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DEVILS LAKE, N.D. - For Pennsylvania rookie Dylan Nussbaum, the drive from his home in St. Marys to Devils Lake, N.D., took over 22 hours. When he arrived, he laid wondrous eyes on the legendary Prairie Pothole factory for the very first time. Roughly two weeks later, Nussbaum not only solved the deep-water Devils Lake puzzle, he became the youngest pro to ever win a Cabela's National Walleye Tour event.
The 20-year-old Nussbaum, a welder by trade, was victorious in only the third pro-am tournament of his young career. With the help of his travel partner and fellow Pennsylvania pro Ryan Rieger, Nussbaum located the winning area on Monday, a mere two days before the event commenced.
"This was not only my first time to Devils, it was my first time ever being in North Dakota," Nussbaum revealed. "It's a big lake, so I used my Lowrance and my Navionics charts to break it all down. I started in the main lake, and then went to Pelican. I didn't like what I saw, so then I went to East Devils Lake.
"As I started driving through there, I ran up a breakline and saw giant marks on the screen. On my first pass I caught a 6-pounder, and then I made another pass and caught a 4-pounder. At that point, I knew they were hanging on deeper rock structure on sharp breaklines. If there was rock there, there were walleyes."
Nussbaum expanded the pattern and found a similar area on the other side of East Bay. Coming into the event, Nussbaum knew it was possible, maybe even likely, to crack 20 pounds. On day one, without ever touching his initial spot, he managed 25.40 pounds. Today, he started in the same area, located on the northeast side of East Bay, and pulled a solid limit. After his fourth pass, he decided the spot was too crowded and ventured south to his primary honeyhole.
"On my first pass we pulled a 30-incher, then a 4-pounder. Those were our sixth and seventh fish. Then we caught a 6-pounder, which pushed us over 30 pounds, and we were done for the day at 11:22."
Nussbaum explained that his crankbaits were ticking the tops of those aforementioned rocks in 35 to 45 feet.
"I was just going up and down the breakline, trying to keep my speed at 2 mph."
Nussbaum's crankbaits of choice were Rapala Husky Jerks and Berkley Flicker Minnows. He said the No. 10 and No. 12 Husky Jerks accounted for the bulk of his fish. Yellows were the best colors, both stock and custom painted by Dutch Fork Custom Lures. For line, he used Sufix 832 Lead Core and a 15-pound Sufix fluorocarbon leader. Nussbaum let out between 200 and 220 feet of leadcore to get his crankbaits down, and his leaders were between 8 and 10 feet long.
"The key was getting away from all the boats and finding your own water out deep. The deep-water fish seemed more consistent. They don't move daily like shallow fish. I think most of the locals were fishing shallower. I think not knowing much about the lake actually helped. I used SideScan on my Lowrance to see the rock. Sometimes I'd get some decent sized perch, which I think the bigger walleyes were feeding on."
For winning the third event of the 2018 season, Nussbaum earned a fully-equipped Ranger 1880 B/M/T plus $15,000 cash and an additional $2,926 of Anglers Advantage cash for a total purse of $63,926. His official two-day total weight was 55.43 pounds.
"It's a dream come true. I wanted to prove to these guys I could fish, and that's what I did today. I've been fishing tournaments with my dad since I was 10 years old, and this is all
I've ever wanted to do. Winning against these anglers means the world to me; I don't really have the words to describe it. I'm still shaking."
Rieger runner up
Rieger, who travels and practices with Nussbaum, started the day in third place and moved up one spot after catching a limit weighing 24.13 pounds. He finished the tournament with a total of 49.83 pounds.
"I couldn't be any happier with second," exclaimed Rieger. "Dylan is an awesome kid. I met him back when he was a kid and fished club tournaments on the Kinzua Reservoir with his dad. What he just did as a 20-year-old is a breakthrough."
Rieger and Nussbaum frequently troll crankbaits on leadcore back home, and it proved to be the perfect presentation on a warm, stingy Devils Lake.
"The Kinzua is where we figured out the leadcore bite. So we came to Devils, jumped on the deep leadcore gig, and it was on."
