournament almost ended after last year's decision to have an artificial bait only tournament. The Spring Valley Walleye Club walked away from the MWC and will be holding the IL River Walleye Classic on the last weekend of March. This has always been the MWC weekend. Thankfully, politics aside, the MWC was able to find support in the community and moved up the tournament a week ensuring the streak will continue.

My partner Shooter and I have been in the hunt to win here three times including last year when we finished 3rd. I couldn't be happier with the week earlier start. The last three years I have been on a great bite the week before the tournament only to see those fish disperse when it counted. If conditions are right they will be there again. Unfortunately, that is a big IF as rapidly changing water conditions are the norm. This river will humble you in a hurry!

NWT Mississippi River Pool 4 - May 7-8

If you call your blog On the River with The Viver you better get excited about this one. I learned how to vertical jig plastics on Pool 4 and it is my favorite destination. I have fished 3 major tournaments here and have cashed two checks. I have had two really good tournament days but I haven't been able to put two really good days back to back. Fish will be in transition and will be difficult to catch in the same areas two days in a row. I am hoping to learn from past failures and have two consistent days. This will be the only NWT tournament that I will be sharing information with another angler. This will be a great help as he is a river rat and one of my fishing mentors.

NWT Leech Lake - June 12-13

Even though I have never fished Leech Lake I am really looking forward to this tournament. Fishing a lake for the first time that has 112,000 surface acres can be a bit overwhelming. This task is even more daunting when you are fishing alone. Fortunately there are resources available like Fishidy that allow me to identify areas that I will target long before I wet a line. If you are not a member of Fishidy I highly recommend becoming a member, it is worth every penny! I will also be reaching out to a few of my friends who have knowledge of Leech. I hope that I can also use what I have learned fishing deep structure on Lake Mendota to catch the "overs" along with some shallow water tactics for the "unders". Leech Lake has a slot limit, no fish can be kept between 20"-26" and only one can be kept over 26" per person.

NWT Green Bay - July 24-25

I have had some of the best fishing days of my life on Green Bay and the worst. Unfortunately, a few of the worst came on tournament days. One of my goals in 2014 was to be competitive on the Bay of Green Bay and I accomplished that at the NWT Bays de Noc. In fact I had a shot at the win sitting third after day 1. I wasn't able to make the adjustments on day 2 but did hold on to cash a check. I learned from that experience and I look forward to applying those learnings in July. We are launching out of Green Bay which should help me. I am assuming that the DNR will put a boundary at 45 miles north of the launch. This would take most of Door County out of play. There is so much structure in Door County that it is difficult for me to cover enough water. In the past I have tried to fish everywhere instead of concentrating on a few areas. 

NWT Championship Devils Lake - September 17-19

The 2015 schedule will finish with the Championship on Devils Lake. I have never fished here or the Missouri River system. From everything I have heard and read this is going to be a blast. Just about every tactic will come into play. I will be fishing this one alone as well and don't have any friends that I can go to for information. I will be leaning on tips, forecasts and marked catches from Fishidy. Once there I will be relying on my past experiences to see if I can come up with a plan that will be a little different.

I can't wait to get my Lund and Mercury Verado on the water. I love the schedule now I have to maximize my opportunity. Follow my season here and on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RoyVivianProWalleyeAngler?ref=hl.