2025 Bays Edge Recap ~ 4.26.25 RESULTS
For years we have been waiting for a beautiful spring day to fish the annual LEWT Jigging Open sponsored this year by Summit Fishing Equipment & Lowrance Electronics. Well, Mother Nature and the Fish God’s were NOT listening. Having to use a “Blow Day” Saturday due to 5-8 foot waves and nasty gale winds, we pushed to Sunday. Nobody knew what any of their previously established spots would look like or if the fish were still there, but hey – that’s just tourney fishing.
At 5:00am, 41 boats (we lost several boats due to religious reasons) started their check-in at Mark’s Bay’s Edge Bait and Tackle Shop and headed anywhere from Detroit, Michigan to Cleveland, Ohio waiting for “lines in” at 7:00am.
The story of the day was LEWT Sponsor, Lowrance and their Active Target. This new trend on Erie, putting the trolling rods down and learning to target fish by utilizing the Lowrance Active Target system. Using it to its max potential while prefishing Thursday and Friday proved that post-spawn big fish were able to be caught as anglers would be able to target and pick off individual fish.
At 3:30, teams started making their way back to Bay’s Edge for weigh-in, all looking to finish in those top 6 paid spots on the weekend. The average 5-fish bags right now weigh anywhere from 15-18#. This time of year, being able to target those bigger pre-spawn and post-spawn females will land you tourney day results.
Honorable mention teams winning gift cards to Bay’s Edge Gift Cards were Team Jager Eye, Diffy’s Deadbeats, and Joe and Co’s all catching 29-30+ lbs. of fish. Thank you, Captain Mark and Bay’s Edge, for donating to our event.
The last paid spot on the day went to Team C’est La Fish with Captain Ciprian Donici at the helm with 30.91# for their best five. Ciprian and crew reported fishing the Vermillion area looking for the right water conditions after the blow on Saturday. They were able to pick off fish using jigs and a minnow profile bait. Team C’est La Fish took home $500 on the day.
4th place for the second straight year was NWT Pro Brett Gilbertson with 32.13#. Brett was out of town all week fishing the NWT in South Dakota and the blow day gave him just enough time to hop over and stack his skills up against the LEWT anglers in the Jigging Event. Brett was able to find suspended fish around Kelly’s Island and target them with his partner using a variety of Jigs and swim baits. Brett took home $800 on the day for his efforts.
In 3rd place on the day, we had Captain Rande Woodland with 33.75#. Rande and crew targeted specific rock structures in 30 FOW. Rande noted that using FFS boat control is the most important factor so getting out of the wind was key. They filtered through 60 fish to find their tournament 5-fish bag. Rande and crew took home $1,000.
Jim “Fish Missile” Taggart has found his groove this year and has now cashed a couple straight checks, this time finishing 2nd with 34.46#. Jim and crew reported using a jig and crawler or jig and a plastic using FFS and Summit Shuttle combos to tag team these fish while casting off the bow and in the back of the boat. Team Fish Missile took home $3,000 on the day, nice work guys.
Team “NIM” moved up several spots from their 6th place finish in 2023, 3rd place 2024 and now a 1st place championship effort in 2025! The team found themselves atop the leaderboard with a stout 36.71 lb bag anchored by a 8.67 big fish. These guys targeted shallow structures east of Lorain and threw jigs and plastic at bigger post-spawn walleye. Mike’s go to jig was a ⅜ oz jig with 4-inch minnow profile plastic. Team “NIM” made $6000 on the day for the top finish. Team “NIM” made up of Mike “Miller Tech” Miller, Cole Carlson, and Captain Denny Sharrone! What a way to stick at it and climb to the top of the leaderboard after years of giving it all you’ve got, that’s dedication.
The Jig/Cast/Drift only event has grown to be one of the most fun events of the year. Mark’s Bay’s Edge is a great venue and will continue to host us annually. Look for us in 2026 when the LEWT is sure to return to such a great venue.
The next stop in the LEWT series is Lorain, Ohio where we will host our 3rd annual Pro-Am Event. An amateur “Am” angler will team up with an experienced LEWT Team “Pro” to form a three-man team. This team will fish the standard two-man rules, and the amateur angler will get to experience a LEWT tourney day. They will learn from the best, fish with the best, and hopefully experience that win like the best!