Rieger said the No. 12 Rapala Husky Jerk in firetiger was his most productive bait. He used Sufix 832 Lead Core with a shorter 15-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader.
"Yesterday I caught most of my fish on one hump. Today I stayed in the same area in East Bay, but I fished more of a contour line in 38 to 45 feet."
In his first seven NWT events, the Belle Vernon, Pa., pro has cashed four checks.
"It's unbelievable; it's surreal for me. I just want to thank my friends and family for supporting me while I'm on the road. My grandfather would take me fishing to Lake Erie during the summers, and that's where this all started."
Carroll third
Despite catching 18 pounds on day two, Minot, N.D., pro Jim Carroll slipped from first to third. Combined with his 29.05 from day one, Carroll finished the tournament with 47.06 pounds.
"I wanted to win, but I did everything I wanted to do, the way I wanted to do it," offered Carroll. "We put it all out there and had fun."
Carroll, who overcame a rare form of cancer in 2017, used two different patterns this week on his "second home."
"I rip jigged and I trolled. Today, with the calmer conditions, I couldn't get the trolling bite going."
His two primary baits were a No. 9 Jigging Rap and Berkley Bad Shad.
"The Bad Shad is a fairly new crankbait designed by bass pro David Fritts. It looks very similar to a Flicker Shad, but it's got a little flatter, wider wobble. I started experimenting with it up in Canada, and I've been impressed."
Carroll trolled the Bad Shad (purple glimmer, yellow perch colors) on 18-pound leadcore with a 15-pound Fireline leader. His trolling speeds were 2.2 mph and "sometimes faster."
Both the Bad Shad and the Jigging Rap were fished in 36 to 47 feet in East Devils Lake.
"I've never seen fish that deep before on Devils Lake, and I fish here often. I'm not exactly sure what it is. I think some of it has to do with clear water, and some of it has to do with the lack of baby white bass. I never saw or snagged a baby white bass during the tournament or in practice. That's unusual. I think they're deeper because they're eating more perch. The cool thing about Devils Lake is that it's different every time we come here. Devils Lake forces you to adapt. If you fish memories on Devils Lake, you're in trouble."
Vanderweide fourth, Crow fifth
Rounding out the top five are pros Josh Vanderweide and Robert Crow. Dr. Vanderweide, the Jenison, Mich., dentist, caught 24.19 on day one and 22.24 today. He finished the event with 46.43 pounds.
Vanderweide said he was targeting points and breaklines.
"We were trolling cranks and jigging with Jigging Raps," he said. "We caught a lot of fish trolling Shad Raps."
Crow, the Paterson, Wash., pro, greatly improved his catch on day two - putting together a massive limit weighing 29.52 pounds. On day one, the veteran angler caught three walleyes worth 15.99. With a two-day total of 45.51, Crow took fifth.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros at the 2018 Cabela's National Walleye Tour event on Devils Lake:
6th: Curt Hanson of Mayville, N.D., 44.86
7th: Jarrod Fredericks of Estelline, S.D., 42.68
8th: Zachary Axtman of Rugby, N.D., 39.28
9th: Greg Ehli of Bismarck, N.D., 35.58
10th: Joe Okada of Cambridge, Wis., 35.27
Kirsch wins Co-angler Division
South Dakota fisherman Zack Kirsch caught limits of 29.05 and 17.06 to claim top honors in the Co-angler Division with a total weight of 46.65 pounds. On day one, Kirsch fished with Carroll, and today he was paired with Iowa pro Chris Burns. This was Kirsch's first NWT event.
"On the first day, we were using Jigging Raps, then we pulled plugs in deep water," Kirsch explained. "Today we started with Slow Death, but ended up catching most of our weight slip bobbering shallow trees with leeches."
For the win, Kirsch earned $6,000 plus $1,380 in Anglers Advantage cash.
"I've always wanted to do this, and when I saw the NWT was coming up here, I had to sign up. I was hoping to just get experience and learn some new areas and techniques from the pros. Like pulling leadcore in that deep water, that was awesome. I'd like to thank the two pros I drew; they're both great guys."
Up next
The final event of the 2018 season is the National Walleye Tour Championship, scheduled for September 5-7 on Minnesota's Lake of the Woods in Baudette.