That’s Robert Eggleston of Northeast Ohio Sportfishing with his 11.57-lb (31.5”) walleye that got him 2nd place in the two largest walleye fishing tournaments on Lake Erie – the Fall Brawl and the Walleye Slam.

He won a fully-outfitted Ranger 621FS Cup Series w/ a Mercury 300 Pro XS (valued at $110,000) for 2nd in the Fall Brawl...AND he also won a new tow vehicle because 2nd in the Walleye Slam was a 2023 Toyota Tundra SR5 pickup truck.

I absolutely love this comment from his dad, Steve Eggleston, under one of the posts:

> Steve: “I have kept track of some of the expenses incurred raising you... Some Examples: Lost time from work for school disciplinary meetings. Unnecessary medical expenses incurred due to horseplay. Pain and suffering for your younger sister. 20 years of red-string bologna and cheese sandwiches. I will work on a figure we can both agree on...and once again, congratulations.”

LOL!

Robert caught this bankroll of a fish using a “perch” color Walleye Nation Creations SB Reaper, which looks like this:

> Robert: “...favorite cold-water crank for big walleye. Run em sloooowwwww with snap-weights behind boards, kick up the speed every once in a while to give them some action, stop and go, then watch [the planer boards] fly back....”

He also said he put that SB Reaper “right back where it belongs” and had it mounted with the fish – love it!

I can’t even imagine. Congrats!!!

Have you ever seen this before? It’s been pretty hush-hush over the years...but a few bassin’ pros have finally started speaking about it some:

That’s a screenshot from this video of Ott DeFoe talking about how and why he replaces the stock split-rings with ones he makes out of 30-lb braided fishing line.

> Ott: It helps keep the fish from having leverage and throwing the bait. ...allows your hook to swing more freely.

A normal split-ring is only going to let your hook turn so far...and when it stops rotating, fish can get leverage and come off. But Ott shows in the video how he can twist that braided line split-ring around more than 3x before it stops spinning.

That’s not his only reason for using ‘em:

> It also makes the bait more silent. This can be a huge plus in tough fishing conditions.

> ...just how pressured our fisheries are anymore...a crankbait with split rings makes a lot of noise. This is a way to take a bait without any built-in rattles and make it just that much more quiet.

Ott does a great job of showing how he ties ‘em up in this YT video:

I had never thought about the whole silent part until he started shaking the bait just 1 second into the video.

Could definitely see some crossover of this into the walleye world – shoot they’re typically 10x fussier than bass HA!

Also reminds me of how a lot of folks will add a second split-ring to their ice-fishing jigging spoons so the treble hook can get a little more twist before seizing up. But man, I could see the braided line “split ring” being THE DEAL for keeping those thrashing fish pinned. Oh, and it would help add some freedom to let the business end of the bait swing.

Friendly reminder that Hunter Nitti recently got 2nd at the Lake Erie NWT – dude has been absolutely Crush(City)ing it!

Now he and his dad Robert just dropped a massive bag of 5 for 34.15 to win the first Minnesota Tournament Trail event of the season at Big Stone Lake on the MN/SD border.

Get this: Hunter said the first time he had ever been to the lake was the day before the tournament so I had to hit him up to snag a few details on how he pulled that off:

> Hunter: I knew it was weedy, some rockpiles around, and that it didn’t get very deep...12-14’ in some parts. Didn’t know what to expect...but there were weeds EVERYWHERE.

> I went and hit a half dozen rockpiles right away just because they were different than all the weeds. Had a lot of fish on them that weren’t walleyes (sunfish, crappies, bass – lots of bass). I knew that’s not where I was going to find walleyes...they weren’t going to be hanging out with those fish, they were going to be in their own separate areas.

> Started looking for points...working ALL of the points. But the weeds were really high and shallow. Anything from 1’ to 8’ of water was basically weeded-out. There were still fish in there, but they were hard to see on electronics...which pushed me out off of the points....

> Going out in front of the points...in the middle of the lake and not right on ‘em...where the weeds weren’t as tall. They were about 9’ tall and I had 3-4’ of open water above them, where I found the fish hanging out above the weeds.

> Still basically pre-fishing during the tournament...but once you figure out a piece to the puzzle, expand and grind it out.

They caught ‘em on a 1-2 punch of slip-bobbers and swimbaits.

His bobber setup was a 1/32-oz jighead with a leech set just 3’ down or so. Said they were set so shallow that he could have used one of those clip-on Rocket Bobbers instead of a slip-bobber and laughed.

His swimbait setup was primarily an 1/8-oz VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig paired with a 3” Rapala CrushCity The Mayor swimbait in the "sexy shad" color:

He was throwing the swimbait on a 6’10 medium-light extra-fast action rod, 10-lb Sufix 832 braid main line with an 8-lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon leader.

Just swimming it with a slow and steady retrieve, bringing it over the tops of their heads and they’d turn and just gobble it. Said he actually got to watch a number of ‘em crush the swimbait with his own eyes!

And just like that they had their winning bag and were done by 11am.

Big congrats! Keep it rolling. #momentum

Awesome throwback shared on the Lindner’s Angling Edge FB page:

> “He just returned back from serving in the Vietnam War and was living in Rhinelander, WI. This is the first walleye Al caught on a Lindy Rig – a rig system his brother Ron designed while he was away. The fish was caught on Lake George.

And of course it was a giant!