Ryan Buddie, Joe Gibson, and Tyler Berthold will host a kid’s fishing clinic and the NPAA and Future Anglers Association will be giving out fishing poles to kids in attendance while supplies last.
This will be a great event, and we hope to see you all there. Kids fishing clinics and cookouts are free so please come out and experience Quality Mark Inc. LEWT and B’laster Fall Brawl. More at LakeErieWalleyeTrail.com
2025 LEWT/MWC Recap ~ Day One

2025 LEWT/MWC Port Clinton DAY ONE Recap
When it comes to competitive walleye fishing there are a few big circuits across the country that give anglers the platform to do what they do best: show everyone how GIANT walleye are caught. Over the last five years the LEWT has teamed up with the traveling Masters Walleye Circuit (MWC) to provide the biggest walleye events Lake Erie has to offer. This year’s event was no different featuring 120+ teams all battling for the bragging rights of who was the best team on Erie.
Although it’s not said, local Lake Erie anglers look to defend their home turf against traveling anglers from all over the country who want to prove that they can take their skills to bag their biggest five and bring home a Lake Erie tournament crown.
Of course, nothing has changed when it comes to LEWT weather; Friday approached with strong winds, cold temps, and rain…. The winds had been nasty and Thursday as the sunset the lake was sitting with a small craft advisory.
Around 9:00pm the winds let up just enough that the small craft advisory lifted and anglers waited for the call from tournament directors Jason Fischer and Jeff Kelm on whether or not the lake was going to be fishable in the morning. Ultimately, around 3:00am the decision was made that the lake was going to be safe and fishable since the small craft advisory from the island’s east had lifted the night before. We knew the lake was definitely going to be sloppy for day one – but overall fishable.
Around 5:00am over 120 boats started to put in near Fisherman’s Wharf in the Portage River. They waited for the sun to rise and their number to be called at sendoff at 7:00am.
Although we couldn’t quite see the mouth of the river from Jefferson’s St. Pier, we could tell that there were some residual white caps from the night before and the visible water from our location was chocolate milk brown. Conditions like this change things and separate anglers who can adapt and adjust on tournament day from those whose game plan is unattainable due to water color, distance, or simply boat control.
The first boat to send off the Lake Erie Walleye Trail & Masters Walleye Circuit combined 120+ teams was retired LEWT weight-master Tim Joseph and Bill Bixler. The duo, although sitting in the pole position, returned for the day with a disappointing one fish – not common for Charter Captain and long time LEWT angler Tim Joseph.
At 3:00pm check-in teams returned to the river and made their way to Waterworks Park in Port Clinton for weigh-in. Team after team brought five fish to the scales and proved that the conditions were no match for their skill set. A tournament average bag of 30 pounds across the scale showed in fact why Lake Erie is the walleye capital of the world.
Just sitting out of the money are notable favorites in the Lake Erie Walleye Trail: Gary and Alex Kisel in 15th place, Kyle Kokanovich and Charlie Klaus in 13th place, Gary and Nicholas Zart in 12th place, and Steve Hendricks and Brian Ulmer in the bubble spot just out of the money in 11th place.
The last paid position for Day 1 is Dillon Nussbaum and Jesse Nussbaum, with five fish for 33.03#. Dillon loves to cast and does so exclusively, not even having a kicker motor on his boat. He refuses to put the boards in the water if he doesn’t have to. Dillon and Jesse took home $650 on Day One.
In 9th place we have Mike Sitko and Erick Schenavar with 33.13# also weighing the tournament’s Big Fish winner with a 9-11# GIANT! The combined big fish and ninth place Mike and Erick took home $2,350.
In 8th place we have Mike Dorris and Doug McDonough with five fish for 33.15# anchored by an 8.01# tank. Mike and Doug took home $950 for the 8th place effort.
Kyle Altvater and Corry Brewer also weighed in five fish for 34.02# good for 7th place and $1,050 on the day.
Tournament pros John Hoyer, out of Iowa, and Pat McSherry, from Minnesota, finished just out of the top five with 34.06#, winning $1,125. John Hoyer has paved the way for Lowrance Active Target FFS and casting on Lake Erie, as he won the National Walleye Tour last year in Port Clinton and two years ago in Dunkirk. Just shows that casting at walleye and being selective can be a productive method for catching walleye on Lake Erie.
