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There was an amazing turnout at the Walleye Alliance Spring Banquet last night. It was incredible chatting with and meeting a bunch of other walleye-obsessed folks, and getting to listen to tourney-hammer Tom Huynh tell his story and talk FFS.
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And I was finally able to meet Gary “Mr. Walleye” Roach 🙌 what a night!
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💯 Big thx to all that helped put on this fundraising event!
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Gravel lizards of the week!
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1) Anthony Kleinwachter caught two different 30-inchers on back-to-back days this spring on the Rainy River! His new PB (congrats man!) was caught throwing a “goldcracker/chartreuse tail” color AuthentX Pulse-R on a 1/4-oz VMC Sleek Jig:
> “Working into the current at 0.4 mph pitching toward shore and letting it slide behind the boat with the current in 10’. Targeted shallower areas with scattered rocks on the Canadian side for those big egg-wagons running up the river.”
Check out this fish’s shoulders!
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2) This Devils Lake, ND rock melon was flirting with the magical 30” mark. Forrest Leitch stuck ‘er while pitching a #6 “voodoo haze” color Rapala Rippin’ Rap on top of a shallow gravel bar adjacent to a big spawning flat. He said this one still had eggs, but that he also caught plenty of spawned-out females and males that were milking. Crazy fish!
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3) The Green Bay night shift paid off for Riley Hemme 💯 who was leaning into ‘em trolling shallow rock structure with Smithwick Perfect 10 Rogue (“golden rogue” color) in Door County, WI:
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Man, ‘Fishing Opener’ can NOT come soon enough. 😫
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Post-spawn walleye MythBusters….
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This is a really great Gord Pyzer write-up on In-Fisherman that’s packed with a TON of info on spring walleye migrations. For sure worth diving into the full scoop here, but I’m going to drop a few juicy nuggets below that caught my attention instantly:
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> Larger walleyes also move from spawning areas in a hurry – much faster than most anglers think. “We got into a bunch of small males,” is the usual opening-day refrain from frustrated walleye anglers. “The bigger fish are recuperating and refuse to bite.” But according to Colby, smaller male walleyes predominate in the spring catch because males outnumber females on the spawning grounds. Males mature at least a year earlier than females, adding at least one extra year-class of them on the shoals.
> Colby also says that larger female walleyes quickly vacate spawning areas in search of a deep-water refuge. They head for deeper regions, especially if soft-rayed forage like ciscoes and smelt are available. It isn’t that they just quit feeding.
> Younger, smaller walleyes, both male and female, often forage on perch. Perch tend to stay shallow, so smaller walleyes stay shallow, too. This isn’t to suggest that large walleyes don’t eat perch. They certainly do, especially in emerging weedgrowth during the presummer and summer peak periods.
> Small walleyes eat perch (and shiners) because these baitfish are more abundant, not just because walleyes prefer them, Colby explains. As walleyes grow bigger, however, they switch from what is most abundant to what they prefer: Soft-rayed forage like deeper-dwelling herring and smelt. And walleyes also function metabolically more effectively in the depths.
I for sure recommend diving into the full read here.
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Looking for a challenging puzzle?
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Try putting this bad boy together…. 🧐
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Believe it or not (believe it!) those are walleye bones 😳 and here’s what it looks like after Down to the Bone Taxidermy puts the pieces together:
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Incredible work! 🙌 Sounds like the skull costs 200-ish bones and comes with a display case.
I got to snooping thru his FB page and found another post where he had kicked out a complete skeleton reconstruction of a 28” walleye:
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Al Lindner’s 30-day post-spawn rule. 🎯
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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! 🐐
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“When the only time you mark any fish is when a flock of geese fly overhead.”
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I know men don’t like to read the instructions, but at least glance over the pics LOL.
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1. MN-FISH’s “World’s Greatest Fishing Auction” is live.
Bunch of great prizes and guide trips to bid on thru 7pm on May 2.
> The MN-FISH Sportfishing Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization designed to inspire Minnesotans to restore, protect and enhance sportfishing for the present and future generations to enjoy. All funds raised from this auction will go towards the betterment of fishing in Minnesota.
Someone is going to land a once in a lifetime opportunity for two people to be guided by one of the most respected freshwater anglers in North America this summer!
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2. MN: Leech Lake Walleye Tournament, May 31 – June 1.
Sounds like there’s only a few spots left open. I was told this is the largest walleye tournament in Minnesota with the largest payouts.
3. ND: You don’t always need a boat to catch walleyes….
Many consider Devils Lake, ND to be the walleye shore-fishing capital of the world, and guess what? The season never closes. #Jackpot
DL is one of the few walleye factories (that’s not a river) where the walleye season is open during pre-spawn and spawn. Male walleyes are the first to show up shallow when the water begins to climb into the low- to mid-40s.
More info here if you’re looking for an early-spring road trip. Also some fresh insight here from local guides.
4. IA Great Lakes ‘Walleye Weekend’ is May 4-5.
> Ten walleye are tagged and released in to the chain of Iowa Great Lakes. Starting at midnight on Sat May 4 you can cast your chance at catching one of these 10 tagged walleye worth $42K! There are many other chances to win prizes all weekend long – from the largest fish categories to the raffle prizes at the awards luncheon. The weekend’s tournament ends at 11:59 am on Sun, May 5.
5. MN: Big Stone Mega Bucks Walleye Tournament, May 17-18.
3rd-annual event out of Ortonville. $1K entry fee for the 2-day derby, but there’s $50K paid out amongst the top-7 spots. 😳
6. WI: Merc National tourney happenin’ June 8-9.
Registration opened up on Mar 11 (believe they fill up with 300 teams every year) for the 46th-annual derby on Lake Winnebago.
