Huge Greenback Walleye Reels in Big Prize for Local Angler
Congratulations to Thomas Nicol! His Master Angler greenback walleye action photo was selected as the winner of the August edition of the 12 Months of Master Angler photo contest.
12 Months of Master Angler September Winner
He has won a $1000 gift card to Cabela’s along with a pile of awesome HuntFishMB gear.
“Man, my heart stopped for a second when I saw your email!”, an excited Thomas exclaimed. “I’m beyond thankful to have had my photo selected.” The Marchand, MB resident gave credit to his younger brother Shane Nicol who snapped the incredible photo. “Almost all of my fish photos that I have ever posted online or on Master Angler have been taken by him.”
Master Angler walleye
The monster greenback walleye in the winning photo measured a whopping 29 inches. While the fish didn’t surpass his personal best of 31 inches, Thomas said it was still one of the heaviest walleyes he has ever caught, “I used a simple 3/8oz glow-white jig and frozen shiner combo to catch it.” When pressed for more details Thomas laughed, “We were fishing in 12 feet of water…somewhere on the Red River. I will share however that the key to all of our bigger fish lately has been slowing it right down with long pauses in between jigs.”
An avid year-round angler, Thomas names the Red River, Lake Winnipeg, and Big Whiteshell Lake as his favourite places to fish. “I also love going after big tullibees on Big White and other lakes in the Whiteshell, but ultimately for me, nothing beats seeing an emerald green back and giant eyes staring at you from just under the water.” Thomas’ major goal for this winter is to hopefully make a trip north to Clearwater Lake in search of a giant lake trout.
Can't wait for hardwater
The CP Rail mechanic shared that his plans for the unexpected windfall is to splurge it all on new ice fishing equipment, “I’m going to definitely look at getting an Aqua-Vu camera and also a new Big Buddy heater.” Thomas’ excitement for the upcoming ice season was evident during our call, “We fish mostly out of a small 14-foot Lund. The cool thing about the ice is that I can pretty much go anywhere I want that I can’t always do on the open water.”
HuntFishMB - Eric Labaupa
Sponsored by Cabela's
For more information about the Master Angler Program visit our Master Angler website.
For more information about fishing for walleye in Manitoba visit our Walleye page.
*Protect Manitoba’s water and resources. Stop aquatic invasive species. For more information on how to do your part visit the Sustainable Development AIS page.
