MARINETTE, Wis. – John Hoyer labels himself a multi-species angler. For over a decade, he’s been diligently working as a guide that puts clients on walleyes, bass, musky, and panfish all over the great state of Minnesota. Four years ago, Hoyer decided to step up to the pro ranks of the National Walleye Tour, presented by Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, after two successful seasons as a co-angler. His No. 1 goal in fishing was to win a National Walleye Tour event. Today, he fulfilled that goal in dramatic fashion.

The old adage that nice guys finish last was refuted this week as Hoyer caught 10 Green Bay walleyes over two days that weighed 80.33 pounds. He weighed over 40 pounds on day one, despite only catching five fish. Today, he was done by 11:30 a.m. The pivotal moment occurred at 11:00, when Hoyer stuck a 10 1/2-pound brute. Fifteen minutes later his co-angler put an 8.8 in the livewell, which essentially replaced a 5-pounder. The end result was an amazingly consistent 38.96 sack.

“We were fishing warm-water slicks along rock-to-sand transitions,” said the Simms pro. “That was the key. Our entire team fished more secondary stuff. We were targeting fish that no one else was casting to.”

Hoyer would run anywhere from 35 to 40 miles north of Marinette along the west shoreline. These long stretches of rock-to-sand transition were located in 8 to 12 feet. He triggered bites with both lipless crankbaits and with a new paddletail swimbait from Berkley.

“Trolling is boring,” quipped Hoyer. “I threw the 3.3-inch Berkley PowerBait Power Swimmer on a 1/2-ounce jig and a DH custom-painted lipless crankbait (in purple gold tigre). I replaced the stock hooks with Berkley Fusion 19 hooks, and that is why I went 11 for 12 on bites. I used a 7-foot, 3-inch medium-fast Thorne Bros. custom rod. It’s literally the most sensitive rod money can buy.”

Hoyer fished these baits on 10-pound Berkley Fireline Ultra 8 Carrier with a 12-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader. The leader was tied to a snap, which Hoyer believed contributed to a more erratic fall.

“I learned about the Swimmer at the Sturgeon Bay Open. It’s a goby-pattern bait. I would real it slow enough where it’s just making contact with the bottom.”

With the lipless crankbait, Hoyer would rip it hard when the bite was strong and slowly pull the rod upwards when the bite was stingy. Of the 10 fish Hoyer weighed, eight came from the crankbait and two came from the swimbait.

“The other key was our Lowrance SideScan. The whole time we were moving, I was completely glued to my SideScan, looking at it five times per cast. I became drawn to areas where we could mark them on SideScan. When you get hard sand and rock edges, they stick out like a sore thumb. The more time I spent in those kinds of areas, the more advantage I had with my electronics. There were several times where we marked one and called our shot.”

For winning the second event of the 2019 season, Hoyer earned a Ranger 620FS with a 250-horsepower Evinrude outboard, $15,000 cash, and an additional $2,926 in Anglers Advantage cash for a total purse of $86,921.

“This has been my No. 1 goal in life. Dreams do come true. I don’t know if it will ever settle in.”