The “bananas are bad luck” fishing myth has officially been BUSTED.

Not the first time, but this has to be the highest-caliber documentation we have proving that bananas are NOT bad luck in the boat.... It turns out that Tom Huynh had a banana in his boat (on purpose!) while he won the 2025 National Walleye Tour Championship on Green Bay. 😤 #savage

I found that out while reading this GREAT Kurt Mazurek write-up here at Fishing On SI – a division of Sports Illustrated.

> Tom: “After that trip with [Kurt Mazurek on Lake Pepin], I put [the banana] in my fridge with the leftover nightcrawlers.... Then when I was packing to head to Green Bay for the Championship, I saw it still sitting there, so I decided to throw it back in the boat and see if this theory is true, one way or the other.”

That write-up is really well done and 110% worth a read. No, it’s not all about bananas (lol) but that was for sure a nice touch.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen folks debunk the banana myth....

Tom Boley isn’t scared of the yellow fellow:

Speaking of those poor, defenseless ‘nanners...if you’ve never seen this OG Uncut Angling video from Oct 2013, it’s def worth a watch. Aaron Wiebe and Clayton Schick absolutely smashfest the walleyes, and somehow never even mention the fact that there’s hundreds of bananas in the boat.

My favorite comment under the vid:

> “These are the fishermen your math teacher warned you about.”

Lol! Enjoy:

They were catching ‘em rip jigging with 3/4-oz PK Flutter Fish spoons (not just for ice fishing!) and Jackall TN60 rattlebaits:

I mean, some walleyes love bananas so much that they begin to take on their color....

TW fan Jesse Meyer caught this unique critter while soaking a slip-bobber on a southern Alberta reservoir. Thing looks like a bundle of rotten bananas headed for the freezer...that’ll NEVER be made into that banana bread you were promised at the time lol:

Congrats again on the fish of 10,000 lifetimes, Jesse!

Really interesting In-Fisherman write-up (by Dr. Rob Neumann, Steve Quinn, Dr. Hal Schramm & Ralph Manns) talking “how spring warmth, winter severity, and invasive species shape recruitment in Minnesota's top walleye lakes.”

> Walleyes are known as a species that often varies greatly in the success of year-classes – fish spawned in one calendar year. This factor is important as it can lead to fast or poor fishing several years later, when that group of fish reaches harvestable size. Lakes that produce strong year-classes every 3 or 4 yrs tend to have strong populations, supported by adults of various ages.

> Dr. Andrew Honsey and two other researchers from the University of Minnesota recently examined 17 variables and their potential effects on recruitment and year-class strength of MN’s 9 largest walleye lakes....

> These popular fisheries in the central and northern part of the state account for about 40% of the annual walleye harvest statewide. The team used data from the DNR’s annual standardized sampling from 1983 through 2018 and examined factors that were biological, such as population size and presence of zebra mussels and spiny water fleas...weather-related – winter severity...ice-out dates, and spring and summer temperature regimes...and anthropogenic, primarily stocking.

> After considerable crunching of data to create models, results indicated that warm springs were most important in survival of a year-class. Faster warming rates after ice-out were highly beneficial, and years with late ice-outs tended to warm faster.

> The second-most important variable was the severity of the fish’s first winter...tough winters took a toll on the little walleyes.

> The presence of invasive species was associated with reduced year-class strength, with zebra mussels more detrimental. But there was considerable variation among lakes in that factor. Indeed, the models fit some lakes better than others, with Kabetogama and Mille Lacs being the largest outliers, for unknown reasons. Fry stocking is not routinely done on these lakes but where it was, low-density stocking had positive effects on year-class strength, but boosting stocking levels had no further effect.

> Overall, thermal conditions were primary factors in recruitment of year-classes. Warmer first springs and summers boosted survival, likely due to faster growth and increased availability of tiny prey. Severe winters preceding the walleye hatch were positively correlated to subsequent recruitment as well. A cold winter prior to hatching reduces abundance of the preceding year-class of walleyes, which compete and prey on hatchlings. Severe first winters reduced year-class success.

> Ideal conditions for a walleye year-class consisted of a rather long and cold winter preceding the hatch...late ice-out...fast spring warming...a warm first summer...and a mild first winter.

> While we have no control over weather, the model provides tools for managers to examine the need for potential changes in regulations in response to walleye recruitment levels related to those conditions.

In case you still haven’t seen the VMC Bladed Hybrid Treble (where ya been?!) it has a resin-sealed swivel with a BLADE for flashy goodness:

It has been my #1 crankbait tweak for walleyes...but it’s just as deadly paired-up on Rapala Jigging Raps, too. Here’s a slow-motion look at the flash and flutter it can add to an already deadly technique:

This simple tweak WILL get you more bites. Sometimes it’s 2:1...sometimes it’s 5:1...and so far worst-case scenario it’s been 1:1. I’m sold and have been adding the VMC Bladed Hybrid Treble to nearly all of my hardbaits.

This day, I found a pod of BIG, fall walleyes cruising shallow water (7-10′) up on the top of a very sharp breakline with my Humminbird MEGA Side Imaging:

Little zoomski:

I threw jigs, dropshots, sucker minnows, chubs, ‘crawlers – you name it – at ’em and couldn’t get bit. Started to think it was a school of big suckers moseying around....

BUT first cast into ’em with a bladed-out #9 Rapala Jigging Rap (purpledescent) and I got smoked by a biggun on the drop. She took me for a wild ride, but graced the camera with her presence for a brief moment before sending her back:

The #6 size VMC Bladed Hybrid Treble is the one I use probably 90%+ of the time on my hardbaits, and it’s perfect for #9 Jigging Raps. It’ll also work on the #7 Jigging Raps, but if you prefer the hook to be closer to the stock size, you’d want swap it with a #8.

Btw this is also a reminder that sometimes they want that reaction bite! So many folks get stuck throwing little jigs and crawlers, leeches, or minnows at walleyes and think: “If they won’t eat that, they won’t eat anything” – especially since forward-facing sonar joined the party. But I have seen MANY times these last couple seasons where they deny that finesse-y stuff and then wallop a Jigging Rap. 🎯 Gotta read the mood of the fish and rotate thru your arsenal.

Ever get dialed on walleye (or anything that swims), go out the next day knowing you're gonna whack 'em and the bite just disappears? Without a big weather change.

We can throw around all kinds of “reasons”, but what’s really happening? Here’s one possible explanation, from a good In-Fisherman post by Dan O’Sullivan with help from Hook n’ Look's Kim Stricker).

After a day of catching smallmouth on Lake Champlain, NY, Kim went back to the same spot the next day and didn't catch anything. He put on his scuba gear and took his underwater camera to see what was going on.

> [Kim] and his son Danny found that the water had [divided into layers] differently in the area than it had the day prior. On the 1st day the water was evenly mixed with turbidity and fertile aspects that were visible to the [men] and the camera lens. 

> On the 2nd day, the water several feet up from the bottom was crystal clear, and much cooler, while the turbid, warmer water was elevated off the bottom.

> In this case, the wind drove cooler water into the area, and because cooler water is more dense than warm water, it sunk to the bottom – forcing the fertile warmer water towards the surface.

> [What Kim] found was that the fish tend to follow the warmer water upwards....

On Hook n' Look's YouTube video, these new layers of water are even visible on camera:

The cooler, new water is on the bottom, and the warmer, cloudy/nutrient water is on top:

> "That’s why these fish moved out. This pattern-alternating phenomenon we’re experiencing is caused by [the seiche effect] – the result of sustained winds and wave movement blowing across a large body of water out of the same direction for several days.

> "[Going down to] 15-17', the water temperature had abruptly dropped 10 degrees. And the visibility at that depth became crystal clear. The layer of warmer more-fertile water loomed directly above.

> "It appeared that the cold water was upwelling from the deep, compressing the warmer fertile upper layer, in turn directly pushing the bass and baitfish shallower within their comfort zone."

What’s this mean for walleye fishing? Well for me [Brett McComas], it might explain why those spots I found prefishing were absolutely loaded the day before the tournament, and then completely empty the next day even though the weather/wind was identical to the couple days prior. Or why big schools of bait with walleye around ‘em move around and change depth so much.

So how do you combat this? 😅 If you figure it out let me know. But maybe it’s one reason why those spots with deep-water access close are so good. Lets walleye slide up and down, and not have to completely vacate an area when the water starts changing.

Just looking higher in the water column or right on that thermocline in the same areas can also be the ticket. If the water's got baitfish high and moving, that's where the big predatory ‘eyes are going to be too. But they can also ride that thermocline and use that change in water clarity to ambush bait. Just speculating of course....

Our local walleye league’s end-of-year championship was on Sunday. And the day before I had found a huge school of walleyes up in about 8-14’ on the weededge in a big corner. The weather and wind direction was going to be identical for the next 24 hours so I thought for sure we’d pop in there and fill our limit quickly. But of course they were gone....

I wasted a ton of time poking around even shallower on top of the flat thinking maybe they had slid up, but just found some hungry bass hahah. Ended up spotting pods of walleye that had slid down off the bottom edge of the break into that 25-30’ range. What was once a single, big school of probably 100+ walleyes was now little groups of 3-4 fish all scattered around and roaming that basin edge.

Interestingly enough, I came back to the same spot about 4 hours later in the day once the sun finally poked back out...and then all of the little pods of deep fish had grouped back up in that shallower 8-14’ stuff.

My whole life I was told that walleyes will be up shallow and aggressive at low light, mornings and evenings...then push out deeper during the daytime or when the sun comes out...but what I’ve been seeing lately on these central-MN lakes is the exact opposite. 🤷‍♂️

So were those fish looking for cooler water then? No idea if any of this is even related...I’m basically just spewing a bunch of thoughts and observations out, trying to piece together this walleye fishing puzzle that we will never 100% be able to solve – but that’s also why I love it so dang much.

I came across a FB post from Keith Kavajecz talking about his recent trip to Colorado where he knocked a bunch of firsts off the list:

> “First Colorado walleye while fishing Chatfield Reservoir for the first time – #3 Shiver Minnow KK Shad.

> “First cutbow (cut throat/rainbow trout mix) and first lake strain brown trout while fishing Spinny Mountain Reservoir for the first time (thanks to Nate Zelinsky - Tightline Outdoors).

> “First time fishing beautiful Pueblo Reservoir. We trolled up a bunch of walleye using a new Berkley crank bait (to be announced)."

Which sounds like an epic run! But then was stopped in my tracks when I came across this photo sprinkled into the post. And no, this is not AI...

Never seen anything like it, and a lot of other folks hadn’t either ‘cuz the comments section is starting to pop off with Qs. I’ll see if I can track down KK and get a few details....

1. Duane 'Dewey' Hjelm crowned NWT AOY 👑

BIG congrats to Dewey on winning the 2025 NWT Angler of the Year title...AGAIN (believe his first was in 2022). Meaning he was the most consistently good angler through every National Walleye Tour event in 2025. Way to put it together the ENTIRE season dude!

> As far as equipment goes, Hjelm had a few different tools that were keys to his success. Consistently throughout the year his go to jig head minnow combo was a VMC RedLine Series Tungsten Swimbait Jig paired with a CrushCity Mooch Minnow or The Jerk [coming soon]. This was thrown on the 13 Fishing Myth and Oath Series in either the 6’ 9” or 7’ 1” models. Dewey also got to use a rod that he played a big hand in designing from 13 Fishing. It’s made specifically for the Rapala Jigging Rap and comes in a 6’ 10” Medium Light + that will be available in the Myth and Oath series late this fall. His go-to line was 10-lb Sufix Revolve braid or 15-lb Sufix 832 if he wanted the bait to hang a little more.

Side note:

Rapala dropped a new episode of “CrushCity Crew” that shares Dewey’s story of how he quit his job as a SD lineman to live out his dream of chasing walleyes around the country. 🔥 Awesome vid of his journey:

Side note x2:

If you’re craving some more behind the scenes type of content, Dewey and Brett Carlson recently hopped on the Past The Barb Podcast:

> Brett Carlson joins the Podcast to chat about his career in the fishing industry, stemming back to early days with FLW Outdoors, ghost writing for most of the outdoor publications you read, and becoming the voice of Tour Level Gold. We dive deep into the walleye fishing industry, where it's been and where it's headed.

> Then we welcome on NWT Angler of the Year, South Dakota's finest, Dewey Hjelm to chat about his career that has exploded as of late, his role with Tour Level Gold, and how he started in the walleye world.

Great episode, fellas!

2. SK: $100K Vanity Cup happening Oct 4-5

I’m surprised we don’t see more US teams roadtripping up to this Tobin Lake derby for a crack at the $100K payday! 🤑

3. WI: Final AIM ‘Rivers Division' event is tomorrow

On Pool 3, Pool 4, and St. Croix River out of Hager City.

4. MTT's "Directors Cup" is tomorrow on Mille Lacs

Btw the winner of this event will be awarded a single team NTC bid to fish the National Team Championship July 23-25, 2026 out of Sault Ste Marie, MI. 😮

5. Marcum has ‘Live’ sonar coming?

No link, but I’m hearing thru the grapevine that Marcum has an ‘Ultra Live Bundle’ in the works that’s expected to be released this fall. I’m told that it’s “equipped with 360 imaging” 👀 which has me excited to see what it’s all about. I’ll keep you posted....

6. MI: DNR's electrofishing surveys starting up

> "These surveys are an important tool for fisheries managers to determine whether walleye that hatched in the spring (known as young-of-year) hatched in the wild or were stocked, as well as how many of those fish are present in an area.”

7. MN: The Lindner clan hit up Leech Lake (vid)

#JigAndMinnowSZN

8. Humminbird’s XPLORE Series won ICAST Anglers’ Choice Award

It's packed with a fast quad-core processor, sleek touchscreen, HD display, and seamless integration with Minn Kota motors and anchors. Also has advanced mapping, waypoint management, and compatibility with MEGA imaging. Available in 9”, 10”, or 12” displays, priced from $1,299.99 to $2,699.99 (check ‘em out right here at Scheels). Humminbird keeps pushing the limits for fishing tech.

9. MN: Bunch of AIS updates

Zebra mussel larvae confirmed in Phalen chain of lakes (Ramsey County).

Starry stonewort confirmed in Benedict Lake (Hubbard County).

Zebra mussels AND starry stonewort confirmed in Anna Lake (Otter Tail County).

Zebra mussel larvae confirmed in White Earth Lake (Becker County).

Zebra mussels confirmed in Roosevelt Lake (Cass and Crow Wing counties) and in Swan Lake (Itasca County).

Likely to see a flurry of these findings over the next month-ish as more folks are pulling their docks and lift out of the water and spotting invasives copping a free ride.

10. CO: Adult zebras found in the Colorado River

11. MN: North Metro Ice Show, Oct 25-26

At the Adrenaline Sports Center in Ramsey. First show of the year means you'll be the first to see all the new hardwater gear for the 25/26 szn.

12. SD: Dakota Angler Ice Institute, Nov 7-9

At the Sioux Falls Arena & Convention Center.

How Brosdahl dropshots during a tough bite

There’s a TON of great info broken down by the Bromeister in this new video! 📝

“Fish a metro lake... It'll be fun, they said....”

- That's Lake Minnetonka (MN) guide Jonah talking about turning his boat trailer into a combine harvester lol. #woof

WARNING: You are now entering arguably the best fishing of the season.... So get your life right, John! 🤣

But when you do eventually store your boat for the winter, don’t forget to use Sea Foam! Their Marine PRO product is designed just for marine engines – cleans and lubricates your motor, helps prevent corrosion caused by ethanol and water, and stabilizes tank fuel up to 2 years!!

If you can’t find Marine PRO near you, original Sea Foam still works great in ’em to dissolve fuel residues AND for fuel stabilization. May be the #1 automotive additive in the US, but it was originally invented for outboard motors.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026