Tom Huynh Wins the 2024 National Walleye Tour Championship on Lake Huron

Tom came to the NWT weigh in with the biggest bag of the tournament on the final day which was a five fish limit of walleye that weighed 23-12. That limit allowed him to climb up the leaderboard on the final day and take the victory. Day one he was able to catch 16-00 and backed that up with 18-14 on Day 2 before he dropped the biggest limit of the event on the scales on the final day.

Tom was one of the only anglers in the NWT championship field that improved his weight each day on Lake Huron. Many of the best walleye anglers in the world reported a very tough practice and that the bite got tougher for most during the actual tournament. The changing conditions caused the leaderboard to change throughout the event. Tom’s strategy of locking one rod in his hand and the trust he had in his Garmin electronics paid off with the win.  In addition, he stayed in the area he had the most confidence in from practice and it paid off.

“This win I absolutely have to dedicate to Garmin LiveScope, ” said the Minnesota angler. “This has truly been one of the toughest tournaments of the year, and every single fish I landed in the last three days I was looking at my graph.”

Although he primarily used one rod throughout the duration of the tournament, he sealed the deal using crawlers rigged on a 3/8 black jighead.

Anytime I come to the Great Lakes, I am always going to cut my teeth using crawlers and finding the right fish using LiveScope. This week I truly didn’t understand Just how important it is to use that set up here during practice and realized how tough it was going to be. An additional tip that I found that probably added to my success is even during the wind picking up yesterday and today, the fish still reacted to the crawler the same. At times, it seemed like I needed to present the bait closer to the fish, but regardless of it didn’t take long for them to react.”

Tom wanted to thank his sponsors Northland Tackle, Power-Pole, Garmin, Aftco, Daiwa, AquaTraction, and Corwin Toyota for all the do to help him on tour. Additionally, he wants to thank his family for all of the love and support he has while he is on the road and taking care of the business while competing with the NWT.

In total, Tom walks away with $132,069 in cash and prizes which includes a 2024 Ranger 620FS with a Mercury 250 Pro XS and the $500 Garmin Contingency Bonus for having exclusive Garmin electronics and trolling motor.

Second Place goes to Nitro/ Mercury Pro-Angler Evan Rosemore

Nitro/ Mercury Pro-Angler Evan Rosemore was steady the past two days maintained his Day-2 position in the standings and finished the championship event this week in second place. This is Evan’s best finish of his NWT career. For his efforts he walks away with $23,125 which includes the Nitro Rewards Contingency Bonus of $4,000.

“What a magical week here on Lake Huron,” said the Minnesota angler. “Although the fishing turned out way better than expected the highlight for me was fishing with my dad yesterday and today.”

Steven Rosemore, Evan’s dad also finished second place respectfully on the Co-Angler side. The father-and-son combo were paired together after both finishing second on Day-2 of the event.

“That, to me, is one of the most unique things about the NWT experience. Is the fact that this league still has co-anglers and gives guys a chance to come out and fish with the pros. But having dad in the boat was just like fishing in my younger years when I was in diapers.”

Evan reported also catching all of his fish using crawlers rigged on 1/4oz jighead and throwing it with his signature rod from Rosemore Outdoors.

“My practice was terrible, but the key that I found was it seemed going south out of take-off and relating to areas that had sharp breaks from shallow to deep water, and the combination of harder bottom was places the better fish wanted to group up. But honestly my hope after the practice I had was just to catch five each day. Being able to get a Top 5 is honestly a bonus”.

Power-Pole Pro-Angler Jake LaPine finishes in Third

Power-Pole pro angler Jake LaPine also earned his first Top 5 of the 2024 NWT season after weighing a total of 54-07 of Lake Huron walleye and takes home a check worth $17,247.

Jake, an NWT angler from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, said he was the most relaxed and comfortable all week that he has been all season. He reported catching multiple keepers each day fishing crawlers on a Walleye Nations Creations Death Jig style bait.

“Like most of the guys this week, the keep was dialing in my electronics and just staying levelheaded throughout each day of the tournament to catch the fish I needed,” said the Wisconsin Pro-Angler.

I have to give a big shout out to Power-Pole for helping me this week though. I absolutely abused my Power-Pole MOVE trolling motor keeping it on high and never giving it a break. That was the only way I could stay on my fish with the wind on this big water. Additionally, the Power-Pole Paddles attached to my poles was a big help in maintaining boat handling.”

Jake ended his tournament interview by wanting to thank his sponsors Power-Pole, Stuart’s Landscaping, and everyone else that supports him on tour, and especially his family back home.

“Without all those people, I would not be out here. Each day I get to fish I get the chance to make them proud- but now it’s time to get home and focus on deer season.”

Rest of the Top 10:

4.) CRAIG SLEEMAN       VICTOR, NY                     53-14    $18,208

5.) DYLAN NUSSBAUM   ST MARYS, PA.             53-00    $16,368

6.) JAKE CAUGHEY         FARGO, ND                      52-14    $13,979

7.) MAX WILSON             CAMPBELLSPORT, WI     52-13    $13,084

8.) KENT ANDERSEN      AMERY, WI                       51-14    $11,894

9.) HUNTER NITTI           ROSEMOUNT, MN            50-15    $13,300

10.) JUSTIN SCHNEIDER MALONE, WI.               46-04     $10,110

Full final Pro-Angler results can be found here.

Drew Schutz from Pierre, SD wins the Co-Angler side of the 2024 NWT Championship with a total of 56-00 which and takes home $8,750 which includes $1,000in Ranger Cup money for being a qualified Ranger boat owner.

Full final Co-Angler results can be found here.

Ranger/ Mercury Pro-Angler Hunter Nitti is the 2024 Progressive Angler of the Year. He won the tie breaker and ended the season with 957 points and takes home a 2024 Nitro ZV21 powered by a 300 Mercury Verado motor.

A full story on Hunter and his winning season will be published early next week!