Target Walleye/Ice email

Rare yeller-belly walleye caught, Pike eats porcupine, Use poly blades in weeds

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Today’s Top 4

Golden walleye caught!

Only a handful of these “golden walleyes” have EVER been caught before, and Craig Orf was lucky enough to punch his golden ticket at Sydney Lake, ON. Welcome to the yeller-belly club, dude!

Here’s what Craig was told:

> “…normally the fish scales receive incoming white light — and different molecular structures — convert white light to blue or yellow, which make the fish look green. In the golden walleye, it’s likely that some spontaneous mutation occurred that prevented the scales from making the proper molecular structures to convert white light to blue. Without the structures that convert white light to blue, the fish looks yellow (gold) rather than green (which is what you see when blue and yellow combine). It’s not that the walleye has gained a yellow pigment but rather lost the ability to produce the blue colours that make its scales look green.”

How cool is that? No idea if that’s actually how they come about…regardless, they sure are fun to look at! So how about we drop a few more “golden walleyes” below, literally the only 3 others we’ve come across after years of scouring the interwebz:

Remember this St. Louis River walter that was eating too many Cheerios?

Jason Powers stuck this golden-doodle on Oneida Lake, NY. Even better is he got it 5 minutes after his 6-yr-old son caught his first walleye ever. Said it was released and he’s having a replica mount made of both fish for a memory that will last a lifetime:

Jerry and John Nicholson caught 3 in the same day [?!] pre-fishing for the Canadian Tire Angler’s Cup on Lesser Slave Lake, AB. Here’s a good look at one of ’em:

Fish up there must be on a strict diet of “gold flame” Yo-Zuri Pin’s Minnows:

Got a legit pic of a unique walleye? Send it our way! Make sure to include a few details on what/how/where it was caught….

Now this is how you tie the knot!!

We hope it’s a Palomar! 😉

Was sent that shot from Tanya Milas, who said she’s “officially a #tillerwife!” after her and Manny got married in their Lund. Even snuck out to catch a few Tobin Lake, SK walleyes with their guests afterwards:

Big congrats you two!

What DON’T pike eat?

Short answer: Nothing.

Long answer:

Scott Lake Lodge is way, way, waaaay up there on the border of Saskatchewan and Northwest Territories. Probably best known for its massive pike since catching one over 50″ isn’t out of the question. Yup, you read that right!

So how do they get so big?

1) A lifespan of 30-ish years,
2) A strong catch-and-release program,
3) Controlled fishing pressure, and
4) By eating whatever the heck they want!

This blip from Scott Lake Lodge’s website:

> “…pike are well known to attack almost anything alive, including small muskrats, ducklings, loon chicks, mice and nearly any smaller fish in the lake.”

Guess they’ll be adding porcupine to the list after seeing their recent FB post. Ouch!

Heard the Savage Gear 3D Porcupine will be making a run for “best hard lure” at ICAST’s new product showcase. You saw it here first:

Lol kiddin’…sorta….

Monster spinnerbait walleye.

NE guide Ben Garver was running a different kind of “spinner” than you’d think to stick this monster 31.5-incher [!] on day 2 of the Big Mac Shut Up & Fish tourney at Lake McConaughy. The 12.42-lb giant scarfed a 1-oz Strike King Spinnerbait and ended up being big fish of the tourney. Freakin’ INSANE fish:

Do you throw spinnerbaits for walleyes on purpose? Clearly there’s a time and place for ’em, and Ben apparently knows both!

News

1. OH: 4 rescued from capsized boat on Lake Erie.

Bilge pump quit working and a wave finally rolled over their 20′ boat. Could’ve ended very badly — glad everyone was okay.

2. MN: Chance to voice your opinion on Mille Lacs.

Speak up where it counts, not just in some Facebook fishin’ group (lol). Gonna be 3 separate public meetings this July where the DNR will be using your thoughts/ideas/info to “determine values and goals that will be part of a new Mille Lacs Lake fisheries management plan.”

If you can’t make the meetings, there’ll be an online dealio you can fill out starting Jul 11. I’ll try to post a reminder when the link to that questionnaire is live.

3. ND: Husband/wife team wins Devils Lake derby.

Spencer and Carley Deutz hammerschlagen’d 10 fish for 50.33 lbs to win the 43rd annual Devils Lake Chamber Walleye Tournament last weekend. Seriously impressive!

Rumor has it slip-bobbers were the deal…?