Last year: Father/son duo Joe and Joseph Robl’s 2-day total (10 fish) of 29 lbs took home the top spot = a Lund 1875 Impact XS with a Mercury 150 Pro XS and Mercury 9.9 Pro Series Kicker + $5K cash.
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> “We’ve combined the high action and vibration of traditional blade baits with the attraction of a crankbait rattle system. The RIP~N~RATTLE has a strong vibration on the up stroke and resembles a dying baitfish on the fall. A very versatile bait that can be casted and retrieved or vertically snapped and is a great reactionary bait.”
12. FishUSA has Eurotackle Z-Darters on sale.
Buy 2, get 1 free. I like the idea of the “360 rotating belly hook” to help prevent fish from getting the leverage to throw the bait:
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> Highest capacity battery to fit Garmin Bag in the industry today! Our new 52Ah (769.6Wh) 14.8V NMC Lithium Ion Battery is the highest capacity and longest lasting battery designed specifically for our advanced fishing electronics of today. Running out of power is no longer an issue when running high current electronics of today.
> Why 14.8V NMC Lithium Ion? Since most of our fishing electronics today are made to operate up to 17+ volts, this battery has a working voltage of 16.8V when fully charged and 12V when fully depleted. That means you have the most usable capacity and zero worries of low voltage poor returns/images from your electronics.
> Unlike the competition selling similar NMC batteries (Usually 11.1V), our batteries use only the best NMC Lithium from Japan. Instead of getting 300-400 charge cycles with NMC from others, Amped Outdoors NMC will give you 800-1000 Charge cycles and a longer life expectancy.
> This model is the same size as the 30Ah LiFePO4 Amped Outdoors Battery. Will fit all Garmin Livescope/Panoptix products!
14. These Gamakatsu MaxEye jigs look nasty. 🔥
I grabbed a few packs and they look and feel like they ✅ all of the boxes. Premium walleye jigs – designed SPECIFICALLY for walleye – that come in both Pill Head (left) and Swim Head (right) versions:
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Few quick details:
> Large, highly detailed life-like eye provides fish a focal point they can’t resist.
> Walleye-specific colors. Durable paint finish that will not chip or flake.
> Dual offset rebarb wire keeper and collar system…safely secures the softest and most-fragile plastics or live bait without tearing.
> The premium Big River Jig Hook…is tuned to provide an ideal balance of strength and weight. They sport an increased gap diameter to increase hook-ups and a special bend with an acute angle to provide better holding power.
> …MaxEye Pill Head has a shape which resists snags and imparts a unique action when it contacts the bottom. This design pairs well with live baits or plastics.
> The larger MaxEye Jig Swim Head has a special design that’s great for use with any soft-plastic swimbait, and it pairs perfectly with bulky plastics or smaller finesse.
15. Brunswick marine Q1 down in every unit.
16. ND requires out of state boats to have ANS sticker.
ANS = aquatic nuisance species.
> State law requires a $15 ANS fee for motorized watercraft not licensed in ND to be paid for each year, and the ANS sticker must be displayed on the watercraft.
17. IA: 50 cedar trees dropped as fish habitat.
In the northern part of Ada Hayden Lake. Wish we had fun stuff like that around here!
18. IA: Hamburg-Mitchell ramp is closing Jun 30.
On the Missouri River, sounds like permanently:
> The IA DNR had been leasing the ramp and small area of land since 1985 to provide river access. The land was recently sold, and its lease terminated. The DNR said it has been exploring options to provide river access in the area – the next closest boat ramp on the IA side of the river is over 25 miles away.
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Mastering spring walleye fishing with jerkbaits.
There’s a TON of great info in this new Wired2fish video with Scott Walsh diving into his springtime jerkbait program.
> “Throughout the year, especially post-spawn, a large population of walleye set up in the shallows to feed on baitfish. Walsh demonstrates how the combination between modern electronics and jerkbaits effectively put walleye in the boat.”
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And holy smokes does that Rapala PXR Mavrik 110 jerkbait ever look good underwater – incredible action! It’s supposed to be the best jerkbait Rapala has ever built?! 😳 Which is REALLY saying something. Can’t wait to give ‘em a try this spring – few of the colors I grabbed for now:
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Little more info on ‘em:
> PXR stands for Precision, Xtreme, Redline. The first in a series of elite, professional-grade lures to be introduced by Rapala, the PXR Mavrik is a suspending jerkbait. Features start with Rapala’s Long-Cast System, which provides accurate, ultra-long casts to maximize time in the strike zone, and 3 premium VMC RedLine Series #5 treble hooks.
> The lure’s suspending, head-down attitude mimics an injured baitfish, while a hard-cutting, semi-erratic action makes the PXR Mavrik a versatile jerkbait for any condition. You can fish it slow with short twitches to walk the bait side-to-side, or give it a quick snap to get the bait to turn nearly 180 degrees.
> The 110 model is being introduced as a No. 11 (4-3/8″ body length) weighing 1/2 oz. Available in 18 colors.
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Don’t be blinded by love during the engagement lol:
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Kidding of course…sorta…. 😉
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Awesome IG post from MN DNR fisheries specialist Kamden Glade on Lake Vermilion:
> “We interrupt this year’s walleye spawn for some bonus #fishpuke! When we saw this walleye swimming around in the trap with something hanging from its mouth, we had to see what it was. Turns out that walleye will eat burbot if given the chance!”
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Ya just never know!
Thanks SO much for taking time out of your day to read these Target Walleye emails – can’t tell you how much I appreciate it! Hope you and yours have a great weekend! ✌️
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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.)
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FRIENDS OF TARGET WALLEYE
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Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jay Kumar, Chris Philen, 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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