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Didn’t mean to go ghost mode on you the back half of last week but had a family emergency pop up. ______ is going to be okay, and would be P’d if I mentioned details or them by name, so I’ll leave it at that lol. Love you!

Btw I did learn something new while killing time roaming around the ER lobby...apparently getting hooked is such a common occurrence in the Brainerd Lakes Area (MN) that they have these signs when you walk in:

I posted that pic on FB and saw a comment from Bob Bohland who said that in Aitkin, MN they have a "wall of shame" of all the lures they have removed from folks. And apparently they auction 'em off at the end of the year lol. Wild!

I’ve been hooked quite a few times, but always been able to get them out myself or with a friend’s help...except for one time....

We were fishing for deep, weedline bluegills on Lake Victoria in Alexandria, MN when my older brother tried to SLING a cast out and hooked me in the forehead instead. Man, I was waaaay too old to be crying as much as I did. And yes, that is a flattop hahaha:

Went to the Douglas County Hospital and they used that fishing-line trick to pop the bait out. First time I had ever seen anything like it, which was amazing and still is today, and has also saved many fishing trips ever since.

I remember at that time they had some sort of a cardboard cutout or drawing of a life-size person in the ER...each time a patient comes in that needs to have a fish hook removed, it gets documented on the fake man. Its hands were riddled with dozens of marks, but I was the first one on the face – haven’t let my brother live it down ever since hahaha.

No joke: JT Outdoor Products can barely keep rods in stock...and really it’s no surprise considering walleye tourney folks have been CRUSHING it with ‘em. We recently connected with Joe Bricko to reveal the story behind how JT Custom Rods came to be – that full Target Walleye feature will be dropping soon-ish, but in the meantime, here’s a little sneak peek of our chat with their operations manager Declan Bernardin on the hottest walleye 'scoping rod on the market:

> “I’ve only used the 7’6" JTX Mag Light for a year, and I’ve tried a variety of techniques with it, from dropshots to pitching super-light 1/16- or 1/32-oz hair jigs for crappie and smallmouth bass at Lake of the Woods.

> “A lot of tournament guys are using it for pitching lighter jigs, using the soft tip to let the fish play with the bait and feel those finicky bites, which lets you know when the fish has the hook properly in its mouth.

> “It’s got a backbone to set that hook and drive those fish home. We had a batch of about 30 that came out last week, and they sold out in 2 hours.

> “That soft tip gives you leeway – it lets the fish play around with the bait more, so if they bite the tail end of your bait, you can give them a second to take the bait. You’ll feel them, but they won’t feel you.

> “The benefit of a longer rod with that soft tip is casting smaller baits farther. It’s an extension of our 7’1" JTX, with a similar guide train and load curve. Both the 7’6" and 7’1" are magical rods, really versatile. Randy Topper relies almost exclusively on the 7’6" JTX Mag Light for scoping.”

Hot off his 3rd-place finish at the Lake Sharpe NWT, we asked Randy Topper to share his thoughts on the 7’6" JTX Mag Light:

> “The biggest thing for me is casting a lighter jig farther with the 7’6" JTX Mag Light’s extra length, without it being bulky or losing action. That soft tip is great – if fish aren’t biting right away, you let the rod load up, and they don’t feel it.

> “Our lakes are super-clear, and the fish are shy. For negative fish, I cast right on their mustache from 60’ to 80’ away. That’s where this rod shines. Water displacement sends shock waves to their sensitive lateral lines – it’s a huge deal – so staying away from them is important.

> “Post-spawn, you can get close to aggressive fish, but in tough conditions, you have to turn negative fish. For light stuff, the 7’6" gives distance. For heavier baits, 1/2- to 3/4-oz, I use the 7’9" Black Reign.”

More details coming soon-ish....

Okay I’m not exactly sure either, but Lee Gould caught this pre-breaded one while fishing the Lake Sharpe NWT. Believe that’s a Walleye Nation Creations Shaky Shad that finally broke its fast. Guess it was 20” long and weighed just 1.3 lbs – yikes!

Are people flushing Ozempic down to the toilet, or what?

Obviously walleye pro Bill Shimota has cracked his fair share of walleyes along this stretch of Lowrance GPS trails. I mean technically you can't call it fishing memories if you never leave

I fricken love it. Keep after 'em, Bill!

