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Reminder: If your email program cuts off the bottom of this email, click “View this email in your browser” up top to see the whole thing. Sorry about that – email programs keep changing stuff.
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These “Death Jigs” are filthy! 🥵
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Not sure what took me so long…but I finally ordered myself some Walleye Nation Creations Death Jigs last fall and man do they ever catch ’em. There’s nothing else like it!
Reminds me of someone taking a bunch of good walleye baits (jig, bottom-bouncer, ‘crawler harness, spinner) and combining them into one hybrid fish-catcher:
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Here’s a preview of what it looks like underwater:
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And here’s what it looks like above water…with a Green Bay dirty-30 attached. 😎
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Sounds like you can fish it a zillion different ways, but the most popular might be slow-rolling it (over the tops of fish or structure) with a steady/straight retrieve and letting the twirling crawler do the work.
Little info in this video on how Isaac Lakich rigs the ‘crawlers on the back for the best action. Oh, and they also triple-up with a walleye, pike and smallie at the same time lol.
Isaac says to wait a second or 2 to set the hook after feeling a bite to make sure they chomp the whole rig and aren’t just nipping at the tail.
Another quickie tip to keep it from getting tangled when casting:
> “Think of it as more of a lob out [versus a sharp, snappy cast]…and at the end of the cast before the bait hits the water, you want to put light pressure on the line which helps the hook stay back.
Same type of lobby cast I do with slip-bobbers, or really any live bait so it stays on the hook. And lightly feathering the spool at the end helps to lay everything out straight when it hits the water.
Don’t have to fish it with live bait either. I’ve heard of a lot of folks using things like Uncle Josh Pork Night Crawlers, Slimers, Gulp! on the business end.
You obviously don’t need forward-facing sonar (LiveScope, Mega Live, Active Target) to fish with ’em…but “sniping” those big, suspended marks you see moseying around all over was an absolute blast.
The 3/4-oz size sounds heavy, but it seemed to be the most universal for how/where I like to fish. And could drop down to a 3/8-oz if fishing skinny water.
I cannot wait to get back out slinging ‘em again!
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…seen a walleye (or sauger) that looked like it had been sitting half in the cooler and half out before 🖐️ like this unique critter posted by fishing guide Simon Lauzon! 😮 WILD: |
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And it was very much alive! Click the pic ^ to see a short video of him releasing it.
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Korey Sprengel’s Berkley Fusion19 Snap Jig program. 🎯
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There’s literally a lifetime’s worth of info on the internet talking the ins and outs of heavy glide baits (Jigging Raps, Shiver Minnows, Hyper-Rattles, Johnny Darters, etc.) but I hadn’t really seen that kind of in-depth “meat” on the Berkley Fusion19 Snap Jig yet. A bait that has a similar, erratic action for triggering reaction bites, but can be fished a little bit slower, shallower, and even in places you have some weeds…something you wouldn’t want to try with traditional glide baits.
Reminder: The Berkley Fusion19 Snap Jig is a winged jighead – with a gliding/darting action – that lets you swap out the body with your favorite plastics to change up the color, action and profile:
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“Still laughing I asked if you wanted to stop fishing and watch the sunset with me 30 seconds prior.”
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– That’s what Chase Palosaari’s girlfriend, Paige, said in a comment under this pic of a giant 29-incher he caught in the U.P. of MI after he was forced to choose between fishing and his girlfriend LOL: |
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Don’t give up on him, Paige! 😂 He can love you both equally…they’re two very different kinds of love hahaha.
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New “Top 5” vid coming in hot! 🔥
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1. We lost Mary Cabela, a Cabela’s founder.
> Mary and her late husband, Dick Cabela, founded their name-sake, Cabela’s, in 1961 when they filled fly fishing mail orders from their kitchen table in their home in Chappell, Neb.
> Born in Casper, WY on May 4, 1937, Mary hunted since she was a young girl. She hunted birds and rabbits since she was 10, and big game since 1987.
2. 15th-annual MN Fishing Challenge is tomorrow on Gull Lake.
This year their goal is to raise $500K to support Mn Adult & Teen Challenge drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs and help people find freedom from addiction. 🙌
Shout-out to all the folks raising $$$ for such a great cause! Which btw I saw that Premier Pontoons graciously threw $5,000 into the pot – SUPER amazing of those folks!
There’s still time to donate to a team…. One team I’d specifically like to call out is Target Walleye’s own Chris Philen.
Chris hasn’t been able to fund-raise like he has in the past…he’s been too busy beating cancer’s butt after being diagnosed back in Jan. Post-treatment healing and recovery is a long process, and they still won’t know the results for several weeks. But he’s a strong, God-fearing man and hitting it head on. 💪🙏✝️
Please consider donating to support the ministry that helped save Chris’s life, and you can read about his personal journey here.
Btw Chris was finally able to get back on the water this week and even put a walleye in the boat at our local walleye league – seeing his big smile says it all!!!
