Each year as spring nears, many anglers wait in anticipation for the start of the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail.

With six tournaments — Mattagami (First Nation tournament and the fall classic), Dubreuilville, Geraldton, Kapuskasing and Sagamok — many Walleye anglers preregister in advance for a chance at competing against some of best walleye anglers from around Ontario, other Canadian provinces and some anglers from the U.S that fish in these tournaments.

Anglers receive points based on their finish after each event. Only their three best finishes are used to calculate their placement in the “Angler of the Year” race.

Many anglers opt to fish a fourth event in hopes that if there is a tie for the Angler of the Year title after three events that their fourth tournament placing would be higher than their opponents they are tied with to win the title.

For an angler to be successful, he/she must have consistent top placing throughout three or four events.

This is no easy feat considering the talented field of anglers competing in each event..

Each year many anglers set their eyes on capturing the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail, Angler of the Year Award and 2016 proved to be a nail biter right to the finial tournament in Sagamok.

Several anglers had high hopes of winning the title when they were going into the event.

It wasn’t until after the tournament was over and the points were tallied up, anglers learned that Miguel Tailleur was named the 2016 Angler of the Year.

Being only his second year competing in the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail this is quite the accomplishment.

Another thing worthy of noting is, at 28-years-old, Miguel is the youngest angler to win this pristine title since the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail started the point system back in 2003 for the Angler of the Year title.

For those of us that don’t know Miguel, I thought I would reach out to him as we await the start of the 2017 season to begin and find out a little more about who this young gun is.

Miguel was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario. At the tender age of five, Miguel’s’ grandfather and father played an important part in his introduction to fishing and his love of the sport.

As a youth, he honed his skills while at their family cottage on Rufus Lake.

Over the years Miguel told me that friends, family and research helped developed his technique as well as the countless hours he spent on the lakes and rivers in Northern Ontario.

After listening to fellow fishermen and friends who participated in the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail, his interest was piqued and Miguel decided to give it a whirl.

One of his most memorable fishing experiences was his first win, when he won the 2016 Geraldton Walleye Classic.

During this tournament, his partner and he were able to catch multiple big weights in unfavourable weather conditions during the two day event.
When asked who were his biggest supports over the years Miguel replied, “My family has been my number one support. My wife encourages my love of the sport and inspires me to constantly strive to succeed.

“She attends the tournaments with our kids and I have my very own cheering squad when I arrive on shore! Whether I’ve won first place or last, they make me feel accomplished and proud of my standing.

“I am also fortunate to be part owner of Dufour Waste Disposal Inc. which has an amazing office staff that I can rely on wholeheartedly, allowing me the freedom to participate in the tournaments without stressing about work.

I am also fortunate to have a fishing partner (Denis Gendreau) who has the same dedication and love of fishing as I do. We work well together, think in the same manner and believe that having fun while working hard is an important key to our success!”

I asked Miguel what are some of his favorite fish he likes to fish for and why. Miguel replied, “Walleye are by far my favourite fish because of the challenge they present here in Northern Ontario. They aren’t always favourable in sizes but my goal is to always find the ‘big one’.”

His favourite fishing techniques when chasing Walleyes are bottom bouncing, jigging, and crank baits.

Miguel says he enjoys fishing Walleye Tournaments as he loves the sport and is mildly competitive which fuels his drive to succeed.

When asked why he agreed to have his profile done, Miguel replied, “I love the sport and if sharing my experience can to help inspire new anglers to join us, then I am happy to do so.”

Some tips he would like to share with new anglers considering fishing the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail would be to learn your electronics, research, and to spend a lot of hours fishing with a variety of lures, baits and different techniques in all weather conditions and temperatures.

With a first place finish, two second place finishes, two eighteenth place, one nineteenth place and one thirty-ninth place finish in seven events in 2016, I think this is some sound advice for new anglers looking at fishing the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail one day or just fishing for the fun of it.

When asked what were some of his greatest accomplishments over the years of fishing, he replied, “I’ve only been competing for the last two years and truly believe that each event was a learning experience as well as an accomplishment. That said, winning this year’s Northern Ontario Walleye Trail 2016 Angler of the Year is the highlight of my fishing career.”

When he heard he won the Angler of the Year title he said he was elated because it was a tight race to the finish. There are so many talented anglers who participate in the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail, making it a good challenge to succeed.

If you think you might be interested in putting your walleye skills to the test against some of the best walleye anglers that compete each year in the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail this season, please visit http://www.nowt.ca/ for more information on tournament dates and registration information for each event.

Will you be the 2017 Northern Ontario Walleye Trail Angler Of the Year? You’ll never know if you don’t try.