In the top five, we have out of town anglers Kayden Dorris and Austin Ellingson with 34.07# anchored by an 8.11# giant. Kayden and Austin made $1,200 on Day 1.
In 4th place, we have the ever consistent Max Wilson and Mark Wilson with five fish for 35.02#. With a solid average of 7# – meaning they found those “cookie cutter” 7-pound fish – you can’t go anywhere else and do that. Ultimately, Max does this for a living and proves why, as he was able to overcome the terrible weather and waves winning $1,475 on the day.
In 3rd place, we have John and Paul Fallow with five fish for 36.03#. They also took 2nd place in the side pot, bringing the days total to $3,750.
World Walleye Champions Wayne Butz and Joe Sommers were able to put together five fish for 36.05# putting them in 2nd place on a nasty Lake Erie day. They also took 1st place in the Side Pot for a grand total of $7,000 on the day.
In 1st place, we have LEWT veterans Josh Crum and Aaron Humbert with five fish for 37.08#, anchored by the 10.04# tournament’s biggest fish. Josh and Aaron did not enter the Big Fish so they missed out on the bonus money; however, they were able to troll their way to $8,000 and take home a championship.
Josh and Aaron said they searched around the cans for quality water, but never found the fish or the water they liked. They moved in between the Islands and fished outside the Put-In-Bay monument in 18 to 26 feet of water and were able to find what they were looking for, reeling in a few pre-spawn fish to cap off their 37-pound bag. Catching a kicker fish never hurts, and the 10# giant proved to be the difference on the day. This is Josh and Aaron‘s first championship together, as Josh subbed in for Quality Mark.
2025 Port Clinton Recap ~ Day Two
2025 LEWT Port Clinton DAY TWO Recap
The good thing about having two ‘one-day’ tournaments – as opposed to a two-day tournament like the Masters Walleye Circuit – is if you “stubbed your toe” on day one you can hit the reset button and still have a chance on day two to cash a check. Day two was going to be totally different conditions as the seas were calming, and the sun was coming out to warm up those cold Lake Erie waters.
Day two was not a question of whether or not anglers were going to fish or how sloppy the lake was going to be so “Plan A” was in play. Anglers looked to travel far and wide and swing for the fences, as their “Plan A” fish might be in reachable by water now.
Day two again we have notable anglers sitting just outside the money as the LEWT paid down 11 places on Day Two. In 15th place, we have Edgar Trent and Tj Phillips. 14th place, we have Ryan and Amber Foster. In 13th place we have Gary and Alex Kisel and in 12th place we have Ciprian Donici and Mark Coss.
In our first paid position, we have Jim Taggart and Joe Palia with five fish for 33.15#. Jim and Joe will take home $500 on the day. It’s good to see the “Fish Missile” back in the winners circle.
In 10th place, we have father son combo Steve and Jeremy Skupien with five fish for 34.01#. Steve and Jeremy travel to fish the LEWT on a regular basis and are starting to find their groove. They missed the Magee event so as they catch up with events they will be in the TOY race. Steve and Jeremy took home $675 for their efforts.
In 9th place, and our first team to cash a check both Day One and Day Two, we have John Hoyer and Pat McSherry with five fish for 34.13# and cashing a Day Two check for $875.
John shared some interesting insight on Day Two as he described his tactics as targeting specific walleye and not even casting to some walleye he sees on AT2 that didn’t make the tournament grade fish he was after. This is a tactic that he says makes him more efficient on the water, as he doesn’t need to waste time catching fish that may not be what he’s wanting for a tournament. John was casting a three-quarter ounce Berkeley Drip minnows to do most of his damage.
In 8th place for Day Two, we have returning Team of the Year Champions Ryan Buddie and Jason Kopf for their second check of the season. Although Ryan had a sub for the Magee event Kopf was able to keep the streak going with a top finish. Ryan and Jason caught five fish for 34.15#, good enough for $1,000 even. The team looks to get back after it and chase that coveted Team of the Year Title. After three days of events, Ryan and Jason sit in 3rd place overall.
In 7th place, we have LEWT Early Birds Joshua Moskal and Mackenzie Anderson. These two just started fishing LEWTs together and now cashed their first check on the season for $1,075. They will look to make a move in the TOY standings.
