Catching 'em old school with the Griz 💯
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Another AWESOME video posted on Outdoor Life’s YouTube channel. I for sure recommend sitting down and watching it when you’ve got around 14-ish minutes to soak it all in:
> If there are two things in this world that Dick Grzywinski (better known as the Griz) loves, one is catching fish and the other is catching more fish than everyone else. Griz became a local legend in the Upper Midwest fishing scene during the 1990s by guiding anglers, joining fishing shows as a guest, and serving as an expert in countless magazine and newspaper articles.
> For most of his guiding career, until he turned 69, he would fish nearly every day from 8 am to 8 pm. Now even in his 80s he still fishes more days than not. In simple terms of actual hours on the water, it’s likely that the Griz is the most experienced angler in the Upper Midwest alive today.
> In a lot of ways, Griz still uses the same gear and tactics that he did 20 yrs ago. That means no forward-facing sonar or side imaging. He uses a simple depth-finder to monitor depth and bottom structure. From there he laser focuses on boat control and bait presentation.
> As you can see in the video, the Griz says that catching fish is all about putting all the little details together – not what kind of electronics you have in your boat. During this one day of filming on the Mississippi River, he put 83 fish in the boat.
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Live-bait rigging with giant creek chubs and redtails is one of the best ways to snag a trophy fall walleye. When I say giant, I mean dragging around minnows up to 10” long, but most commonly in the 4-6” range. The bite’s just heating up now and should be phenomenal for a couple more weeks.
Water temp
> “You can catch fish all year doing this, but I really get excited for the big-minnow bite once the water has cooled down to 62 degrees...ideally 58-60. It stays good until temps hit 45 or so...after that the fish have already fed heavy for a couple of weeks and are now transitioning to winter patterns. You can still catch ’em, just not nearly as many.
> “This time of year I hit the water as soon as I can be out there – especially in clear-water lakes. You’ll have your best shot at sticking a big fish during the typical low-light periods. Later in the fall you can sleep in [or get yard work done in the morning lol]. The bite will pick up later in the day after the water has a chance to warm up, and they’ll continue to bite all day.”
Location
> “Many weeds start to die off when the water temps drop below 68 degrees. That’s why you’ll notice piles of weeds floating around out there. A lot of the baitfish have pulled out of those dying weeds and are now schooled up in open water. The wind positions the baitfish on structure and the fish follow.
> “Pay attention to which direction the wind has been blowing from in the days leading up to your trip. Even fishing in deep water such as 35-50′ the fish will still typically be stacked on the windblown sides of underwater points, bars and breaks.”
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Why chubs?
> “Walleye prefer a larger minnow in the fall when the water temps are on the drop. It’s the 4-7″ redtails and creek chubs that seem to work best most days, but sometimes even bigger.
> “Why creek chubs and redtails? Because they’re hardy minnows that will often swim right along with the boat. There’s times you’ll actually feel them ‘getting excited’ down there the moment before a walleye smacks them.
> “You can catch the occasional fish on a sucker minnow, but they’re usually too lethargic for this technique and will end up being drug behind the boat [versus lively darting from side to side.]”
Some gear deets
> “Lighter leaders (36-42” long) will absolutely get you more bites in clear water. Would say 6-lb test is probably the best all-around size....
> “On the business end of things you’ll want either a #1 or #2 octopus hook (depending on minnow size). Pierce the minnow through its upper lip and it’ll stay alive for hours – or until the fish get to it.
> “One small key to my set-up is adding a red bead between my sinker and swivel. It adds a tiny bit of color and gives off a rattling sound when the bead and sinker hit. It also helps to protect your knot so you won’t need to re-tie as often.”
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Weight selection
> “I run a 1/2- to 1-oz egg sinker depending on minnow size, wind and depth. The 3/4-oz seems to be good all around, but I bump up to a 1-oz anytime I’m fishing 30′ or deeper. The bigger sinker also helps to anchor that minnow and keep it in the strike zone.”