- Hilarious post from expert boat-rigger Fish Lectronics:

I know men don’t like to read the instructions, but at least glance over the pics LOL.

1. Al Lindner guide trip was just auctioned off…

…in the “World’s Greatest Fishing Auction” and it raised $8,100 for MN-FISH! Absolutely incredible!

All funds raised from the auction will go towards the betterment of fishing in Minnesota, thanks to the fine folks at MN-FISH Sportfishing Foundation = a 501c3 nonprofit organization designed to inspire Minnesotans to restore, protect and enhance sportfishing for the present and future generations to enjoy.

2. WI: Grasso/Brown win Wolf River AIM

Caught all their fish in a crazy 1-hour bite window first thing in the morning – they were done by 8am and then never caught another fish.

> Hair jigs caught a couple, along with a jig and a crawler...but what did most of the damage was a white 3” Keitech plastic on a 1/4-oz jighead.

3. WI: Green Bay reward tag study is on

> This spring nearly 5,0000 walleye will wear a floy tag [400 of those havem a red reward tag that’s worth $100] while swimming in the Fox, Oconto, Peshtigo and Menominee Rivers. The spaghetti-like tags inserted near the dorsal fin contain a numeric code and contact information for the DNR.

4. What size lithium battery is needed for your electronics?

Gotta give props to Amped Outdoors on coming up with a way for folks (who aren’t rocket scientists ) to estimate the total run time different size batteries would give your rig based on the exact electronics you have. It’s called the Battery Capacity Selection Tool and is super slick!

5. MN: Wish my high school would have...

...taken us to visit a fish hatchery – like Paul Zollinger’s CIS Environmental Science Class did – to see the process of egg harvesting. The Northeast Range School (Babbitt) students got to visit the Pike River Walleye Hatchery on the south end of Lake Vermilion (Tower) to see the proces used to grow and stock walleye. Super cool!

6. OH: Some Maumee River ‘eyes loaded w/ parasites

7. WI: Mississippi River NWT happening May 22-23

Out of La Crosse. And a heads-up that registration closes May 9.

8. WI: Merc National tourney happenin’ June 7-8

Registration opened up on Mar 10 (believe they usually fill up with 300 teams every year) for the 47th-annual derby on Lake Winnebago.

9. Guide Nate Blasing selected for Gov's Fishing Opener

Happening on the Whitefish Chain in Crosslake this Sat, May 10.

> Blasing: “Politics are politics right now, and I just look at this as a once-in-a-lifetime honor just to be asked. So, no matter who the governor was, it’s an honor as a fishing guide just to be asked to do that....”

10. VT has no open season on sauger

Apparently you’ve gotta immediately let ‘em go if you catch one.

11. Garmin posted their Q1 results

Al Lindner’s 30-day post-spawn rule

Gotta bring back this gem from Target Walleye’s Al Lindner on where he starts his search for post-spawn walleyes:

> One of the things we learned about early-season walleye is what we call the 30-day rule. This rule primarily applies to smaller and medium-sized natural lakes and reservoirs. This rule DOES NOT apply to the Great Lakes or other huge bodies of water where massive schools of walleye migrate great distances....

> The 30-day rule in these smaller bodies of water: If you know the precise time that the walleye spawned, you can almost bet that 30 days later, groups of walleye will be on the first lip of the large shallow flats extending out into the main body of water.

> These are fish that have already gone through their post-spawn, are regrouping and feeding heavy. There can be other groups of fish deeper, but many of the good-sized fish will be relating to that first lip.

> The lip could be a 3-5′ drop, either weed-edged or sparsely weeded. In other bodies of water that break might occur at 7-10′, and still others at 12-15′. But in all cases the lip is what is considered the main break for that body of water.

> It helps if there is vegetation – however sparse or thick, the walleyes will likely be relating to it. It’s important to realize that the fish will most likely be up on the flat, rather than down the drop.

> Over and over again as we have crisscrossed North America and have dealt with the seasonal variation of the latitudes, yet this seemed to hold true.

> If you’re going on waters you have never been on before, contact the local bait shop or some reliable source of information to find out when the peak of the walleye spawn occurred. To that, add 30 days. Get out your LakeMaster maps and look for those drops – it’s really as simple yet complex as that.

Thx much, Al!

***But worth it....

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026