Hoyer repeats as National Walleye Tour champion on Devils Lake
Sep. 8—DEVILS LAKE — Chalk up another Devils Lake professional walleye tournament win for John Hoyer.
Hoyer, of Wayzata, Minnesota, weighed in 23 pounds, 4 ounces of walleyes on the third and final day Friday, Sept. 8, to win the Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's National Walleye Tour Championship on Devils Lake with a three-day weight of 93 pounds, 6 ounces.
That's an average of more than 6 pounds per fish for the 15 walleyes he weighed in during the tournament. Hoyer, who took home NWT Angler of the Year honors, as well, also won the 2019 NWT Championship on Devils Lake with a three-day weight of 67.73 pounds.
Winning the amateur co-angler division in the NWT Championship was Trinity Schaff of Fargo, Hoyer's partner on the final day of the tournament. Schaff tallied a three-day weight of 78 pounds, 3 ounces.
A total of 41 pros and 41 amateur co-anglers started the tournament, which began Wednesday, Sept. 6, with the top 10 in each category after Thursday's second day competing on the third and final day of the tournament. Grahams Island State Park was tournament headquarters.
In a livestream following his tournament win, Hoyer said he and Schaff didn't have a fish as of about 9:30 Friday morning.
"Then we kind of rolled into a secondary area, and Trinity caught the first one," Hoyer said. "It was just windy and it was so different, but I'm like, 'Throw a crankbait on and throw it up on that shore,' and like five casts, he catches a 4-pounder.
"I'm like, 'Alright, we can't be silly, we're keeping that one.' "
A short time later, Hoyer caught a 3 3/4 -pound walleye he threw back. After another hour with no fish, they caught a 3 1/2 -pounder. They kept that one, Hoyer says, along with another 3 1/2 -pounder.
That gave them two more walleyes to reach their five-fish limit.
"Then we caught like a 5 1/2 -pounder, and the final fish was a 27-incher," Hoyer said.
Catching that last fish, which he had spotted on his forward-sonar electronics, took some serious coaxing. First, Hoyer said, he threw a jig and a crawler at the fish, then a slip bobber and a crawler, then a glide bait.
"Once you get to know your electronics, you understand that if that thing is sitting there floating, basically sleeping, they're like sitting ducks, and I just beared down on it," he said. "I turned, and it was 30 feet in front of the boat just sitting still, and I just took a deep breath, made the perfect cast, watched the bobber, the jig and the crawler ... dropped down to him, and the (fish) whips around and the bobber goes down. It's like childhood memories."
Thanks to a north wind, Hoyer says, the spot that produced a 39-plus-pound catch for him the previous day went cold on Friday.
"(With) that north wind, they were just gone," he said. "They were not in there."
For winning the NWT Championship, Hoyer takes home $30,000 and a $70,000 Nitro walleye boat with a Merc 225 outboard on the back. He also lands a $90,000 Ranger 620 with a Mercury 250 outboard for winning the Angler of the Year title.
Schaff won $6,500 for placing first in the co-angler category.
The whole year fishing the NWT circuit as a co-angler has been an "awesome opportunity," Schaff said.
"It's been a dream of mine for quite awhile and I look forward to coming back next year," he said.
Rounding out the top 10 pros and their three-day weights were as follows:
* Second: Isaac Lakich, Richfield, Wisconsin, 90 pounds, 6 ounces.
* Third: Will Pappenfuss, Shevlin, Minnesota, 79-03.
* Fourth: Josh Wiesner, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 77-11.
* Fifth: Dustin Minke, Walker, Minnesota, 76-10.
* Sixth: Mike Defibaugh, Bellefontaine, Ohio, 75-08.
* Seventh: Max Wilson, Campbellsport, Wisconsin, 74-07.
* Eighth: Matt Schiefelbein, Sobieski, Wisconsin, 72-10.
* Ninth: Eric McQuoid, Kewaunee, Wisconsin, 66-15.
* 10th: Korey Sprengel, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, 54-14.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers and their three-day weights were as follows:
* Second: Paul Selle, Lexington, South Carolina, 77 pounds, 11 ounces.
* Third: Rich Weiss, North Platte, Nebraska, 77-02.
* Fourth: Dillon Gorman, Baraboo, Wisconsin, 77-01.
* Fifth: Kolton Krawiecki, Pillager, Minnesota, 74-07.
* Sixth: Jeremy Bengtson, River Falls, Wisconsin, 72-08.
* Seventh: Jonathan Cieslak, Hartland, Wisconsin, 68-00. Cieslak also was the co-angler Angler of the Year.
* Eighth: Paul Stokes, Stockbridge, Michigan, 67-12.
* Ninth: Thomas Blanchard, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, 66-01.
* 10th: Eric Wesolowski, Pulaski, Wisconsin, 54-06.
For more information on the championship and the NWT, check out the website at