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And he somehow found the energy to hop in that Premier Marine Sunsation Angler (sweet, award-winning fishing pontoon! More on that later….) to get his gear dialed-in before fishing the big charity derby tomorrow. 🙌 Hope you have an amazing day on the water, brother! Get some fish slime on that thing. 👊 |
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4. Huk has a new VP of marketing.
> Marolina Outdoor Inc, the parent company of Huk Performance Fishing and Nomad Outdoor, has tapped Joe Becker as the new VP of marketing for both brands.
> Becker recently served as creative director for the Wolverine Boot brand as well as ecommerce creative director for Merrell….
5. MN: I just signed up to fish the Walleye Alliance Fall Classic…
…happening Sat, Sept 30 on Pelican Lake near Breezy Point. This year they’re doing a guaranteed $5K to 1st place! The tourney helps raise money to better walleye fishing in the Brainerd Lakes Area. It’s a $300 team entry fee (80% payout) and they’re capping it at 50 boats.
Pelican is definitely one of my favorite walleye lakes in the area – ton of catchable fish in there right now and some big ones mixed in. My buddy Jason Rylander and I got lucky (for once 😅) and won it a couple years ago. Our bag was anchored by a 29” kicker that was also big fish of the derby at 6.76 lbs.
This derby has a 5-fish limit with only 1 fish allowed > 20”. So we went into it with two separate game plans: A shallow-water jig pitching deal with 1/8-oz VMC Hard Ball Jigs and minners for our fish under 20”, then pulling rigs with big chubs on deep humps for an “over.” Gotta love when a plan works out because they sure never seem to!
Registration just opened – hope to see you there!
6. MN: Speaking of the Walleye Alliance….
> “Roundhouse Brewery will be hosting a non-profit fundraiser for the local Walleye Alliance Inc [THIS] Sun, June 4th from 1-3pm. Beer proceeds will go back to the Walleye Alliance. Please come join us, listen to some live music, and learn more about the work the Walleye Alliance does to support the Brainerd Lakes.”
I’ll definitely be swinging in to donate a few walleye fingerlings hahaha. 👊
7. Tackle Warehouse is looking for a marketing manager.
8. Have you seen the 2B Fishing “Sharp Shooter” yet?
A spinning rod that’s specifically designed for slinging slip-bobbers for walleyes. I have one and absolutely LOVE it. Here’s a few quick details:
> “…the “Sharp Shooter” is an 8′ telescoping bobber rod that collapses to 6’10” for easy storage. …this slip float specific rod features oversized guides and tip for shooting slip-knots through the guides, allowing you to place the bait precisely where the fish are. With the perfect backbone and a moderate action to keep fish pinned all the way home….”
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Obviously you don’t need to have forward-facing sonar to put this rod’s benefits to work…I think anyone who likes soaking a slip-bobber for walleyes would appreciate some of those key features. 💯
And for you visual learners:
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How to trick spooky, clear-water walleyes?
Interesting read from Mike Frisch talking walleyes in ultra-clear water:
> Last week, I was on a clear water lake on a calm, bright day and could see bottom in 14-16’ pretty clearly. Many walleyes were shallower than that as I saw several using my polarized sunglasses and scanning with my eyes out ahead of the boat. These fish were cruising, apparently looking for shiners that were preparing to spawn.
> I saw lots of fish and watched as they darted away from the boat and away from my jig and minnow combo. I attempted to cast ahead of the fishes’ courses several times to “intercept” them on their way forward. This didn’t work.
> Eventually, I found deeper fish in 18-22’ using my traditional 2D sonar. Interestingly, however, I had to hold the boat a good distance away from these fish and cast a jig and minnow to get them to bite. If, as I would have done in the past, I tried to vertically jig or pull a slip-sinker rig and minnow through them, most of the walleyes would seem to move away. It appeared they re-gathered in the area, but nevertheless they were spooky.
> A fishing buddy called me that night on my drive home. He relayed a message of being on another lake and “seeing” with his forward-facing sonar pods of walleyes 40-60’ away from the boat. When a bit of wind caused some “chop” on the water, he could cast to the pods and get a bite or two from each pod. During a period of the day, however, when the wind speed was very light and the lakes surface “like glass”, he said he had to stay as far as 80-100’ away from most of the fish. When he did get a bait to them, they skittered away from his jig and minnow as it dropped among them.
Keep reading here.
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“Please, I very rarely look cool. This is a big moment for me.” 😅
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Amazing fish and pic from Cody ( @backroadangler) while CRUSHING walleyes on Manitoba’s Lake Winnipeg. Said he and his 2 buds caught 273 of ’em! 🤯 #RoadTrip |
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Sign up another fish-head!
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Friends of Target Walleye
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Who is Target Walleye
Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Jay Kumar, Brett McComas and other diehard fish-heads like you!
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Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye He was discovered in Brainerd, MN after years of wondering how in the heck people break into the fishing biz. He’s in it now, but still can’t answer that question…. Brett is one of those guys who majored in marketing, only because there was no such thing as a “fishing degree” at the time…. Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com
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