Wonder how many walleyes have been caught on the Lindy Rig since?!

1. ND: 23rd-annual ‘Big Muddy Walleye Classic’ champs...

...on the Missouri River out of Bismarck are Joe Werner, Andy Leier and Zach Nelson who won with 6 fish for 43 lbs. Actual weight, not a length-to-weight conversion. And their big fish was an 11.98-lber. Congrats fellas!

Btw the ‘Big Fish’ of the derby was a 13.34-lber SHEESH! But no pics? Full results here.

2. Lindy going lead-free by 2027.

> ...Lindy Fishing Tackle has become the first company to sign the Loons and Lakes Legacy Pledge, vowing to make its entire product line lead-free and loon friendly within 3 yrs.

> ...launched a new lead-free jig designed by Minnesota Fishing Hall of Famer Jeff Zernov.

> Jeff Zernov: "I've been making lead-free lures and jigs for 20 yrs, mainly using tungsten. It works really well, but tungsten is tremendously more expensive."

> After spending the last year experimenting with new mixes of metals, Zernov says he found a combination to strike the right balance.

> "Our base metal is bismuth, nothing magic there...but we have other elements that we add to it that makes it a perfect fit for fishing lures. It's harder than lead so you feel your jig better than you do with lead."

> Zernov says the new jig also sinks at nearly the same rate as lead, and he says the cost is much, much more comparable than tungsten.

3. MN: Mississippi River NWT registration closes 5pm FRIDAY.

The derby is happening May 23-24 out of Red Wing. Someone will be taking home a new Nitro ZV20 with Mercury 225 Pro XS plus $15,000 cash oh, plus ultimate bragging rights!

4. Premier Marine’s “Troll & Stow” won another award.

Recently earned Boating Industry’s Top Product Award:

> “More than just a new way to look at trolling motor mounts, Troll & Stow is a real game changer by eliminating the mess and clutter of traditional trolling systems with a design that deploys fast and stows completely below the pontoon’s deck in seconds.”

> “The recreational boating industry is ripe with continuous innovation that enhances the boating experience, and this year’s Top Products are a shining example of that,” said Boating Industry’s Editor-in-Chief Adam Quandt. “The Top Product Awards celebrate this hard work and innovation.”

> The all-new Troll & Stow from Premier features a mounting system that allows the motor, drive unit, and all mounts and cords to be stowed completely below deck. The system can then be deployed and lowered in just seconds. To fully appreciate the clean design and versatility of Troll & Stow, watch this video.

Premier’s engineering team is going to need a bigger trophy wall lol.

5. Big props to Clayton Schick on hitting 100K YouTube subs!

Man, the amount of work that went into that! Welldeserved, brotha.

If you’re not already subbed to Clayton’s YT channel, you can check it out here. He also recently posted a GREAT video story about the journey that led him to where he is today.

6. Austin Ragotzkie is done with the NWT...for now.

Despite the fact that he’s always right in the mix of it.

> “In 2 full seasons and one event this year (11 total tournaments) I cashed checks 7 times. Took 4 top-10 finishes with 3 of those in the top 5....”

He went into some details about the decision in this FB post:

> “With a non-existent ice fishing season and a tough economy, the glamorous life of a full time guide is a little tough right now haha. My business comes first and I need to devote all my time to keeping it going.

> “It has been my childhood dream to compete at a professional level and the last 2 seasons were truly a dream come true for me. I met so many awesome people along the way and while there were definitely ups and downs along the way I really did love it.

> “The industry is in a tough place right now and to be completely honest I just was not able to secure the sponsorships I needed to be able to make it happen. I want to give a huge shout-out to the companies and people that did help me along the last couple years...you guys are awesome and I will continue to promote your business in any way I can!”

He also said that he’ll “be back when the time is right. Hopefully next year!” We hope so too, man!

7. These kids can draw!

The winners of Wildlife Forever’s 2024 Fish Art Contest were just announced – definitely worth a looksee. The 'Best of Show' award winner was Mia Macias.

8. Brunswick wins 11 Boating Industry Mag. Top Product Awards...

...for the second consecutive year.

9. MN: Green Lake Walleye Classic, Aug 18.

10. LA: Bill Humphreys Sr retiring from H&H at 87.

> H&H Lure Co, one of LA's largest fishing tackle manufacturing and distribution operations. H&H was, has been and is Bill Humphreys Sr since he began traveling across the Deep South selling spinnerbaits.

> Since 1959, H&H has grown from producing spinnerbaits in a variety of colors and styles to a worldwide distributor with a little more than 25,000 products embracing all corners of the fishing world.

Want a healthy walleye fishery? Stock some muskie.

Interesting Q&A with Great Lakes Now’s Kathy Johnson chatting with William Schultz, founder of the non-profit advocacy group Michigan Muskie Alliance.

TJ Erickson's top spring walleye locations.

This video from TJ Erickson is loaded with an insane amount of early-season walleye knowledge. He breaks down his top spring walleye locations to prepare for the MN ‘fishing opener’ and also talks about some of the science behind the spawn and why these fish are located where they are:

Don’t jab! Never jab:

No, it’s not #FishFlopFriday but I wanted you to know that even fishing YouTuber Tom Boley occasionally has one that gets away from him. #HeIsHuman? #FishingRobot

Tom has already been kicking out a pile of great content on his YouTube channel this season – I 10/10 recommend subscribing.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026