Whoa…so THIS is what a 33″ (14.5-lb) walligator looks like. Richard Lorenzen caught her on the Rainy River (MN/ON border). Sheesh!

Couple o’ bundled-up bruisers made their way into John Pollock’s Lund. Caught fishin’ Rapala Rippin’ Raps on Green Bay (right) and the Fox River (left):

Jason Matity was fishing the Qu’Appelle River System (SK) when he crushed this 11.5-lb (30″ x 18.5″) sand dragon throwing a 5″ Big Hammer Swimbait (bay smelt) soaked in Pro-Cure Anise Plus Super Gel:

Guides Peter Brzezinski and Matt Seferit teamed up to wreak havoc on the Lake Vermilion, MN walleyes, including this massive 31-incher that slammed a Berkley Flicker Shad behind lead. Great shot:

Camden Kuksa has been ripping Rapala Shad Raps in 6′ near Devils Lake, ND and sticking quality lizzies…like this 27.5-incher:

Jason Revermann cracked this 30″ beef brisket — and his new PB — on a VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig tipped with a fathead. Congrats dude!

Here’s how Joel Nelson decides if he’s starting shallow or deep when chasing early-ice panfish on a new lake. Oh, and we can’t stand next to a lake for that long without at least making a couple casts:

Got to chattin’ with Joel and found out one of his fav baits for specifically targeting BIG pannies is the “snack size” Rapala Ultra Light Rippin’ Rap. That #3 size is brand new this season, but of course he got to use ’em early [insert not-fair, huffy-puffy breath here].

> Weighs just 1/16-oz and has a slightly larger profile than your thumbnail. Said he mostly likes them in mid-range depths, but he’ll fish ’em for suspended fish that are as deep as 15-20′ — or even 25′ — to pluck the biggest fish from the school.

> Also fishes ’em on the edges of the weeds using the rattles to draw fish in.

Here’s the one Joel tried to steal outta my (Brett) box:

Guess that “pink tiger UV” is tough to come by: Rapala’s website is out of stock and looks like FishUSA only has a couple left (for now). More info soon-ish.

Good Luck to everyone hitting the deer stand this weekend and be safe! Hope you’ve got your spot dialed in like TW fan Curt Hoffbeck:

> “They were hitting VMC Neon Moon Eye Jigs with 4.5″ Go-To Hoochie Koochie tails (lemon lime and white). Cheers to fall…the best time of year!”

Here’s what Curt’s stand must look like with Down Imaging lol:

There’s a night and day difference between glow and UV jigs…lol. Seriously: One acts as a sponge to absorb/emit light while the other reflects it. Some knowledge from Northland Tackle’s Eric Naig:

Lots more info here for those of you that wanna get all scientific about it.