From the left are Berkley Pro-Angler John Hoyer and co-angler Collin Martin. Submitted photo

Forty National Walleye Tour boats headed out onto Lake Erie from Dunkirk Harbor on Wednesday morning to kick off NWT’s Championship. By the end of the day, all 40 pro-anglers and their 40 co-anglers understand why Dunkirk Harbor is known as the Walleye Capital of the Northeast.

Starting in March on the Detroit River, then a month later to the Missouri River, then on to the Mississippi River and finally to Green Bay to qualify for this week’s NWT Championship, pro-anglers are competing for $120,000 in cash and prizes, including a new Ranger Boat-620FS Deep V with a Mercury 250 XL Pro XS.

Many of the pro-anglers have been in town for a week and half, working on finding walleyes on the Massive Lake Erie. NWT anglers are allowed to fish anywhere on Lake Erie and its three states’ waters. “The eastern basin of Lake Erie out of Dunkirk is unfamiliar to most of the field,” said NWT Drake Herd. “Finding fish isn’t going to be that hard. It’s going to be finding the bigger fish it’s going to take to win.”

Ted Takasaki, a 30-year professional walleye angler and Lund pro, praised the championship site. “I am probably one of a handful of anglers that fished the eastern basin on Lake Erie out of Dunkirk Harbor,” he said. “It is no doubt one of the best big-water fisheries in the country.

Dunkirk is long known as the Walleye Capital of Northeast and NWT angler will again prove that this week.” As the morning fog lifted and anglers headed out of the harbor in search of the winning bag of walleyes, conditions were almost perfect for a great day on the water. While some boats headed east, others turned west and a handful headed straight out of the harbor toward the United States/Canada line. With a huge American flag hanging for a Dunkirk Fire truck at the pier greeting anglers, hundreds of folks witnessed one of the most exciting tournament send-offs the Harbor has ever seen. NWT Tournament Director Anthony Wright said the City of Dunkirk has opened their arms for NWT and its anglers.

“Lake Erie never lets us down in regards to the fishery and quality of walleye,” Wright said. “The City of Dunkirk and Mayor Rosas and his team have gone out of their way to make this 2022 NWT Championship special and exciting.”

As early as 1:30 p.m., folks started lining the pier trying to get position to get a good spot to view the live weigh-in. Just before anglers started to pull into the harbor, hundreds of spectators filled the temporary grandstands on the pier and area surrounding the NWT stage. With the weigh-in scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on the NWT stage at the end of the Dunkirk Pier, it was surprising to see a single boat making its way into the harbor long before fishing time was scheduled to end. Once NWT pro John Hoyer and co-angler Collin Martin strolled to the scale with a bag of five walleyes weighing 39.81 pounds, it was not surprising why they came in early.

“We knew we had a good bag with three sisters at 31 inches. We didn’t want to risk any of the fish from dying and getting penalized. That is why we came in early,” John Hoyer said. “We really had to run a short distance and only had to use one tank of gas today. The first fish of the morning was a 31-incher and I knew it was going to be a good day at that point. Now we just keep it all together again tomorrow.”

Walking to the scales with 30.69 pounds was pro angler Gary Maher and co-angler Drake McCarthy to take second place for Day One. Rounding out the top five was third-place team of pro-angler Adam Andersen and co-angler Michael Yarema with 30.03 pounds. Fourth-place honors with 29.56 pounds went to the team of pro-angler Austin Ragotzkie and co-angler Chris Rhinehardt. With 29.97 pounds and taking top five honors was pro-angler Justin Sieverding and co-angler Mike Bigo. Sixth place for Day One went to the team of Craig Sleeman and co-angler Joel Nickle with 28.85 pounds.

Sitting in seventh place is pro-angler Matthew Reber and co-angler Eric Tvedt with 28.63 pounds. Eighth place is pro-angler Bill Shimota and co-angler Mark Janus with 28.29 pounds. Pro-angler Brett King and co-angler Kolebe Ferguson with 28.01 pounds. Rounding out the top 10 on Day One was pro-angler Jason Przekurat and co-angler Kolton Krawiecki with 27.71. All the top-10 teams had five fish limits. In fact, out of 40 teams on Day One all but one had weighed in a limit of five fish, with the top 20 teams weighing in over 25 pounds for five fish limits.

After today’s weigh-in, around 4:15 p.m., NWT will be running a youth fishing event. NWT pros will be working with kids and sharing a few of their tricks and tips during a seminar on the pier. Some of the pros will be giving away product and working with City of Dunkirk, Outdoor Innovations and Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel, and other sponsors will be giving away fishing rods, reels, and gear. This promises to be a great end-of-summer event for local youth and their families.