Target Walleye/Ice email

Rod wrapping trick, Mammoth 14 lbers, Deformed walleye caught

Today’s Top 5

Hicks/Lockyer win $100K at Vanity Cup.

Lyndon Hicks and Tony Lockyer took home the mega win(nings) at the Vanity Cup on Tobin Lake, SK with a 2-day bag of 62.84 lbs, fattening up their wallets by $100K!!!

Heard they had big fish of the derby with a 14.14-lber [!!!] but guess no one takes fish pics in SK unless they break the 15-lb mark. 😉

Here’s what Lyndon Hicks had to say about their bag of a lifetime:

> “We were just rigging, the same as everybody else. We pretty much just got the right bites, and that’s what the difference was….”

C’mon man there’s gotta be more to it than that?!? Although if I had just cleaned up on a stacked 160-boat field to win $100K I might keep a few secrets to myself too….

Lyndon said he and his wife just had a baby 9 months ago, so I can about guess where a big chunk of the winnings will go…to a lifetime supply of “your turn” lol:

BIG congrats, fellas!

Monster 14.5-lb walleye caught!

Linsey Gould (@lgould.ofishal) and Greg boated this 14.5-lb freakazoid (34″ long x 19.5″ girth) using a 1/2-oz jig with a big creek chub in 25′. Were fishing somewhere in northern ON where walligators were chasin’ around ciscos…apparently 14″ burbot made the menu too. #HalfDigested

 

Case the “fish police” are muttering under their breath how that can’t be a 14+ blah, blah, blah…here’s a couple more generous holds to help do the fish justice:

Think I’d cry with happiness if a fish like that ever came within 1/4 mile of me.

“Wrap” your rods for less tangles.

Nothing worse than when you’re trying to grab 1 rod out the stack, but they’ve all somehow gotten intertwined:

 

Rod sleeves have their time and place — say long-term storage or traveling — but they’re less than ideal when you’re actually on the water fishin’. Just one more thing to have lying around on the boat floor…plus they’re $10 a pop — ouch!

Still, ain’t nobody got time for tangled rods! Here’s a simple trick to keep those “expletives” to a minimum on the water:

WTHeck happened to this walleye???

Whole lot of something goin’ on with this one Colin MacDougall (@walleye_wrangler) caught — fish somehow still measured 25″ long!

 

So that’s why they look like arcs on the graph….

When your face says it all.

Riley Doering (@theimpatientfisherman) with an actual pic of what the mind-blown emoji looks like in real life:

 

This blue-tipped walleye made Will Pappenfus (@walleyewillfishing) speechless, which is saying a lot. Lol kiddin’ man…sorta….

 

This Tobin Lake slaunchback gave Craig the did-that-really-just-happen face. @chriskindraka shot:

 

The it’s-way-too-cold-to-be-out-here face didn’t stop @living_skies_angling from whackin’ a 29-incher on a Northland Puppet Minnow. #ButWorthIt

News

1. OH: Biggest walleye wins a $100K boat…

…in the Lake Erie Fall Brawl:

> Pay $30 to register in the Brawl and fish any time [during the Oct 18 – Dec 1 contest] in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie…off shore or in a boat. Bring any walleye you catch to Erie Outfitters to weigh — the biggest fish wins.

Believe it started in 2010 as a bunch of buddies throwing a few bucks in towards a “big fish pot.” Now they get up to 6,000+ signing up from over 15 states.

Cool thing is you only need 1 bite to get in on the goods, and dang near every year someone fishing from shore finishes in the money — how cool is that?

Registration deadline is comin’ in hot! Gotta sign up by 11:59pm Oct 16.

2. MN: DNR’s tracking zeeb numbers on Green Lake.

More interestingly (to me) is they’re studying if/how zeebz are changing the diet of young walleye and perch:

> An adult zebra mussel will filter a liter of water per day. In Green Lake they have caused a dramatic decline in phytoplankton, the microscopic plants they eat…. …has led to a decrease in zooplankton, which feed on the phytoplankton.

> …DNR is looking at how this reduction in zooplankton affects walleye and perch. Both fish rely on zooplankton as a food source in the first months of their lives.

