Red River teener, Walleyes eat burbot, Why mono for chubs

Well, these ones did anyway….

This first one’s from a TW reader who caught a wild trifecta on an ACME Kastmaster:

> “I caught this walleye that spit out a burbot that had another smaller burbot in its mouth. I’m not sure what the chances of this are, but it had to have happened right after one ate another as none of the fish were digested.”

And Bassmaster Elite Series pro Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson caught this walleye the other day (shallow in 8′) that coughed up a little burbot, too:

And sometimes it happens on a bigger scale, like this plus-sized combo PJ Vick jigged into a couple falls back. 😮

Crazy! I had reached out to PJ to get the burbot’y scoop:

> “That was one gluttonous [his word LOL] walleye! James Holst, Konnor Kleist and I were up on Lake of the Woods for a fun-fishing getaway. Fish were in super grump mode that day with 27°F weather and 15-20 mph wind so the jig and shiner came out. A 1/4-oz ‘chartreuse orange’ color VMC Neon Moon Eye was the jig of choice.

> “Open-water ice fishing was how I presented the bait…held it off the bottom with short jig strokes slowly working the bait up and down.”

Nicely done, fellas!

Maybe TW fan Craig Hoffbeck was onto something when he caught this gravel lizard on the massive Savage Gear 3D Burbot for muskie near a 7′ Leech Lake, MN rock reef:

And we’re over here using tiny 1/16-oz hair jigs, slip-bobbers and live-bait rigs with 12′ snells trying to trick ’em….

‘Cuz this right here is the definition of fall:

That’s Matt Cornell of Bruin Outfitting with an absolute UNIT caught from Manitoba’s Red River last fall. That freakazoid went 31.5″ long with a 21″ girth, and clocked at 14.48 lbs! Not guesstimated – they hit it with the Rapala Touch Screen Scale. 🎯

Some of the best walleye fishing in Manitoba will take place over the next couple of months during the fall walleye migration in tributaries of Lake Winnipeg. Bonus points for quality AND quantity. Gitcha a little glimpse in this video from Jay Siemens during a laaaate-fall rip. 🥶🔥

Scary to think how fast these seasons are changing – I’m just hoping we actually get a few weeks of fall this year! No doubt the iceman is going to cometh before we even know it.

Speaking of which, you ever wondered why fish fight waaaay harder when they get close to the hole? It’s ‘cuz they’re scared it’s gonna be Sobi’s mug staring back at ’em lol:

Sick shot from Cold Nation Outdoors on Insta! Almost has me pumped for ice fishing…almost!

…is 3,186 [!!!] set by Jeff “Kolo” Kolodzinski during the Marathon Man event in 2021.

And he didn’t need any fancy electronic gizmos to get it done 👀 he did it old school with a $25-ish setup from the bank:

> The Marathon Man event is a fishing endurance test in which Kolo (as his friends call him) attempts to break his own world record for number of fish caught in 24 hrs. Last year he exceeded his goal of 2,977 (the number of persons killed by 9/11 terrorists in 2001) and set a new world standard with 3,186.

Amazing, but even more incredible that he did it to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11 and to support veterans and first-responders.

Btw heeeee’s baaaaack….

> This year, the seemingly unattainable goal is 4,000 fish in 24 hrs, nearly double the total Kolo had in 2010 when he first established the world record (he must catch more than 2.7 fish per minute for 24 hrs straight to break the record).

Sheesh! That’s how you know he’s fishing in a good spot. 😉

> The numbers are important for a couple of reasons. First, we should never forget the lives lost on 9/11. Second, some generous individuals and companies will base their tax-deductible donation on the number of fish Kolo catches – a dollar, a quarter, a dime, or even a penny per fish will help.

He’s raising $$$ for the Fishing For Life “Next Gen Program”, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on serving children of military families – especially those families that have lost a loved one during active military service – and single-parent households.

> Marathon Man will take place from 10:00am on Fri, Sept 9 to 10:00am on Sat, Sept 10 [at the magical Giant Goose Ranch]. The event will be livestreamed at marathonmanfishing.com. Visit the site to make a donation, offer support, and follow Kolo’s progress.

Do your thing, fishing brother! 👊 And thank YOU.

This happy hour was courtesy of a Buschhhhh “Helsinki shad” color #7 Rapala Jigging Rap – Taylor Webb caught the dueling 15-inchers while fishin’ with Ryan Traxler of FishTraxx guide service in central MN:

Just kicked it out Friday night, so if you missed it on our social medias…here she be. 🍿

1. Pure Fishing CEO said the recession started in June.

> “The recession is likely to reach into the middle of next year, but in a recession people don’t stop wanting to go outdoors.”

2. Millions spent to keep invasive fish out of Great Lakes…

…but who is protecting Mississippi River?

> Federal and state agencies spend millions of dollars every year to keep destructive invasive carp out of the Great Lakes. Meanwhile, at least 25 destructive species – like water fleas and bloody red shrimp – are inching closer to the Mississippi River Basin.

3. Mustad is “open” to more acquisitions.

Most recently bought LiveTarget, and before that was Tuf Line.

4. IL: SIU researchers seek to use invasive copi as baby food…

…for farm-raised yellow perch. I had to do a double-take at that headline because I missed the “yellow perch” part at the end. 😅

5. ID F&G propose tiger muskie at Murtaugh Lake.

> …as a means to deal with non-game fish like common carp and Utah chub and suckers…[which] have impacted the number of sport fish available to anglers in the area. Tiger muskie mainly survive from eating other fish and would be used to cut down the population….

> …tiger muskie [sterile hybrid species of northern pike] could become a prize trophy fish for anglers…can grow to lengths of more than 40″. Tiger muskie are found in other parts of ID where the record fish caught measured 52.5″ and weighed in at 44.25 lbs.

6. Am I the only one who didn’t know…

…that THIS is how baby crayfish are made? Posted by Dennis Tietje on Insta:

I definitely thought that thing had zebra mussels for a second hahaha.

Found this on the Google machinez:

> Crayfish mate in the early spring and females carry the fertilized, developing eggs inside their bodies for 4-6 weeks. These developing eggs are then transferred to the outside of the female’s body and glued via an adhesive called “glair” to the female’s tail. The eggs (only 20-40%) then hatch by the end of spring.

And that is how you become a crawDADDY! 😂 Sorry, I had to.

7. Shimano brands used in 60% of world-record catches made in ’21.

Shimano, G. Loomis and PowerPro products were used in 262 of IGFA’s 422 new world records in 2021.

8. MN: Cass Lake MWC happening Sept 16-17.

9. 2B Genesis Walleye Trolling rods are back in stock.

10. Sportsman’s Warehouse Q2 was almost as good as last year’s.

11. ON: Dingwall/Smith win Red Lake Fall Classic.

12. Look at this mutant rainbow trout from New Zealand .

Mono vs braid: Rigging BIG chubs for fall walleyes.

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 tourney-nut Jake Caughey talkin’ why he runs mono when soaking big redtails and creek chubs for fall walleyes:

Friendly reminder to charge the batteries on all of your ice electronics throughout the off season – monthly if possible – to get the most out of ’em. Same goes for your electric ice augers. Yup, I usually forget too!

Love this shot from @derelict_fishing of a Lake Oahe, SD walleye that has all them teeth, but no toothbrush. #ornery

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH