GREEN BAY, Wis. – Cameron Lewis may be considered inexperienced according to his tour-level angling résumé. After all, Green Bay was the first Cabela’s National Walleye Tour event he has ever fished. But make no mistake, Lewis is a stick, especially on his home waters. In the past year he’s won several local and regional tournaments on Green Bay. And this week, he proved his prowess on a national level, besting a star-studded field of 129 pros.

 

The last two events Lewis (and his team partner) won were with Rapala Jigging Raps. Naturally, he tried to establish that bite first in practice.

 

“If you can get it dialed in the right way, they bite fast and they don’t move as much,” explained Lewis, the industrial maintenance mechanic by trade. “We tried to establish that, but we could only get little fish going. We could never get the big fish going; we just didn’t have it.”

 

While disappointed, Lewis started the tournament pulling big crankbaits in the mud near the shipping channel. But with only one 26 1/4-incher in his Triton livewell at noon, he left and ran further north along the east shore to a spot located 21 miles from the Green Bay Metro Boat Launch.

 

“Almost right away I boxed a 21-incher. Then I threw a 22-incher back. I caught a 19-incher and threw it in the box. Then all of a sudden, the wind took it to another level and the alewives came in and the walleyes came right behind them. The next three passes resulted in a 29-incher and two others that were big, big fish. Then I was done at 2:16 p.m. We pulled right through them and they fired.”

 

In this tournament, culling was not permitted as anglers could keep six walleyes and then weigh their best five at the end of the day. Early Saturday morning, Lewis knew running further north was the right decision, largely based on the conditions.

 

“The mud bite was awesome before the tournament, but it has been getting hit hard. And today there was not enough wind. Without the wind the bite got a lot tougher. And going up way up north by Chambers (Island) didn’t give you enough fishing time.”

 

Back on his east shore spot, Lewis caught a 28 3/4 early. He then caught a fat 23 1/2-incher, which his co-angler partner, John Mickish, convinced him to keep.

 

“I was waffling. I thought I was going to smoke them today. We discussed it and I kept it, but he put the exclamation point on it.”

 

From there, the bite slowed. In fact, it slowed so much that Lewis switched from trolling with his kicker to his bow-mounted trolling motor.

 

“Then we ripped off a 30-incher a 29 3/4. The next thing you know the wind died and it got tough again.”

 

With so many boats in the area trolling at slower speeds with crawler harnesses, Lewis decided to head just north of the pack. Within 10 minutes he caught a 24-incher, which he placed in his livewell. That was at 1 p.m. and it turned out to be his last fish of the day. Without his co-angler’s sage advice, Lewis would not have brought in a five-fish limit, nor would he have won the tournament.

 

“I knew I wasn’t going to get a lot of fish, but they would be the right fish.”

 

Lewis’ crankbaits were 800 Series Reef Runners. When he was in the mud, he would use flashy, silvery colors. In the sand up north, he would use perch and goby patterns. With his kicker, he would troll at 1.6 to 1.7 mph. With his bow mount, he would travel at 1.4.

 

“What won this for me was pulling them on the bottom. Before I came up to the structure those things were ticking bottom in 27 feet of water and then I’d pound them into the sandy bottom and leave a trail.”

 

The West Bend, Wis., native has grown up around walleye tournaments and has a goal to fish the circuit full time in the near future. While he’s had considerable previous success, this tournament likely solidified his future as a tour-level pro.

 

“A lot of guys have told me that I’m a great fisherman, but I need to do it on a national level. So to do it on this stage against the big dogs is so cool. That’s what it’s all about.”

 

Lewis’ official winning weight was 65.86 pounds and he earned a fully-equipped Ranger 1880 and $15,000, for a total purse of $61,000.

 

Van Oss solidifies second

 

Dave Van Oss entered the third qualifier of the year a bit late, so he knew his practice options were limited. Instead of running all over the sprawling fishery, Van Oss settled down on the Lower Bay. After a mediocre practice, he decided to keep any fish over 23 inches in length as he was averaging approximately 10 bites per day. That plan worked great as his fish came in the right order on day one and he boated a 37.61-pound stringer. On day two however, he was forced to make major adjustments.

 

“The wind switched from a south wind to a northwest wind,” said Van Oss. “I know from history it’s tough to catch them on spinners with a northwest wind. We started with them, but had to switch to pulling No. 9 Flicker Minnows.”

 

With only a 27-incher and a 26-incher in the box at noon, Van Oss decided to keep a 22-inch walleye. Soon after he caught a 26 and his fifth and final fish, a 22 1/2-incher, didn’t come until 2:15 and he was due back at 3 p.m. His day-two weight was 25.81 pounds, giving him a total of 63.42 for the tournament.

 

“It was kind of a struggle today. They were very sporadic and scattered. I think I moved 15 times.”

 

His primary area was in the mud just outside of the Geano’s Reef. Today as he scrambled, he ventured north a bit.  

 

“Looking back on it, I kind of wish I would have pulled cranks more in practice. The majority of my prefishing was with crawler harnesses. But I’m really glad I was at least able to have a crankbait backup.”

 

Van Oss ran his crawler harness program with 1-ounce weights. He was traveling between 1 and 1.2 mph with his baits 30 feet back. For his crankbaits, Van Oss would vary the distance between 60 and 120 feet back. With both baits, he was targeting the 15- to 20-foot range of the water column.

 

“I went into the tournament to win it and it just didn’t work out for me. I’m happy with second place though. These are the best walleye guys in the country.”

 

The Appleton, Wis., native earned $21,000.

 

Steady Gillman rises to third

 

While the Great Lakes produce numerous trophy walleyes, they can also be fickle fisheries as the fish move constantly according to wind and water temperature. John Gillman solved the Green Bay puzzle this week as he caught consistent five-fish limits weighing 32.05 pounds and 31.26 pounds.

 

“I wanted to go up north, but we really didn’t practice up north much,” said Gillman. “We practiced close and we found some fish and they were big. Overall, practice was strong for us.”

 

Gillman fished near the end of the shipping channel, located approximately 10 miles from takeoff. As he does so often, Gillman pulled spinners with 1-ounce inline weights approximately 40 to 45 feet back.

 

“We were fishing in about 26 feet of water and the baits were close to the bottom. Not on the bottom, but very close.”

 

Gillman favored chartreuse beads and either Bugsy Blades or Northland Baitfish Blades (gold and chartreuse).

 

“I think the key was grinding it out and trolling really slow – like .8 to 1 mph. I trolled using my bow-mounted Terrova and a drift sock. I just really stayed in that area. They were not really biting that well, but I knew the caliber of the fish in that area. Today I caught five; yesterday I caught 10. But today I had a 31-incher so that really helped.”

 

Gillman earned $19,235 with Angler’s Advantage money and a Ranger boat bonus.

 

“I’m pleased with third. I think I moved up in the Angler of the Year race and I really want to win that. I love spinner fishing. It’s what I love the most and what I do best.”

 

Navis fourth, Buddie fifth

 

Rounding out the top five are Derek Navis and Ryan Buddie. Navis caught only three fish on day one that weighed 24.35 pounds. On Saturday, he put the heaviest five-fish limit of the entire tournament on the scale. Those walleyes, caught in the Chambers Island area, weighed 38.16 pounds and propelled the Brandon, Wis., native into fourth place.

 

Buddie proved to be consistent as he managed 30-pound stringers both days. On day one, his official weight was 30.67 and today the North Ridgeville, Ohio, pro tallied 31.76 pounds. With a two-day total of 10 fish weighing 62.43 pounds, Buddie finished fifth.

 

 

Rounding out the top 10 pros at the 2015 Cabela’s National Walleye Tour event on Green Bay:

 

6th: Chris Burns of Davenport, Iowa, 60.81

7th: Daniel Woodke of Gillett, Wis., 59.01

8th: Matt Taylor of Penn, N.D., 58.61

9th: Korey Sprengel of Beaver Dam, Wis., 58.28

10th: Ted Takasaki of Sioux Falls, S.D., 57.53

 

Colonel St. Sauver crowned co-angler champion

 

Colonel Scott St. Sauver has a busy full time job as the Post Commander of Camp Ripley for the Minnesota Army National Guard, located near Little Falls, Minn. From time to time, he’ll walleye fish, but when he competes on the NWT he is also spreading an important message.

 

“I’ve been a walleye fisherman my whole life and I love the competition, but I see this as an opportunity to help heal some of our veterans and to be an advocate for them,” said St. Sauver.

 

St. Sauver started the wildly successful Trolling for Troops event, an annual outing where the top guides and pros from the Midwest take disabled veterans and recently deployed soldiers fishing for a day on Mille Lacs Lake or the Mississippi River.

 

“We need to take care of our soldiers and our veterans. We ask these people to do so much for us. If I can do a little bit of healing through fishing, that’s great. Fishing is so therapeutic by nature.”

 

This week on Green Bay, St. Sauver bested the Co-angler Division by over 3 pounds. His total weight for two days was 66.78 pounds. Today his weight for five fish was 38.16 pounds.

 

“Yesterday I fished with Kevin Carstensen. We didn’t get a lot of bites, only eight, but we had some nice fish. So that put us in a good position.

 

“Today, I fished with Derek Navis. Derek asked me if I wanted to make the big run and I said yes, so we went 50 miles up to the Chambers Island area. He told me we weren’t going to get many bites, but the bites would be big. And boy was he right. We had six bites and caught five. Derek is just a phenomenal fisherman; he’s an up and comer.”

 

St. Sauver reflected on his week and his $8,858 victory.

 

“Boy today was fun. The strategy that goes on in these tournaments is fascinating. And of course you always learn. Winning was just unbelievable, but this is not why I do it.”

 

 

The 2015 Cabela’s National Walleye Tour Championship is slated for Sept. 17-19 on Devils Lake in Devils Lake, N.D.