National Walleye Tour pro walleye anglers Duane Hjelm, Kevin McQuoid, Dylan Nussbaum, Austin Tomasek and Mark Courts are leading the pack in the high-stakes Progressive Angler of the Year race going into the Dunkirk event set for today and tomorrow. Submitted photo

With a thermal upwelling in Lake Erie earlier this week, the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s National Walleye Tour, presented by Progressive, is on action today and tomorrow in Dunkirk, with professional walleye anglers fishing Lake Erie for Stop #4 of the 2025 season’ I talked with several of the NWT pros for breakfast yesterday, the anglers are looking forward to big bites!

Hosted by the City of Dunkirk, this event marks the final qualifying stop before the Championship (the top 40 anglers will compete for that), and with Angler of the Year points and big payouts on the line, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Anglers will launch from Dunkirk City Pier today and tomorrow with exciting weigh-ins taking place each afternoon. The field will be stacked with top-tier pros and co-anglers all on the hunt for big payouts. The Champion will go home with a brand-new Ranger 620FS rigged with a Mercury ProXS and Garmin electronics.

The current Angler of the Year leader, Duane Hjelm, is looking forward to the event.

“I try not to think about Angler of the Year too much, honestly,” Hjelm said. “I just go into each tournament with the mindset of trying to win. The National Walleye Tour (NWT) has fished from Dunkirk before, but this time, things will be different. Unlike previous events, this year we’re limited to fishing only in New York waters, and there’s no culling allowed. That change in the rules could definitely shake things up.”

Hjelm added, “One thing is for sure: it’s shaping up to be a great event. Expect to see plenty of limits filled with beautiful Lake Erie walleyes.”

Hjelm fishes from a Ranger boat with a Mercury outboard and uses a Garmin LiveScope forward-facing-sonar (FFS) unit to help me stay dialed in on active fish. Helm added, “I’ll have Rapala Jigging Raps tied on.” Local angler Dylan Nussbaum from nearby St. Mary’s, PA, is in third place for Angler of the Year. Let’s wish him well.

Fans from near and far can be part of the action with live weigh-in coverage streaming on the Outdoor Team Works website and social media channels. Takeoffs each morning will also be streamed live from the National Walleye Tour Facebook page, giving fans a front-row seat to the start of each competition day. Competition days are Thursday, Aug. 7 and Friday, Aug. 8, with boat launches at 7 a.m. from the Dunkirk City Pier. Weigh-ins are on the City Pier beginning at 3 p.m. This event is an excellent opportunity to see the best walleye anglers in the country compete on this end of Lake Erie, the deep end, where it promises to be a challenge.

The National Walleye Tour (NWT) is part of the Outdoor Team Works family of fishing tournaments. The OTW brand offers a wide range of fishing events from professional tournaments to grassroots fishing derbies. For more on the National Walleye Tour, including fact sheets, photos, and official tournament results from past events, visit https://www.nationalwalleyetour.com.

Gotta love the outdoors.

Outdoors Calendar

Aug. 7-8: Cabela’s National Walleye Tour Qualifier event, Dunkirk Harbor. Professional angler TV event. Weigh-in events are open to the public. Visit www.outdoorteamworks.com.

Aug. 15-16: Innovative Outdoors Walleye Challenge (Dunkirk), $500 entry, Jim Steel, 716-481-5348; https://innovative-outdoors.com/.