Photo by Craig Robbins Eric McQuoid, National Walleye Tour defending champion, is pictured after spending some time fishing Lake Erie recently.

While the National Walleye Tour Championship doesn’t officially start until 7 a.m. today, many of the NWT Pros have been Dunkirk since last week.

Pre-fishing is an important part of tournament preparation, several anglers atested to recently.

“Getting to a lake such as Lake Erie eastern basin in Dunkirk is very important,” said Drake Herd, BASS Pro Shop Nitro pro.

Eric McQuoid agrees with Herd’s assessment.

“Lake Erie is not going to disappoint,” said McQuoid, the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s pro.

“There’s a lot of fish in the system right now, but there’s a lot of bait too. With the right combination, they are willing to bite. As Angler of the Year, I don’t have to win the tournament, but I must make the third day. If I make the top-10 cut, mathematically they can’t catch me.”

McQuoid reported water temperatures of 73 or 74 degrees, which is warm for such a massive Great Lake.

“With the warmer water, the fish are deeper. It just feels different than a springtime Erie event. With high metabolisms, they’re moving around and feeding heavily,” he said.

McQuoid predicted all 40 pros will have five-fish limits.

“We’re catching some 6- and 7-pounders, but there’s a lot of 4- to 4 1/2-pounders. I think there’s going to be a lot of guys in that 25-pound bracket, and I think 27 pounds a day will get you inside that top-10 cut,” McQuoid said.

McQuoid also reported that there’s a bit more structure on Erie’s Eastern basin. He spent one day sampling it with glide baits but was largely unsuccessful.

“I’m comfortable trolling open-water style, but a structure bite is possible. There’s also the possibility of a spinner bite shallow. You might not get as many bites, but it could be a key to catching bigger fish. That’s what scares me right now,” McQuoid said. “Can you catch the kickers when it counts? Overall, it’s a great walleye fishery. I want to thank the city of Dunkirk. They’ve welcomed us with open arms; this is a fun place to be.”

“There are just so many fish in this system,” Blackfish pro angler Max Wilson added. “At times so far it was really fun, but I’m just not a troller. I can troll, but this is a whole other world of trolling. This extremely deep style of trolling is so much different. It feels more like salmon fishing. It took me about 2 hours before I started to dial it in, then we caught a good number. I first wanted to get a look at a new body of water. Second, I wanted to locate a couple of schools and get a feel for the trolling bite. I didn’t have a crazy weight, but we did that. I’ve got some confidence, and now it’s time to start expanding and building on that.”

Wilson has built a strong reputation as a jigger who deftly utilizes forward-facing sonar.

“I did look at a few pieces of structure, and I will try again eventually. A jigging bite could be had; a lot of that depends on the weather. A lot of that structure is over on the Canadian side, which is a long run. If it’s rough, it’s just not feasible,” Wilson said.

The top prize package in the championship is a Ranger 620FS Deep V Boat with a Mercury 250 XL Pro XS valued at $89,995 as well as $30,000. Second place earns a Ranger 2080MS with a Mercury 250 XL Pro XS valued at $76,995 and $15,000. The top prize for co-anglers is a Ranger VS1882 Angler valued at $44,995 and $6,000.

Anglers will take off each day at 7 a.m. Eastern time from Holiday Harbor at Chadwick Bay Marina, located at 30 Central Ave., Dunkirk. The daily weigh-ins will take place at the Dunkirk Pier, which is located at 2 Central Ave., beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern time. The full field fishes each of the first two days with the top 10 advancing to the third and final day. The winner in each division is determined by the heaviest cumulative weight.

The public is invited to attend the daily weigh-ins, and there will be a children’s fishing clinic after the weigh-in on Aug. 25.