The second team to cash checks both days was Mike Sitko and Eric Schenavar, as they caught five fish for 36.01# and made another $1,150 on the day.
In 5th place, we have Sheffield Lake local Jack Winters and Scott Kozlowski with five fish for 36.01# and an absolute beast of a big fish at 10-15# making it the biggest fish caught in the two-day event on both sides. Jack and Scott, like Josh and Aaron, did not get in the Big Fish pot so they missed out on the bonus money, but took home $1,235 on the day.
Since Jack and Scott did not enter Big Fish, the next best fish was a 10.03# giant caught by Robert Zajkowski and Douglas Dawson, good enough for $1,560. The “Team Up North” continues to chip away and find a way to win, cashing yet another big fish check. Previous Big Fish and “Fat 5 “ Champs, Robert knows how to get the big ones in the boat. Robert reported catching the fish east of Kelly’s island trolling lead core deep in the column.
In 4th place, we have Jeff Kester and Scott Rhodes with five fish for 36.12#. Jeff and Scott cashed a check for $1,500.
The next two tour level anglers, Max Wilson and Mark Wilson, along with Dillon Nusbaum and Jesse Nusbaum, both cash checks on both Day One and Day Two proving that consistency is key. Swinging for the fences and going for a tournament win is always good, however, in a marathon tournament event, bringing back consistent bags day in and day out lead to more money.
Both Max and Dillon were casting at target fish, although using different techniques; Max was set up for heavy power fishing with heavy braid, heavy wire hooks and digging into the fish, while Dillon was using lightweight line light tackle and finesse fishing at target walleyes. Max’s 38.11# earned him a take home pay of $1,775 on the day. That wasn’t the biggest news on the weekend, though; Max is set to get married and become a dad in the fall so we all wanna wish him well and say congratulations.
Dillon and Jesse finished with 38.13#, took 2nd place overall and 2nd place in the Side Pot netting them $6,000.
Local legends Andrew Harmon and “Uncle” Rhonnie Rhodes were able to bring in the tournament’s biggest bag of 39.08 pounds, anchored by a 9.07 pound giant to capture the crown on Day 2. Uncle Ronnie and Andrew Harmon traveled east and were able to troll crank baits deep in the water column, targeting pre-spawn fish who are setting up just outside of historical breeding grounds near river systems. Andrew and Ronnie took 1st place overall and 1st place in the Side Pot netting them $11,100 on the weekend. What an awesome job you two, and it’s good to see local legends back in the winner circle!
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The one deduction we can make on the weekend is Lake Erie is, in fact, the Walleye Capital of the World. Out of town anglers with the Masters Walleye Circuit showed up and were able to put together tournament bags, accounting for half of the checks cashed in the LEWT and the Masters Walleye Circuit combined.
What we determined is that LEWT anglers were able to hold their ground and take home wins in both Day 1 and Day 2 of the Lake Erie Walleye Trail.
For the Masters Walleye Circuit, Max Wilson was able to put together a two day bag and take home the crown in the two day tournament, giving us three different winners on the weekend.
What a fun way to spend a few days on the water.
22 checks were cashed in the Lake Erie Walleye Trail, and 19 checks were cashed in the Masters Walleye Circuit totaling North of 100K – not too shabby.
The LEWT will be back in Port Clinton on April 26 at Bay’s Edge Bait And Tackle with the Annual Cast and Jig Open. Teams can enlist as many anglers as they would like with a nine rod limit.
Additionally, you can check in and launch your boat anywhere you would like with lines in at 7:00am and a return time of 3:45pm back at Bays Edge. We hope to see you all in a couple weeks. Be safe on the water.
The Quality Mark Inc. Lake Erie Walleye Trail is back in action in 2025!
Getting in the spring Magee Event is always a challenge. However, the venue, staff, and kick-off event atmosphere is always second to none. Ted Thomas and his crew go all out for the LEWT and have for years making Magee the standard for the first event of the season.
2025 Magee East Recap ~ 3.23.25 RESULTS
The Quality Mark Inc. Lake Erie Walleye Trail is back in action in 2025!
