Target Walleye/Ice email

Slow cranking early, Jason Mitchell opener tips, Area Lake found

Today’s Top 5

Stump knockers of the week! 

Kristine Fischer whacked this slaunchy river melon while fishin’ for full-moon muskies! She was bumping a Llungen .22 Short off concrete pilings and dam structure:

You know Wes W. is stickin’ some toads when he makes the TW email twice in one week…. This old warrior smashed a Rapala Original Floater (bleeding hot olive):

TW fan Connor Schank cracked three ND stump knockers between 28-29″ while pitchin’ BFishN Tackle Moxis and Paddle Tails from shore. #Works

Derrick Soulliere’s Detroit River slugfest came courtesy of the Lunkerhunt Bento Bait in sassy shad:

Slow crankin’ for post-spawn walleyes. 

Didja know that Troy Lindner isn’t just a bass fisherman? Sometimes he even catches walleye on purpose! Lol he’s actually one heck of a multi-species stick. Here’s how he slow cranks for post-spawn walleyes:

> As walleyes wrap up their spawn, they begin moving out to adjacent flats and shallow water structure. Crankbaits can be an excellent tool for intercepting these wandering walleyes, which can be scattered anywhere between 4-12′.

Rapala Shad Raps and Bagley Balsa Shads both kill it shallow early in the season:

> Bottom contact is important, but don’t use baits that dive too deep as they won’t run well in shallow water.

> Make sure you’re fishing your cranks slowly this time of year…that’s often the only way to get bit. A couple of retrieves work well in the spring: the “slow and steady,” or “pull and pause.”

Here’s Troy practicing what he preaches:

How to take better fish pics. 

Step 1: Swap that musky for a big, fat walleye! Lol

Remember: No matter how your pic turns out, somewhere there’s a hater looking at it in disgust. Some great tips in this Joel Nelson write-up, here’s a few excerpts:

> You don’t need a high-end SLR camera or big-dollar glass to take a great photo. More and more our cameras are our cell phones.

> The health of a trophy fish you plan to release is the most important. My goal is to not make that fish hold its breath any longer than I can. It’s often best to keep it in the net, in the water, and out of the boat.

> If you’re holding the fish: Make sure your clothing is on straight, clean, and you don’t have anything that might take away from the shot: beverage cans, cigarettes/cigars, and bulky/loud clothing with a great deal of text on it.

> If you’re taking the shot: Be decisive and tell your subject exactly how you would like the fish to be held. Use your words to direct the person, and take your time.

> Fill the entire frame with the fish and angler. Scenery is great, and you can work in good backgrounds, but the focus should always be the fish. Snap a million pics…there’s no penalty for more photos, just delete the extras.

> Have the subject hold the fish in a different manner and recreate the same variations with that hold. If you perform this process quickly and correctly, the fish has been out of the water less than a minute.

We’ve spent some time in the boat with Joel…wanna know the real secret to how he never misses a shot?

“Area Lake” finally found! 

Seems like the BIG fish are always biting there, and we finally found it! Just take the first left after this sign:

Any lake could turn into “Area Lake” when you’re throwing Rapala Original Floaters.

One way to tell your kid is hooked on feeshin’. 

Darren G’s daughter knows what’s up!

Looks like Christmas presents are going to be getting more and more expensive lol.

News

1. ND: Who’s gonna be the NWT Sakakawea champ?

Dewey Hjelm was leading the pro side heading into day 2. They’ll be live streaming the final weigh-in right here. #NationalWalleyeTour

2. ND: Devils Lake = shore-fishing mecca.

Where else can you repeatedly catch walleyes like this from the bank?

> Tanner Cherney: Things are heating up on Devils Lake! Rick Smith caught this fish with a 1/4-oz pink jig with a white paddle tail.

#RoadTrip

3. OH: Some want license fee increase, state does not.

State says every time they do it, license sales drop.

4. Onyx giveaway from IDO.

In-Depth Outdoors is giving away an Onyx A-33 inflatabe PFD. More deets here on how you can win one just like the one hiding behind Pat McSharry’s giant Devils Lake broom-tail:

5. Fishing increasing in popularity?

> Fishing is again the #2 most popular adult outdoor activity, but is closing in on the #1 activity, jogging.

Jogging…really?!

6. Ever seen anything like this before?

Called the “Firefly Spoon” from Tundra Tackle Co:

Headline of the Day.

Get your choice of A.) oven-roasted smallies, or B.) poached eggs walleyes.

Okay not really – instead any group that books a fishing trip on “The Big Pond” gets to take home 12 commercially-bought walleye fillets from Canada. Win-win!

Tip of the Day

> As the water temps continue to climb, post-spawn females will often slide up onto shallow sand flats to warm up. On big bodies of water, find bays and other protected pools of water that are warming up at a quicker rate.

> Look to see if wind is stacking warmer water along a shoreline. Big water often demands finding these pockets of warmer water which can make these larger bodies of water more challenging.

> Because water temperature can be so important to early-season success, a tried-and-true strategy is to focus on smaller, more-protected bodies of water. You can sometimes fast forward by a week or two into the biological clock by shifting to smaller lakes as they’re often a step ahead in warming up.

> Unstable weather — along with wicked cold fronts that crash water temps — will send fish deep. Whenever environmental factors cause fish to move multiple miles, these fish often follow the deeper contours as that’s usually the least amount of distance to travel.

Keep reading here for a breakdown of what to expect on your home water.

Meme of the Day

What’s your new boat name?

Few of our favs from over on FB:

– Brown toilet paper
– Grey lady
– Blue 832
– Silver bulldog
– Non-existent safety glasses (lol)

Got a good one? Let us know here.

Today’s ‘Eye Candy

Mike Atkocaitis has got the harvest grip on that one:

Sign up another ice-head!
If you’re forwarding Target Walleye/Ice to a friend who loves to walleye-fish or want your fishing buddies to get these emails, just send us their email addresses and we’ll take care of it! (We won’t sell the addresses, use ’em for spam, etc.)

Check this stuff out!

Who is Target Walleye/Ice?
Target Walleye/Ice — 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/Ice. 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 quit sports in high school because they were interfering with his fishing time. Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com

To send us walleye pics, ice shots or whatever, just respond to this email or  click here to email us. Or post it on the Target Walleye Facebook page.

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