4. Don’t want stunted bluegills in your favorite lake??

Then you gotta release the bigger ones [!] and keep the smaller ones. According to this MN DNR news release. Know that might be a tough pill for some of you to swallow…but times they are a-changin’.

5. Is KastKing taking over Colorado?

Asking ‘cuz KastKing pros finished 1st and 2nd in the Colorado Walleye Association TOY standings = #Stout. These type of regional tourneys are full of local hammers…you’ve gotta bring it every single day…can’t just get a couple lucky bites.

> “The CWA Team Tournament Series concluded at North Sterling Reservoir June 22-23. Two-man teams competed in tournaments at Cherry Creek Reservoir, Pueblo Reservoir, Jumbo Reservoir, and North Sterling Colorado for 2019 Team of the Year standings.

> “KastKing pros John Moreland and Erick Knodel scored 286 points to take 1st place, while the team of KastKing Pros Aaron Raichel and Chantry Cunning were right behind with 285 points and 2nd place.”

All were using KastKing WideEye Walleye Rods. Haven’t personally tried ’em, but need to. I keep hearing a positive buzz about ’em…how they feel like a high-end rod, but’ll only set you back about $89. Let me know if you’ve ran ’em and what you think!

6. MN: GRAHA Walleye Shootout on Pokegama Lake…

…happenin’ this Sat, Jun 29. Guaranteed 1st-place payday of $17K. Awesome high-energy weigh-in where they actually pull the boats through the stage like it’s the Bassmaster Classic.

7. MN: Upper Red Lake walleye limit…

…will likely get “tightened up” this winter. To help account for the record # of people fishin’ (and keepin’) this summer.

8. Lowrance has a new trolling motor???

Just announced in this teaser vid — thing looks gnarly:

9. Uncut Angling’s Aaron Wiebe gets Warrior Boats.

#TillerLife

10. MI: Tagged Lake Michigan walleye worth $100.

So better give ’em a once-over before the toss back ‘cuz dinner could be on the DNR! Been using the tagging study to track walleye “travel and migration patterns, and to locate the depths they travel in Lake Michigan.”

11. MT looking for comments on fish regs.

12. SK: UT anglers fined $6K for overlimit.

[Face-palm emoji].

13. Someday Isle Tackle has a new bait.

Called the Bladed Puppet. Here’s a look at the “mellon spinner” color:

Case you’re wondering what it looks like from a walleye’s point of view:

Tip of the Day

Eric Brandriet pulls polycarbonate blades in weeds.

Polycarbonate spinner blades? Yup! ‘Cuz they’re super light, spin at speeds down to 0.25 mph, and don’t crash to the bottom of weeds like traditional blades can. More from Eric Brandriet of Dakota Prairie Angling on the Northland Butterfly Blades below:

> Works wherever walleyes cruise emerging weeds. Ideally the weeds are tall enough for the walleyes to get down in them and ambush prey passing overhead — say 1-3′ weeds growing in 10′.

His blade of choice is a #2 Northland Tackle Butterfly Blade, on either a Butterfly Blade Super Death Rig, single-hook Butterfly Rig with a leech, or double-hook Butterfly Harness with a nightcrawler.

> Butterfly Blades are also sold separately for tying your own rigs. My favorite colors for early-weed walleyes are sunrise, silver shiner and cisco purple…pays to experiment as conditions and mood of the fish change.

> 3/4-oz Slick-Stick Bottom Bouncers sheds vegetation better than other bouncer designs.

> I use planer boards to get the rig away from the boat and spread out multiple lines. Adding 2′ of line between bouncer and board for every foot of desired running depth…if weedtops are 5′ down, I let out 8′ of line to position [’em] a foot above the weeds.

> Trolling speeds run from 0.5-0.7 mph. Recommend a steady pace to prevent rigs from falling into the weed-growth.

> [Works best] with a moderate wind. Flat calm is less than ideal — too much wind stirs everything up so the fish can’t see your rigs….

Meme of the Day

Don’t be THAT fishin’ buddy:

Gotta be careful of the type of people you hang out with….

Today’s ‘Eye Candy

Francis Audet and Alexandra Lafreniere’s recent camping trip included harassing shallow-water lizzies with their Okuma Dead Eye Custom spinning rods. IMO all the best camping trips include a handful of hooksets:

Sign up another fish-head!

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Who is Target Walleye
Target Walleye — 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 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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