Our target kick off date of Saturday, March 22 turned out to be a pipe dream as Mother Nature gifted us yet again with a nasty blow and “small craft” advisory that kept anglers off the water for the day, making Sunday our day to play! The winds would lay down just enough to make navigation safe and allow some of the water to fill back into the western basin making launching at Turtle Creek possible.
As 5:00am arrived, Magee started buzzing with anglers getting registered for the day and hitting up the General Store for coffee, breakfast sandwiches and last minute essentials. 65 boats checked in for the day and set off for that ever elusive bag of tournament winning fish. The sky was clear, wind was from the south, and the air was crisp, with temps in the low 30’s for a beautiful late March tourney morning.
After a YouTube rendition of Carrie Underwood’s National Anthem, the reigning team of the year championship team of Jason Kopf and “Big” Dan Paul (sub for Ryan Buddie) put the Ranger 622FS Pro with Mercury V10 Verado to work tearing up what chop was left from the Saturday blow day. Kopf and Paul targeted the reef complex just a short trip away from send-off. We’ll see how the day would go for long time Lake Erie veteran Jason Kopf and his partner for the day Dan Paul.
One-by-one the field set off, making white water with anglers heading off into all directions. We had reports of anglers fishing shallow waters of Michigan’s Brest Bay and Luna Pier, Canada line north of the islands, and Ohio waters from the firing range to the east and north side of Kelly’s Island. With many fish still in the pre-spawn stage, anglers knew that finding fish that still had not dropped their eggs was going to be the ticket to get that kicker needed to win.
The first anglers back at the tanks were long time LEWT duo, Robert Scott and Billy Holley. These guys have been partners and LEWT anglers for as long as we can remember putting up great bags, cashing a few checks along the way, but still waiting for their first LEWT crown. There was a reason the two were first to the tanks, as the scales opened and the duo walked up on stage it was obvious as to why they were first off the lake, they had a huge bag! Anchored by a 9.64# giant, the team put up their best five weighing a tournament best 41.64#.
Holley and Scott reported pulling crank baits near the Pickerel Reef system. The day started off slow for them and Scott said to himself “Why do we do this to ourselves?”, and planned on yet another disappointing finish. 30 minutes after that thought the team found themselves with a live-well full of fish and firm realization that they would be in contention. Scott and Holley now were in upgrade mode trying to make their 5-fish the best possible and culled until it was time to return to Magee.
The team reported that they stayed away from traffic to pull their fish knowing that boat traffic this time of year can shut things down with the big girls. Being the first to weigh-in, time will tell how their lead off home run would hold up!
Following up a 41+lb bag is difficult but someone’s got to do it right? Well in this case 64 teams had to. Team after team tried to tip the scales to match or beat that 41# mark.
The LEWT was set to pay 9 spots based on entries for the Magee event. In 9th place, the first to cash a check with 38.20# was the Summit Fishing Equipment husband and wife combo Ryan and Amber Foster. These two are making a name in a big way now cashing checks in the LEWT Pro Am (1st place), Fall Brawl (1st Place Women’s Division), and now their first LEWT as an Early Bird 9th place. They put in the work and stay in the fish. Despite trailer issues early in the morning they made it on time and were able to settle the nerves and cash a $650 check. Great work.
In 8th place we have the returning 2024 Magee East Runner Up team of Gerald Franklin and Jeff Norton. Being Magee resident campers these two have the local waters of Lake Erie dialed in and have now cashed two checks in a row in this event, not something that is easy to do given the competition of the LEWT. Gerald and Jeff brought 38.54# from their best five and will take home $700 for their work today. Again, we want to shout out Ted Thomas at Magee for his hard work and dedication to the LEWT. We also want to thank all the local anglers like Gerald that get out and compete with the traveling LEWT anglers. Nice work G!
Next up we have yet another Summit Fishing Equipment staffer Brady Yonkers and his partner Cole Carlson. Brady is a 19-year old young gun that will look to make some serious noise as he sinks his roots in the LEWT series. He’s got a great mentor in both his current teammate Cole Carlson (2021 TOY Champion) and family name with uncle Ryan Yonkers, Cole’s TOY partner. The tradition carries on with the Carlson Yonkers name and now young gun Brady Yonkers takes the helm as captain of his own rig and brings in 38.67# to cash his first check for $800. We are excited for your future, young Brady!
