Mono out-fishes braid, 24k gold walleye dinner, Giant cisco eater

Today’s Top 4

“The most decadent fish and chips you’ll ever have….”

If you think your Chef-Boyardee game is strong, prepare to feel like an absolute peasant after you see Len Talarico’s 24-karat golden walleye creation. 🥹

> @lentaloutdoors: “Fresh caught walleye [24 karat gold leaf covered] served up on a potato pavé cooked in bacon fat. Topped with wasabi aioli, caviar and a few nori segments.”

Chill bro, my girlfriend is on this app. 😅

He made another work of art when he somehow documented the whole process in a killer 20-sec Instagram reel – legit from Side Imaging to plate. So cool:

Another reason you NEED to have a MONO (vs braid) Jigging Rap setup in the boat. 😳

I’ve mentioned a bazillion times that I prefer using 8- or 10-lb Sufix Advance Mono on my Rapala Jigging Rap setups because I know for a fact that I land more fish. I wasn’t necessarily thinking that I got more bites because of it, but that I would actually put more of those bites in the boat thx to mono being a shock absorber and tearing less hooks out.

But then….

* Al Lindner has entered the chat *

I was sitting in my office last fall when the 🐐 walked in with a big smirk on his face and spark in his eyes…. Both are usual things when it comes to Al (which is incredible) but this time they were even kicked-up another notch of sparkyness.

Got to chatting with him about what he said was THE best big walleye bite he has been on in years and years and years. And one of the fascinating things about it was that mono absolutely crushed braid. His buddy Tom had gone up something like 8 fish to 0 on Al…same baits, same rods, same jigging cadence, same everything except Al was running braid and could not get bit on it.

No doubt the mono was making that Jigging Rap act differently:

> Al: “Mono is softer and spongier…it’s more forgiving of what it does with a bait. The bait does not move as fast. When you move anything with braid, it moves, the bait reacts. Those fish knew the difference.”

Once Al switched over to his mono setup, he proceeded to whack numerous reeeeally big walleyes, including this ridiculous 31.5-incher:

But also got to say that Al has seen days where it was the opposite, and the braid setup drastically outfished mono. Just goes to show the importance of having BOTH a braid and mono setup ready, even when throwing the same bait.

In case you missed it, here’s the video of Al talking about that special bite:

Massive cisco-eater of the week!

They don’t come much bigger than THIS massive 13.29-lb (33.25”) freakazoid Beau Stewart caught and released. 🤯 Insane fish!!!

Beau said he caught her on a Reef Runner Deep Diver in the “Barbie” pattern

Whoops…dangit, Google. 😅 Here’s the actual bait:

> Beau: “I was trying to mimic a cisco-like color pattern and using large baits to entice the bigger-fish bite. …trolling around 2.5 mph with 140-160′ of line out…trying to touch bottom in that 25-30′ range.

Oh, and he noticed a big cisco tail coming out of its throat 👀 and released it that way so she had a full belly after the battle:

Big congrats on the fish of a lifetime, dude! 🙌 And hope you get that 15-lber next.

This walleye thinks it’s a burbot.

Check this WI cheese blob Cody Solberg fooled with a WNC Death Jig and ‘crawler

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a walleye with so much junk in the trunk that it’s back half sagged down like that LOL. Unless it had some kind of a weird bend about it from an injury or something?

First thing that came to mind when I saw that pic was how its tail was drooping like a burbot’s does – and we all know how much more flexible burbot (aka eelpout) are than walleyes. 😅🐉

1. MN: Brainerd Outdoors radio host Brian Moon has passed on.

Gone too soon, but he won’t be forgotten. I had the chance to meet and chat with Brian a handful of times – extremely nice guy who contributed a ton of his time to bettering the local community and getting more folks hooked on the outdoors. 🙏✝️ Prayers to the family.

2. MN: Dylan Maki and Joe Bricko win Cass Lake MWC.

Their 2-day total of 40-03 was worth a mega $26,534 payday 😮 congrats fellas!

> A lot of teams concentrated on certain structures and finding areas with a lot fish and targeted those areas. Tournament champions Dylan Maki and Joe Bricko took a slightly different approach and decided to not just find those fish and wait for them to eat, they took the game to the fish.

> “Using forward-facing sonar and their bow-mounted trolling motor, the team moved across many different structure areas ranging from 5’ to over 20’ deep just cruising and covering water. “Our approach was to put as many baits in front of as many fish as possible. We used a variety of baits but pitching glides and slip-bobbers with live bait right on top of fish was the ticket.”

3. SD: World Walleye Championship, Lake Sharpe, Oct 5-7.

4. MN: Interesting Mille Lacs creel data.

5. MN: “Floating it Forward” program helps get seniors on the water.

6. WI: Green Bay awarded $275K grant to improve Joliet Park habitat.

That area is known for walleye.

7. Garmin pulls 9-peat.

Named “Manufacturer of the Year” – for the 9th consecutive year – by the National Marine Electronics Association.

8. Brunswick named one of “America’s Greenest Companies.”

In Newsweek’s inaugural list.

> “America’s Greenest Companies 2024 list recognizes the top 300 U.S. companies based on their progress managing environmental sustainability across more than 25 parameters in 4 categories: greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, waste generation, and commitment and disclosures.

> “The list reflects research and analysis of the top 952 U.S. organizations with market capitalization of over $5 bil, who pass the minimum sustainability standards set by the European Union, and have publicly disclosed sustainability data as of July 31, 2023.”

9. Yamama receives “River Guardian Award.”

10. MI: New tests show no silver carp DNA in St. Joseph River.

Detroit River walleye movement based on water clarity.

Really great info considering it’s somehow all packed into this short 1:38-long video. I haven’t had the chance to meet tourney-nut + fisheries/aquatic scientist Ali Shakoor in person yet, but that needs to change.

Quote of the Day

“They willingly stop fishing during the best time of the year, leave boat access parking lots empty, community fishing spots become one-boat spots, and already hungry fish become dumb again with the lack of pressure.”

– Hilarious post from fish-head Jadyn Thomas saying that, “People who hunt truly don’t get the credit they deserve…. I want all you hunters out there to know that when I’m on the lake whacking fish after fish, every time I hear a rifle crack or shotgun blast in the distance I salute you and appreciate you.”

Here’s @walleyewillfishing living up to his Instagram name…again. He said the Bemidji, MN locals are putting on the feedbag, and that this 30” waldo topped-out at 10.5 lbs!

Yeah, yeah, yeah…it’s a generous hold, so here’s your “prove it” of the week courtesy of Will’s Rapala High Contrast Digital Scale. 👊

Thanks so much for reading! Hope you have a great + safe weekend!