> “Egg sinkers because they’re super dense for their size and work perfect for this application. I’m not dragging them on bottom, I’m trying to fish the sinker like a jig – keeping it 6-18″ off bottom and as vertical as possible. Occasionally drop it down to tap bottom and raise it back up."
Speed
> “Trolling between 0.3-0.8 mph covers most scenarios for pulling big minnows in the fall. When it’s calmer I’ll start off on the slow end of that to stay right over the tops of fish. If the wind is blowing there will be a current that seems to get everything moving down there [on the bottom] – that’s when I’ll pick up the speed.”
Don’t set the hook too soon
> “When I’m pulling big 5-7” minnows I’ll drop the line as soon as I feel a hit and point the rod tip straight back – that way the fish feels as little resistance as possible [when pulling line out].
> “I start out giving them a 25-30 second count before I set the hook. It will seem like forever before you get used to it. I’ll even wait 35-40 seconds on days that they’re sluggish. That gives them more time to turn that minnow around in their mouth after they t-bone it.
> “A lot of guys do a low sweeping hookset, but I pick up the slack and set the hook straight up vertically. It helps to drive the hook right into the roof of its mouth. I feel it gives me a better hook-up percentage and lose less fish that I do have on.”
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Ever try tail-hooking your redtails or creek chubs???
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There’s a TON of technique variations when it comes to rigging big minnows – you can make it as simple or difficult as you want.
One of the tweaks is tail-hooking your chubs to get more action out of ’em, which seems to work especially well on calmer, sunshiny days...or really any time you’re getting turned down by multiple marks on the graph.
The tail-hooking trick has been around as long as folks have been soaking big minnows, but a lot of diehard tourney nuts are hesitant to talk about it.... Seems like the perfect reason to “out” it to the rest of us fish-heads. 😏
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Few important things to keep in mind from big-chubber Travis Sorokie:
> “Tends to work best when sitting right on top of fish or barely crawling along...otherwise the chubs will die more quickly from being pulled backwards.
> “I like tail-hooking chubs with a longer 5-7′ leader when the fish are a little more aggressive and feeding. The minnows struggle so much more when you tail hook ’em – can actually feel that redtail get nervous and try to get away when a fish is near.
> “That’s when I’ll sometimes open my bail up and let the minnow go for 10 seconds...stop the line with my finger to feel if a walleye picked it up...lot of times they’ll chase the minnow down and smoke it.
> “Also find I have a better hook-up ratio when tail-hooking big minnows. Fish are gonna hit the chubs head first...so that hook is already in a good position to hook the fish in the top of the mouth...don’t need to let them take it as long when setting the hook.”
***Disclaimer: While pulling chubs by their tails could potentially save your fishing day...recent studies have shown that pulling other variations of tails are likely to be bad for your overall health, and may lead to painful and embarrassing side effects. Please use this trick in moderation and when in doubt, consult your local Target Walleye for safer alternatives.
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🤣💀
And speaking of rigging chubs...
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Folks cracked ‘em at the ‘Chili Bowl’ derby!
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That big, Happy Gilmore check is so dang cool! I suppose $6K is nice too lol. But I’m also willing to bet that taking a bite of chili out of the trophy on stage – after just smacking fall walleyes all day with your buddy – was a moment these fellas will hold onto forever!
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> Chris: “The water was still in the low-60s and the shiner run hadn’t started yet. Practice was tough – we only had two fish the day before. So yeah...we were a little nervous.
> “I had this shallow weedline spot I’d done well on in the past. We checked it right before the rules meeting and saw some nice marks. Decided we’d start there...never left!
They caught a number of fish pitching 1/8- to 1/4-oz jigs and minnows, but said that every fish over 24” that day came rigging chubs with a 7’6” JTX Mag Light, using a heavier egg sinker and #2 VMC TechSet Hook.