Back-to-Back LEWT TOY Champions Ryan Buddie and Jason Kopf return to see if they can pull off the 3-peat in 2025. Starting off the season Jason Kopf took the reins and needed to sub in Dan Paul for the absent Ryan Buddie. Kopf has been fishing Lake Erie long before many of us even imagined tournament fishing so this event was nothing for him to figure out. Having main motor issues Kopf was able to stay close to Turtle Creek and pull cranks throughout the water column to plug away at a 39.05# bag. Not too shabby for an “old dog” and a sub… good lord these guys know how to fish. Great work and recovery Dan and J in cashing a $875 check.
Gary and Alex Kisel are now household names in the LEWT since for the last six years they have been among the top contenders and on average have the best finishes in the field since 2019. Finishing 2019 and 2020 TOY 1st and 2nd, 9th in 2021, 8th in 2022, and 3rd in 2024 respectively, these guys continue their trend at figuring out the best bite on tourney day. Gary and Alex reported trolling to the east side of Kelly’s Island using bandits unassisted to grind out their best five fish for 39.45# and took home a $950 check.
Huge shout out to the #1 supporter and the “Commissioner” Lori Kisel who is always keeping them on track as well as me (the TD!) Thanks Lori and congrats to the Kisels at yet another TOY run.
Next up we have out of state LEWT visitors, Adam Koch and Justin Warrick, from Minnesota and Wisconsin. These guys travel down to Erie to reap the early spring Lake Erie Giants bounty! By testing their metal and hopping into the Magee LEWT these guys were able to pick up the first of four 40+ lb bags anchored by a 9.68# big fish by making a long run to the east of Kelly’s Island. Not sure if they made the right call early, they continued to grind and ended with their fish early and headed back in to play it safe well before the clock. Koch and Warrick took home 4th overall, 1st Place Big Fish, and 2nd in the Side Pot, good enough for $3,485. Nice work guys, thanks for fishing the LEWT.
Marvin Marner and Paul Glancy are starting to be amongst the toughest of sticks when it comes to Lake Erie Walleye. Cashing checks from west to east in the LEWT and the Walleye Fall Brawl in back-to-back years Marvin has his program dialed in to perfection. Marvin reported trolling on a school outside the reef complex and turning on them repeatedly to make it happen. Marvin and Paul took home 3rd overall with 40.36# and 1st place in the Side Pot earning them $3,160 on the day.
Local walleye tourney pro Dan Harper and his partner Craig Wood hopped into this event with no prefishing plans. They had the day off and wanted to test their metal against some of the best while casting at these Lake Erie prespawn giants using FFS. They drove around checking memories until they were able to find the color and temperature water they were looking for to set up.
They fished 18-FOW and only made small slides to cast and catch the event’s second best 40.65# bag. Harper and Wood cashed in on 2nd place for $2,850 on the day.
Anglers are superstitious creatures and some say weighing in first wouldn’t lead to a first place, even if they had a great bag. This event, Scott and Holley said to heck with that they wanted to get their bag to the scales as fast as possible and see if it would hold up. They led the field from the first bag to the last and their first 40+ lb bag, 41.64# to be exact, proved to be the best of the best, winning the day and taking home $5,700.
Scott and Holley said during an interview that “this is a bucket list item for them and to win against this competition means a lot to them.” They have been fishing these events for a long time and feel like mostly they fish to have fun and learn but today they proved they are much more than weekend anglers, they are now amongst Lake Erie’s best. To beat LEWT anglers in a slugfest proves you know your stuff, and can do it on any given day, congrats boys!
Hats off to our anglers who continue to prove why the LEWT is the best event in the land. Continued support and great fishing makes being a LEWT top team something to gloat about. It’s great seeing new faces in the mix and anglers from across the country. Great job everyone.
We’ll be back in action at the OWF Mosquito April 6th, LEWT Port Clinton with the Masters Walleye Circuit and Bay’s Edge April 26th for a jigging/casting only event.
Bays Edge is an “Open” event and anglers can fish with a team and up to 9-rods. This event is a great way to get big boats involved as you can leave from any port you choose lines in at 7:00am and weigh-in at Bay’s Edge no later than 3:45p. The LEWT Lorain Pro-Am event follows in mid-May.
Visit LakeErieWalleyeTrail.com for more details.