The second event of the Cabela’s NWT found pro partner Chris Burns and I heading up to Saginaw Bay on June 8th. On the way up, we concluded the last time we were there was 18 years ago. “Let’s call this our 18 year reunion,” quipped Burnsy. We met Chris’s teammates at the AmericInn and worked together prefishing up to tournament day on the 14th. Victor Wood, Tyler Keiser, and Steve Miller are Burnsy’s pro partners. Chris and I fished together the first four days of practice covering spots on the inner bay. Vic and Tyler tried the outer bay while Steve was all over. We fought the north winds every day until the tournament started. The fishery is healthy with lots of eater size walleyes. We caught the other species in the Bay including a monster catfish! We used a combination of crankbaits–Bandits, Reef Runners, Flicker Shads and Minnows–plus crawler harnesses. We worked at using the Precision Trolling application update showing the depth of your favorite crank with a two ounce snap weight 50 feet behind the lure to get the baits down in deeper water. The team game me Wednesday to rest up before the event. This event found us going almost an hour in a “no wake” zone from the Bay City downtown out to the Bay. We started each day at 6am. My day one partner was Ryan Wall from Minnesota. We pulled number nine Flicker Minnows and had our limit of five by 9:30am so Ryan took me on a long boat ride out past the Charity Islands to deeper, clearer water looking for bigger fish. We only got one upgrade then went back to where we started out day. We had our five but took a two dead fish penalty for a net weight of just under nine pounds. My day two partner was Mike Defibaugh from Ohio. Mike and I fished the first day at Lake Winnebago a month ago. Unlike Thursday’s rough water, we ran Mike’s Ranger 621 straight out to his spot past the Charities. We pulled deep diving Bandits “way out” from the boat off Offshore Planer Boards. We worked well together and had our six in the livewell by noon. We worked to get some upgrades. Mike decided to leave the area around 1:30pm so we could stop along the way several times to check our fish and make sure the livewell was full. We hit the River mouth just before 3pm and were one of the first to weigh just before the first flight due in at 4pm. We had almost 24 pounds, even with a one dead fish penalty! I finished in 21st place and won some gas money. Our good friend from Iowa City, Terry Hora, was crowned the coangler Champion and won $7500. Brett King was the Champion pro and won $59,000! Most of the top weights came from the outer Bay. A special thanks to friend Terry Kubasiak who spent a day prefishing with us along with Terry and Mark Alexander. Troy Walwood from Grand Haven, MI, spent some time in Vic’s boat helping prefish. Please go to the NWT website from the link here on Walleye Wisdom for the tournament coverage from both days and the final results. “This place will have some REALLY good fishing in a few years when the smaller fish grow up,” Burnsy commented on our drive home. Our next NWT event is on Devil’s Lake, ND, July 26-27. The Championship will be a month later on Lake of the Woods out of Baudette, MN. Hope you enjoy the story and pics Mike has posted! Spike
Cabela's National Walleye Trail Report, Saginaw Bay, MI, June 14-15