> …whether the walleye and perch are adapting to this change by switching at a younger age to eating invertebrates as a food source. By eating phytoplankton, zebra mussels will fertilize shallow areas of lakes with their feces and increase invertebrate numbers.

> The tissue [samples from small perch and walleye] will be analyzed at a laboratory where it can be determined whether zooplankton or invertebrates are being used as the building blocks for the tissue.

3. MN: Gander Outdoors closing a couple more locations..

Bemidji and Eden Prairie. Shifting focus towards RV sales, service and parts.

> Gander Outdoors in Cedar Rapids [IA], Sheboygan, Grand Chute and Onalaska [WI], Chesterfield [MO], Paducah [KY], Florence [AL], Rockford and Janesville [IL], and Buffalo [NY] are in the process of closing or have already done so.

4. ND/MN: Fargo Ice Fishing Show vendor list is out.

Great deals on gear from 75+ vendors, fishing seminars from the pros, and lots of chances to win free schtuff. Happenin’ Dec 13-15 at the 45,000-sq-ft Scheels Arena.

5. New limited-edition Otter Tribute Lodge Hub shack.

Of course it looks sick, but even cooler = Otter will be donating a portion of every Tribute Hub sale to the Wounded Warrior Project. #Props

6. MI: Great Lakes commercial fishers under fire.

Several bills are makin’ their way through the chain, and they…

> “…aim to increase regulations on the commercial fishing industry in MI and would stop the commercial fishing of yellow perch by designating perch as a game fish.”

This commercial fisheries fam isn’t havin’ it.

7. AnglingBuzz has a new ice show comin’.

Just dropped a teaser vid — looks like Nick Lindner’s bringing the popcorn pizza:

8. Bunch of our TW gear back in stock!

And how ’bout a Columbus Day Sale to gitcha 10% off now through 10/14/19 with the code COLUMBUS at checkout! Click here or on the pic below:

Tip of the Day

1-2 punch for plucking walleyes off deep humps.

Excerpts from Frank Clark’s write-up in The Sudbury Star:

> As the surface water cools and the last of the deeper weeds start dying off, walleye and baitfish will venture to deeper water. Top fall locations to search out [with your electronics] are deep underwater humps within the main basin that top off in the 20′ range, long secondary points, saddles, and deep funnel areas such as narrows.

> Keeping a close eye on my Humminbird, I’ll drive around these areas at a fast troll speed until I start seeing a combination of bait and fish — baitfish alone won’t cut it.

> …keep the boat positioned on top of them and work a vertical presentation. This puts your bait directly into the strike zone….

> My top choice for dropping to sighted fish would be a Rapala Jigging Rap…fast sinking rate gets down into the fish’s strike zone. Once the bait hits bottom, give 2 very quick snaps of the rod tip…causes a yo-yo effect which can be unbearable to a feeding or neutral walleye. …an aggressive walleye will literally stop your rod mid-swing.

> If the Jigging Rap gets ignored, slow things down…drop a painted jig head (orange, chartreuse or white) tipped with a small 3-4″ sucker or dace minnow. Hook the sucker by threading the hook into the mouth and out just behind the top of the head.

> Limit the movement of the rod tip to slow lifts off bottom, allowing the bait to glide down on a controlled fall — most strikes will come as the minnow is falling. When a strike is detected: let the rod load up…followed by a long, sweeping hookset….

Quote of the Day

“Ain’t goin’ down ’til the sun comes up….”

– That’s the caption under big-fish junkie David Shmyr Jr’s Instagram post, who had himself a night catching 11 different [!] double-digit walleyes, including this mammoth teener that T-boned a “pink banana” Bagley Rumble B. Wowza:

 

Here’s a closer look at the bait, without all that ^ beef brisket attached.

Today’s ‘Eye Candy

I can’t get enough of Dane Heid’s (@dhcustombaits) custom-painted handywork — these Rapala Jigging Raps for sure look good enough to eat:

 

And don’t even get me started on these Rippin’ Raps lol. #NeedWantMustHave

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