Photo courtesy of The Fishing Wire Local walleye angler hero, Dylan Nussbaum from nearby St. Marys, Pa., leads the pack for Angler of the Year in the 2025 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s National Walleye Tour.

After just two tournament stops have been completed in the 2025 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s National Walleye Tour presented by Progressive, one nearby local walleye angler hero, Dylan Nussbaum from nearby St. Marys, Pennsylvania, is leading the pack for Angler of the Year. Following the Mississippi River event, the Nitro Boats/NWT Pro is at the top of the list, with 391 total earned points thus far this season. Dylan, who is no stranger to the NWT, is on a mission to reclaim his 2024 glory, where he narrowly missed the 2024 Progressive Angler of the Year title, finishing third.

This year, he’s already off to a consistent start in 2025, recording an eighth-place finish at Lake Sharpe (South Dakota) and a third-place finish on the Mississippi River. He’s cashed in on $16,825 in winnings this season and has been awarded an additional $5,000 in Nitro Rewards contingency bonuses.

Nussbaum competes in many local Lake Erie walleye tournaments from the Chautauqua County shoreline while not fishing the NWT in faraway places. You can probably rub elbows with this pro in Dunkirk this weekend.

Right on Dylan’s heels is another familiar face at the top of the NWT leaderboard who captured the 2022 Progressive Angler of the Year title, Duane Hjelm. Hjelm is sitting only 2 points behind Dylan with a total of 389, who has also cashed checks in both NWT events thus far in 2025, recording an 11th-place finish in his home state of South Dakota and a second-place finish on the Mississippi River.

The National Walleye Tour is a prestigious event in the fishing community, part of the Outdoor Team Works family of fishing tournaments. The OTW brand offers a wide range of fishing events from professional tournaments to grassroots fishing derbies. All events are supported by some of the top companies in the nation, making it a highly anticipated and competitive series.

For live updates, follow NWT on Facebook and Instagram or visit www.nationalwalleyetour.com to catch up on all the action. For more information on the National Walleye Tour, including the 2025 tournament schedule, fact sheets, photos, and official tournament results from past events, visit www.nationalwalleyetour.com. Subscribing to the NWT e-newsletter is the best way to receive up-to-date information, registration announcements, and more.

The NWT is set to make a splash in Dunkirk on Aug. 7-8, with live weigh-in events open to the public and held right on the Central Avenue Pier. This promises to be a thrilling experience for all fishing enthusiasts and the local community, with more fun times ahead as the tour progresses.

Gotta love the outdoors.