> Chris: “Crazy how God works – Tony and I only met a month ago, and now we’re sharing a boat, a victory, and his new walk with Jesus. That’s the real win right there.”
> “Huge thanks to Vince and the Border View Lodge crew for hosting another top-tier Chili Bowl and to Reel Freedom Ryan for stepping in as director and running a flawless show. Even if you didn’t stick a walleye, the food + fellowship alone made it worth the trip.”
Amazing fellas! 🙌
And no matter what order you put these pics in, the ‘Chili Bowl’ looks like a pretty fantastic way to spend 24 hours in the fall lol:
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New Tour Level Gold out! 🔥
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I am NOT going to stop talking about this amazing video series – it’s that good. What I would consider must-watch stuff if you’re a fan of walleye fishing. It gives a behind-the-scenes look at the highs and lows professional anglers deal with on the National Walleye Tour.
This episode called "WALLEYE HAVEN" kicks off the Lake Erie NWT event out of Dunkirk, NY. An absolute slugfest and the pro’s last chance to qualify for the year-end championship. 🍿
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Tour Level Gold is doing special things in the walleye world! 🙌 Walleye fishing needed this.
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> “...hit a milk run of 12-15 spots in a couple different lakes on the chain, searching deep thick cabbage weeds with scattered open pockets and edges were our key locations, it took a lot of patience to comb through these vast areas with our FFS to find the right size fish and target them with both finesse and reaction baits. 1,2 punch!”
> Targeting weededges in 12-18’ of water with jigs and nightcrawlers was the key for their ‘unders,’ while the bigger fish were suspended in 28-30’ and cruising by themselves.
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> They received the 1st-place prize of $19,000 in cash and perhaps the most coveted, Custom World Walleye Champion rings and trophies, for a total of $20,229 in cash and prizes.
Huge congrats, fellas!
2. OH: Last chance to get your Fall Brawl on!
Registration ends this evening. Someone is going to win a $100K+ boat(s) off just a $35 entry. 😳
3. Tom Huynh's signed tourney jersey is up for auction
From his 2025 NWT Championship win, with the proceeds going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. 🙌
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Of course you can put anything that fits into all the little compartments and slots – whatever works best for you and your gear – but here’s a schematic showing what each area was designed to hold:
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Side note for you diehards that have been asking:
An engineer for Otter (who was the lead designer on the Sonar Sled) commented saying they have auger brackets coming that they hope to release this season. There are 2 threaded inserts on each side of the back of the sled that hold the brackets.
9. Rapala Gold Miner added to Precision Trolling App
Aka “the troller’s Bible” which tells you exactly how much line you need out to get cranks to dive to a specific depth. They’ve tested it with 10-lb mono, 10/4 FireLine, using the 50+2 (snapweight) method, and even tadpole data which is the 50+3T method – all will be updated to the app very shortly.
These Rapala Gold Miners have an insane dive curve, can quickly hit 30’ on a flat-line troll, but also have a distinct rattle and a wide tail action.
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Why to use mono for jig trolling river bottoms
Lot of folks hopped on the braided-line bandwagon and never left...BUT there’s times when mono can out-produce, out-catch and out-kick braid’s butt (lol).
Here’s Tommy Kemos talking thru when/why/where he likes running hi-vis (solar) Trilene XT for jig trolling or dragging river bottoms:
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Don't sleep on Manitoba's Red River in the fall! They catch some absolute UNITS out of there this time of year – before things lock up and folks start chasing those greenbacks thru the ice on Lake Winnipeg.
Gotta bring back this freakazoid that Matt Cornell put topside a few falls ago that was 31.5” long with a 21” girth and clocked in at 14.48 lbs!
Imagine trying to squeeze ‘er thru an 8” hole.... 🤯
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Thank you for reading! Back atcha with more fishy goodness next week. Hope you have a great + safe weekend, Target Walleye fam! 👊
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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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