09/16/2026
Jackplate Or No, Spickler And Haider Dust The Field On Sak, Win AWWS North Dakota Championship by 12 Pounds Plus
Presented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 16, 2026
Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™)
Bucking five-footers on Day One, and fishing from a broken boat on Day Two that Luke Spickler had to leave his partner Matthew Haider in to get back in time. All that didn’t stop them from taking the AIM Weekend Walleye Series Mercury Marine North Dakota Championship by 12.1 pounds Friday and Saturday (Sept. 11 and 12) on Lake Sakakawea.
“Fan Nation, what can I say about this win. They beat those North Dakota winds on Friday, then had to deal with a broken motor jackplate that actually helped them seal the win on Saturday, with Luke hitching a ride with the eventual second-place team to get back to Beulah Bay in time,” said Denny Fox, AIM national tournament director. “That win got them $3,800, plus ensured they’ll be in the 2027 Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout. What a wild way to end the season. It is also so definitely cool to see younger teams climb the ladder, and they’re doing it at AIM.”
Spickler and Haider had some company as they were fishing. Despite some good winds Friday that frothed up Lake Sak, they concentrated on the Beacon Point and Independence Island area, right where the lake bends north-south, two crazy sets of circumstances, Spickler said helped. The first allowed a long pre-fish, other kept them in the Number one spot on Saturday in what Spickler, who’s from Bismarck, and Haider, from Mandan, call their home water, in his Mercury 400 V-10 powered boat, with LiveScope among the electronics.
“I was coming back home prior to the tournament and got an email that I got laid off (he’s back to work now), so I told Matt we would go up the next two weeks. We spent most of our time on the western end above ‘the beacon’ (Beacon Point is a local landmark and old navigation light location, hence the name), and up around the Van Hook area. We found a lot of suspended fish, fishing 60 to 80 feet of water and they were sitting about five to 30 feet down,” Spickler said. They homed in on those fish with LiveScope.
“There’s a lot of younger year-class fish out deep, and a lot of 24, 27 and 28-inch fish. It seems they were starting to pile up in that area. There were good ones out east too, but the ones out west were a bit better,” he added. “We pre-fished out east one day. I grew up on the east end of the lake and knew traditionally it would be won out west.”
The first day, everyone had to deal with what you typically do in western waters, whether you’re fishing a river, or lake: wind, especially in the afternoon.
“On Day One, the wind was going to be blowing, and we decided to be a little bit closer to the beacon, but it was too rough, so we made a run 10 to 12 miles further north and spent the rest of the day in that area. We basically had all our weigh fish between 10 a.m. and 11:30 or noon,” he said. The biggest was 27-1/2. They all came on a ¾ to 5/8-ounce jigs with a 3-1/2-inch Mooch Minnow,” he said, and since they had time, they kept upgrading fish until around 1:30 p.m. Then they realized the wind was making Sak a little chunky. A lot, in fact.
“We decided we were going to run closer to the boat ramp to the mud line, and as soon as we got around the beacon, it was rough out there. Pretty consistent four-to-five-footers with the occasional six-footer. If you’re from the Dakotas, it’s a common theme. We knew it’d be pretty rough coming in. It takes a toll on you but it’s part of the game,” he said. “Our furthest north spot would have been about 55 miles out. We were inside Independence Point and caught our fish above Independence Island.” That island is about eight miles south of Shell Island, a usually sunken island that’s now partially exposed due to low water, and also a popular walleye destination. And, it turns out, the lake may have taken a toll on their boat.
Day Two started calmer, and they again headed towards the same area. Then, trouble. But in the end, good trouble. They ended up staying a bit closer, going 35 instead of 55 miles one way, and their total sealed their win.
“It was a good thing because Matt looked at the back and two of the jackplate bolts were kind of pulling out, so we spent the entire day fishing around there,” he said. A jackplate, by the way is an add-on in some boats, used to run both shallow water and run the prop higher for fuel efficiency.
Because of that issue, and a real concern about the lake eating a wobbly 400 V-10 Mercury for breakfast, they used their bow toller exclusively, and by the end of the day he said, they were four or five miles north of Beacon.
“We knew we were in a pretty good area. On Day Two our smallest was a 25-1/2, then we had a 27, a 27-1/4, a 28-1/2 and a 31-3/4. We caught three on the same jig as Day One, and one came on a Berkley Finisher, and one on a ¾-ounce jig with a Keitech straight tail. I believe we had roughly 37 pounds by 11 a.m., and the big one came around 1 to 1:15,” he said. Then the worrying came.
“It was definitely a little nervous when we realized we were not going to be able to move,” he said. That’s when Spickler hitched a ride with the eventual second-place team of Reid Nelson of Valley City, partnered with another name you may have heard of: Beau Schilling of Akaska, South Dakota. More to come on them later.
“It wasn’t too fun for Matt to be sitting out there,” he said, waiting for the tow to bring the boat back to the dock. “But, it all worked out in the end. The boat is being fixed and it all worked out. We needed a top five to make the Shootout,” he said, and the win guaranteed it.
Meanwhile, that second-place team of Nelson and Schilling were working the water not far away, also off Beacon Point, finishing two days with 71.46 pounds, and earning $2,500, plus another $1,000 from Garmin, for using all Garmin electronics, plus a Garmin Kraken bow mount in their Mercury 400 V-10-powered boat, and another $600 for getting first in the Side Pot Challenge, for $4,100 total.
Nelson/Schilling also won the AIM Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Team Of The Year. Both are only 19. Schilling turns 20 in a few days.
More on that in a separate story. Back to how they held down second place both days. Pre-fishing was mostly checking out safe havens, knowing that wind would be a factor. Nelson was reached prepping for another big tournament.
“Our pre-fish was pretty short. We had only one full day. We kinda stayed in smaller bays, but knowing we weren’t going to fish them. One of the half-days of practice we had a little calm and took a trip to the west part and saw the right fish. That was our game plan, make a 30- or 40-mile run west,” Nelson said. Both days, they set up right in front of Beacon Point, and up to Shell Island. They were armed with ¾-ounce VMC red line tungsten jigs threaded with a 3-1/2 or five-inch Mooch Minnow.
“Day One, our smallest fish was a 24 and biggest that day was a 28-1/4. On Day Two, we ran to the same area and fished a few new sets of trees. It was a little less windy so you could run around a little. The first day there was definitely a bite window. We had most of our fish by around 10. It was around 70 degrees that day and it was a good morning bite. Day Two was 55 to 60, so we had fish the entire time,” he said. Their smallest was a 24, biggest a 27.
“We definitely saw a lot of big fish on Day Two. It was kind of a rough day. We lost a few fish and snapped off a few. We saw the right fish to win for sure. It just didn’t happen.
“Sitting in the old river channel there. A lot of boats were fishing it,” he said. “We had 36 pounds the first day, and Day Two had 35. We lost quite a few fish both days. We were expecting that 35- to 40-pound range. That was our goal for both days and we hit that, so we were happy.”
Another Valley City AIM teen phenom, Jayden Wendel and father Brent, took third with 68.04 pounds, winning $2,000, plus $360 in second-place Side Pot Challenge cash. Fourth went to Kyle Hertz and Matt Ristow of Bismarck. They boated 67.80 pounds and earned $1,500 plus $240 for third in the Side Pot Challenge. Jace Larson of Steele and Hunter Hirvela of Bismarck finished fifth, recording 59.25 pounds, good for $1,250. Those five qualified for the 2027 Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout by virtue of their Championship finishes. We’ll report next on who’s going to the Shootout from NoDak from Team Of The Year standings.
Fan Nation, the 2026 season isn’t over yet. The Rivers Division Championship is Oct. 2 and 3 in Fountain, WI, also on the Mississippi.
Time to re-line, then line up to fish with AIM in 2027. Learn how to sign up at aimfishing.com.
You know you want to. You know you can.
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