Veteran Walleye Pro Angler Tommy Skarlis and his Partner Kyle Steinfeldt of Iowa did what no other Yankee has ever done… Go down to Alabama and win the Crappie Master National Championship on Lake Grenada!

The tournament is often dominated with expert spider rig fishermen trolling southern crankbaits or minnows. Well Tommy and Kyle broke out the walleye tactics and used planer boards to troll Salmo Hornets to WIN the national championship!

“Yep, the southern boys were shaking their heads with this win,” stated Skarlis, a long time Salmo Pro Staff member. ” they came up to us after the event to say changed the entire crappie game in two days by using walleye tactics to win.”

Skarlis used Hornet #5 and #4 in their six line spread that was allowed to each boat. Tommy knew up-front this lake was known for being a trolling fishery, but the locals all said the fish were too spooky and the trolling bite was off… well that was just what Tommy and Kyle wanted to hear, they put on the planer boards and were the talk of the lake as other contestants could not figure out that on earth those Yankees were doing with those “things” running out each side of the boat. Needless to say the performance of Salmo Hornets played a big part in their victory. Hornets are known as being of the best tracking “small” crankbaits in the world.. so as Tommy would make large sweeping turns while fishing with the planer boards, the hornet never missed a beat, in fact, one of the best fish they took came as the boat was making a turn and the lure picked up speed and at a speed you would not think a crappie would catch but the Hornets track so well at high speeds, they are the truly the ultimate crankbait for the serious trolling for walleye and it appears for crappie as well!

Congrats to Tommy and Kyle for their great victory! You guys do the industry and Salmo Proud!