DEVILS LAKE, N.D.-Scott Larson calls Devils Lake his lake. For at least one day, it was.
Despite sitting in sixth place going into the final day of the 2015 Cabela's National Walleye Championship, Larson put together the big day he needed Sunday-racking up 29¼ pounds for a total of 74.89 and the win.
"This is my first major win and to do it on my home water makes it that much better," said Larson, a pro angler from Mayville, N.D. "Devils Lake is a special place."
With so much ground to make up on the final day, Larson opted to target big fish jigging the Six-Mile Bay area. Larson sought out isolated rock piles. While the trolling bite had been good for quick limits, it produced quality and quantity for Larson.
With about 30 minutes left of competition, he marked a big fish suspended off the bottom.
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"I just hovered my jigging Rap over that fish and she finally bit," Larson said. "It was a 7 to 8 pounder and once I caught that one, I laid down in the bow of my boat. I had a good feeling I had a chance."
Larson's total of 74.89 pounds was good enough to outdo second-place angler Ed Stachowski of Canton, Mich., who totaled 70.84 pounds. Rounding out the top five were Gary Maher of Menoken, N.D. (69.20), Robert Bruegger of Wabasha, Minn. (67.25) and Paul Steffen of Pierre, S.D. (67.10).
