Part 1

Mel Barr is a wizard when it comes to putting walleyes in the boat.

If you doubt that, just ask some of the anglers he competes with on the Northern Alberta Walleye Trail.  Mel and Tom Gaudet, his team tournament companion, won the “Team of the Year” trophy on the Northern Alberta Walleye circuit last year.

Along with the trophy came a check for $52,000 as well as a brand new boat, motor and trailer.  You don’t come away from professional walleye tournaments with awards like that without knowing the ways and whereabouts of those elusive fish.  You can be assured Mel Barr does and he’s got the record to prove it.

Mel, from Red Deer, Alberta, has been competing in walleye tournaments since 1988.  He is also a past winner of the Alberta “Angler of the Year” trophy.  He and Tom teamed up six years ago.  They’ve been making things tough for their competition ever since.

Mel Barr is a wizard when it comes to catching walleyes.  He and his partner won the "Team of the Year" award for 2009 on the Northern Alberta Walleye Tournament Trail.

Among other things, Mel is also a member of the Mack’s Lure pro staff.  I had a chance to visit with him recently and it didn’t take long to find out the important role Mack’s Lure Smile Blades have played in his competitive walleye fishing.

What got my attention big time wasn’t just the fact he was using Smile Blades, successful walleye anglers all over the country are doing that.  What did grab me was the fashion in which he put these dandy little plastic fish-attractors to work for him.

“There’s just so much you can do with Smile Blades,” Mel says, “I’m forever putting together different combinations or changing blade colors and sizes.  Sometimes that’s what it takes to start catching fish.”

Mel told me about his experience in one of the tournaments he fished last fall.  “I went through darn near everything I had in my tackle box,” he said, “but we just couldn’t catch fish.  One thing I hadn’t tried was a Mack’s Lure Wally Pop, but then I found I’d forgotten to bring them along.

Both Mel Barr and Tom Gaudet do lots of their walleye fishing with Mack's Lure products.  You can see one of those lures still pinned to the mug of this nice fish.

“I carry my own supply of Mack’s beads, blades and the other items needed to build my own rigs.  I was able to make up my own Wally Pops.  We got them out there and it wasn’t long before I hooked a walleye and then I hooked another.

“Just changing to a Wally Pop was the answer.   My partner and I wound up almost winning that tournament.  We only lost by 1/3rd-of an ounce.”

Mel formerly ran his own denture clinic in Red Deer.  He sold his business a year and a half ago and now has more time to make life miserable for those Canadian walleyes.

Mel says Tom Gaudet, his team partner, is really good to fish with.  As I’ve mentioned, the two teamed up six years ago for tournament angling.  Perhaps the approach these two walleye pros take where the baits they use along with their Smile Blades is concerned has something to do with their success.  Mel likes to use leeches.  Tom’s favorite baits are nightcrawlers.

Tom Gaudet is Mel Barr's partner on the Northern Alberta Walleye Trail.  Tom is also a cracking good walleye angler.

“Tom is an expert with a ‘crawler,” Mel says.  “It’s my opinion that you’ve got a better chance of taking big fish with a nightcrawler on your hook.  You might get more bites on a leech but the chances for a big one are better most of the time with a nightcrawler.”

Mel Barr knows something about big walleye.  The 14½-pound walleye he boated in a tournament once held the record for the largest walleye ever caught and released in tournament competition.

That lunker walleye was caught while Mel was using 6-pound test line and leader.  That all by itself gives you a pretty good idea of the angling skills this fish-catching Canadian brings to the boat.

Keep an eye on my next column.  I’ll tell you about another technique Mel has used to boat a winning weight in some of his tournament fishing.  It’s a procedure you’ll be wise to try in your own walleye fishing. 

You’ll find my next column starting here on August 1.

-To Be Continued-