Everyone welcome Rat-L-Trap back to Target Walleye! Don’t know if a ‘Trap is offered in the most colors of any bait, but there’s a PILE. Here’s a few sick colors made specifically for walleyes you maybe haven’t ogled yet:
Also wanna give a warm fish-head welcome back to Bob at Worldwide Marine Insurance. He SPECIALIZES in boat insurance so there’s no doubt you’ll be covered if something bad-ish goes down. Here’s a couple big reasons why he’ll know exactly what you’re talking about:
Today’s Top 4
“There’s some shenanigans going on down there!”
That’s IDO’s James Holst talkin’ about Marcus Quam’s 2-for-1 scoop [!] after having 3-4 male walleyes chasing in the female he stuck on a “chartreuse/orange core” B-Fish-N Tackle AuthentX Moxi. Have heard of it happening with schooling smallmouth bass, but might be the first video ever when it comes to ‘eyes:
Seriously insane!! But can we take a second to talk about Marcus Quam’s glorious fish-catchin’ beard?
It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it:
Cattail cruisers of the week!
We shared a vid on Fri talking some of the best spring walleye baits and techniques. It started out saying that walleye fishing didn’t have to be boring…how you can fish shallow, fish aggressive, and basically bass-fish for walleyes this time of year.
Speaking of which…check out these cattail cruisers!
Ryan Busche (@ryan_busche) getting knee deep for some SD gold! Got it done casting a 1/4-oz VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig paired with a paddletail:
You think this ditch pickle was hungry? Fish was mid-scarf on another walleye yet still took down @ssenske’s “hot steel” Rapala Original Floater on the Knife River, ND:
Instagram user @reellife.fishing ordered up this Chicago deep dish from back in the sticks — pitching bright jig-and-plastic combos:
Cool shot of Michael Ignace (@michael.ignace) puttin’ this skinny-water sowbelly back where he found her. #WelcomeToTheJungle
When to use muted vs flashy jerkbait colors.
Funny enough this write-up is talking about bass fishing — even though you can catch ’em on licorice — but it’s spot on for wallies too:
> When it comes to jerkbaits, flash can be good — it can pull fish from cover, it can pull them from long distances — but it’s not always the best choice. Sometimes fish want something more subtle.
> In gin-clear water, under sunny, cloudless skies, and on highly pressured fisheries, [walleye] will often reject a jerkbait with too much bling. That’s when Rapala Shadow Raps in frosted patterns shine.
> Rather than flash or reflect a lot of light, a frosted finish has a soft glow around it and catches light in ways that a metallic or chrome pattern really couldn’t.
Here’s what they mean by “frosted” colors:
Side note: Can be a bit confusing when there’s so many similar lookin’ (and sounding) jerkbaits to choose from…so here’s a quick side-by-side comparison of the Rapala Shadow Rap vs Shadow Rap Shad, and when each shines IMO:
Must be some kind of a truck/boat show…
…happenin’ in Oshkosh, WI?
Nope…even better: The 2-day Lake Winnebago NWT event kicks off tomorrow, but the pro pre-fishing parade has been dishing out lots of eye candy.
Still feel like a little kid gawking at the NWT rigs, but my back hurts for the crews that have to get ’em dressed up:
> American Sportfishing Association (ASA) estimates that nearly 2,068,470 anglers spend $1.5 bil while fishing in WI, with an overall economic benefit of $2.3 bil to the state.
> …when water temps in the Dead River approach 45-50 degrees, walleyes make a spawning migration from Otter Tail Lake into the river. DNR fisheries crews place a large funnel-shaped net into the river to capture walleyes as they move upstream. Approximately 5K males and 1K females will be captured….
> …eggs are stripped and fertilized…then transferred to the hatchery where…the incubation process begins. About 500 qts of eggs are collected and hatched each spring…each consists of approximately 135K eggs.
> The Walker Lake hatchery produces about 45 mil walleye fry on an annual basis. Approximately 25 mil fry are stocked into other lakes with public accesses. Another 20 mil are stocked into shallow rearing ponds where they will grow into fingerlings.
That’s Lake McConaughy, which has the potential to kick out a legit 13-15 lber. Bet any of those teams would loooove to stick the one Ryan Grogg (@fanatic_fisherman_303) caught on game day. #GirthBrooks
So far the non-profit has raised about $200K in private funds to stock nearly 100K walleye into Lake Minnetonka. Important ‘cuz the DNR estimates as little as 5% of walleye in the lake come from natural reproduction — so a BIG thank you to these folks.
> The MN House of Reps on Tues amended the Omnibus Environment and Natural Resources bill to make permanent the changing of the name of Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska.
I had the wrong link in last week for a cool ride along video of the IA DNR crew gillnetting walleye on Black Hawk Lake. Thx for the heads up, IA peeps!
…with super long-shank hooks like the Mission Tackle Shiner Jig? It’s sort of like a TX Rig for walleyes (lol). Great way to keep those dollar bills straight and on the end of your hook until a fish hits ’em:
Meme of the Day
Take a deep breath:
Today’s ‘Eye Candy
One way to tell your kid is hooked on fishin’…. Darren Gilgen’s daughter knows what’s up!
Looks like Christmas presents are going to be getting more and more expensive for you lol.
According to this write-up it’ll be the rusty patched bumbleBEE….
In my heart it’ll always be the Salmo HORNET (lol) seein’ as they catch the most important-est state symbol: the walleye. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinions, so I’ll let you be the judge as to which is the most majestic:
Sign up another fish-head!
If you’re forwarding Target Walleye to a friend who loves to walleye-fish or want your fishing buddies to get these emails, just send us their email addresses and we’ll take care of it! (We won’t sell the addresses, use them for spam, etc.)
Target Walleye/Ice — walleye during open water and all species during hardwater — is brought to you by Al and Ron Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Brett McComas and other diehard fish-nuts like you! #fishheads
Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye/Ice. 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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