National Walleye Tour Championship competitors wait for the 7 a.m. call to start Wednesday morning.

A gorgeous morning greeted anglers Wednesday as the National Walleye Tour Championship began in Dunkirk.

The Dunkirk Pier was bursting with activity very early. Mike Przybycien, deputy director at Dunkirk’s Department of Works, said he arrived at the pier around 4:30 a.m. to set up overhead lights. A few anglers were already waiting in their truck rigs for the 5 a.m. opening of the boat launch, he said.

The majority of the boats were already floating in the harbor by 6:15 a.m., the anglers and co-anglers waiting, joking around and looking over equipment. Several drones flew overhead filming footage as friends and family of competitors, other spectators, and event officials milled around.

The Dunkirk Fire Department showed up with its ladder truck, which was used to hoist the U.S. and Canadian flags when their national anthems were played.

At 6:45 a.m., an announcer began doing time checks every five minutes, ahead of the 7 a.m. start of fishing. He told anglers they have to stay at least 100 yards away from the inner breakwall while they are fishing. However, they are allowed to fish near the outer breakwall, if desired.

At 6:50, the announcer said that scales for weighing fish would be open at 8 a.m. The official weigh-in time is supposed to be 3 p.m. but the announcer said the competitors are welcome to come in early. “It’s totally your call,” he said. Winners are determined by the total weight of the walleye they brought in.

A Christian prayer and the national anthems rang out as 7 a.m. closed in. The announcer offered a moment of silence for Gene Pauszek, longtime OBSERVER fishing columnist, who passed away earlier this year.

However, in a humorous mistake Pauszek would have appreciated, the announcer at first said the moment was for Ryan Hall. That’s the city of Dunkirk’s festivals and events director. Very much alive, Hall stood eight feet from the announcer, looking suitably flustered. He soon went over to correct him and the announcer then said the moment was for Pauszek.

At 7 a.m., the boats started up and headed out to fish. The announcer reminded the anglers, “You can’t win it today but you can lose it today.” The first two days of the three-day event are devoted to knocking a field of 40 down to 10, for a final on Friday.