Walleye belly surprise, Why MaxScent is so fishy, Secret bottom transition bite

I was sent these pics from Target Walleye reader, Jebb Hatch, who actually shot this blimp while underwater spearfishing at Lake McConaughy, NE. Yes, it’s legal there.

The fish was 26″ long with a paunchy 21″ girth [!!!] and weighed 9 lbs 4 oz:

At first glance you’d think that thing was just swimming around like this:

But…when they cut the fish open, they found what they assume is some type of tumor in its abdominal cavity:

That or it engulfed a pork shoulder from Costco before its dad could smoke it on the Traeger for 9-10 hours LOL! Wild stuff – thx much for sending it in Jebb! 👊

If you follow the bass tourney scene at all, you know that Berkley PowerBait MaxScent baits have been absolutely killing it the last few seasons! To the point where even pros that aren’t sponsored by Berkley are publicly admitting to using the stuff on tourney day.

Funny enough, nearly every single time I throw a Ned rig or dropshot paired with a MaxScent bait – while specifically targeting bass – I catch an incidental walleye or 3. Rarely skin-hook ’em, they literally inhale the stuff:

Yes, I know I’m holding that first walleye stupidly…but I ate it, so it doesn’t really matter lol.

Anywho….

Really got me thinking that I NEED to start throwing MaxScent schtuff for walleyes more on purpose, ‘cuz if any fish is gonna be picky about what they eat – or don’t eat – it’s them. And when legit science is mixed with fishing, the only one not winning is the fish lol:

I was doing some digging and came across this interesting Q&A in a past BassBlaster email. Jay got Berkley scentmaster Mark Sexton on the ringer and picked his brain about what makes MaxScent work. Full write-up here, few excerpts from their exchange below:

Q: What exactly is MaxScent, and how is it different from regular PowerBait and Gulp?

> “PowerBait is PVC plastic [like I believe all soft-plastics]. We learned how to flavor PVC plastic in the ’80s and it turned out to be really good. Gulp is a water-based material…literally dissolves in the water. If you leave it in long enough…it’s gone.

> “MaxScent is a type of PVC very similar to PowerBait, but it can accept some liquid [scent] and doesn’t dry out like Gulp. …[scent] put into MaxScent isn’t that different than PowerBait [but how MaxScent baits are made] puts it into the water so much faster…draws fish.

> “Remember those pieces of gum where you bite it and you get quick shot of liquid in your mouth? It’s like that…a way better tool.”

Q: Okay sounds like MaxScent is similar to PowerBait and similar to Gulp. So why is it so good – or better?

> “MaxScent allows attractants to come out of the bait way faster. We figured out a way to make the construction [of the MaxScent baits] different to make the flavorants come out of the bait faster.”

Q: What are the flavorants designed to do?

> “We’ve gone through 50,000 different chemicals and mixtures of all of them, and we’ve figured out what [fish are] actually attracted to.

> “Can they sense it – do they notice flavor in the water, if so do they find it positive, neutral, or negative. The first thing is smell. It has to attract them, and when they taste it that has to be positive. If it’s negative, you’re done – they spit it out and you don’t catch them.

> “Over the years we’ve plodded our way through…we’ve figured out what they like. It’s like grandma making the best cornbread on Earth – over the years she perfects it. That’s what we’ve done.”

Q: How does the scent disperse and what is the pattern?

> “It depends on water temperature, depth and salinity…how far the smell will go. If you have any current or moving water, that scent will travel a long way. …fish can smell better than any bird dog: If 2 molecules hit their nose 100 yards away, they go seeking. All they do is swim and eat.

> “We study all 5 senses, and smell is the first thing they rely on. Bass chasing a school of shad…they can smell them before they can feel or see them.

> “..fish secrete all sorts of stuff. Bass get used to associating that [scent] with food. Smells get the bass close to the bait – then it uses other senses to finish the deal. And we understand all of that.”

Yup, I’m gonna have to play around with MaxScent a lot more for those stubborn ‘eyes!

My “bonus” catches while bassin’ have been on Ned rigs with MaxScent Lil Generals (left) and then numerous times while dropshotting a MaxScent Flat Worm (right)…but they also have a more walleye-esque profile called the Flatnose Minnow (bottom) that I feel stupid for not snap-jigging in the weeds or dancing on a dropshot yet:

That stuff catches!

In case you missed it Tom Boley posted a YouTube video last summer called “The secret walleye spot no one is fishing” that has some interesting info on why it can be more important to pay attention to your Side Imaging than your map/GPS this time of year.

The secret location where he finds late-summer walleyes stacked is hard to soft bottom transitions. Stuff in that 30′ or so range where massive pieces of structure taper off into the soft bottom basin.

Same thing can be #money in the springtime if you can find similar hard to soft transitions in shallower 10-15′ water. I’ll completely ignore my map once I’m on one, and follow that brighter vs darker return or line on my Humminbird Side Imaging.

But hey, it’s not springtime, so I’ll save that for another day LOL. Now let’s get into Tom’s late-summer talk:

…and it’s only funny when it happens to someone else!

1) TW reader Dan Fosseneuve caught this 27″ B-E-A-Uty outta First Cranberry Lake in northern Manitoba, and said “she was in a hurry to get back in the water!” 😮‍💨👏 Solid recovery:

2) Dan Falstad would like to formally welcome his buddy John to the Target Walleye emails by sending in a pic of him getting fish-flopped. 🤣 Love it! A+ concentration tho:

3) So much going on in this @outdoorsinsider shot lol. Still trying to figure out who has the best expression in this pic? The kiddo, dog, or walleye that thought it was a good idea to eat that Mack’s Smile Blade:

4) Shout-out to Amber Serbin (@amberfishhh) for catching her new PB ‘eye on the fly! Got thrown into this epic mud wrestling competition right after – she won:

5) No doubt #FishFlopFriday gets a whole lot scarier when the fish has some meat to throw around! Like this 25-lb king salmon that TW reader Kevin Polacek wrassled on his bachelor party. Said it was a 30+ min battle to get ‘er in, so his arms were feeling like Jell-O haha:

TONS of other hilarious pics to scroll thru at the #FishFlopFriday hashtag on Instagram, or click the slippery preview below – the facial expressions always get me rollin’:

1. SD: The NTC (National Team Championship) is happening now…

…on Lake Oahe out of Mobdrige. Looks like it was a super-tough bite on day 1 of the 3-day event, with only 4 teams bringing in a limit and 109 teams getting skunked! But someone always figures ’em out, and that someone(s) so far is Guy Engebretson and Jason Majernik who weighed 5 for 23-03:

Btw you’ve seen Guy’s name mentioned in Target Walleye a few other times – one time was last spring when he and his then 15-yr-old daughter, Julia, won the AIM ‘Berkley Open’ on the Wolf River Chain of Lakes.

They took home $8K, and Guy also landed himself a new profile pic that I just have to share again. Because 1) it hit me right in the feels having a daughter myself and 2) it does a good job of summarizing what that moment had to have felt like. Goals:

2. MN: “Fishing to End Hunger” charity tourney happening Oct 1.

On Gull Lake. Last day for the early-bird registration (saves $100) is Aug 7.

They already 85 teams registered ‘cuz it’s a great cause, the fish are usually snapping that time of year, and it has BIG-time payouts.

Chaz Dobias of First City Guide Service and Jake Bonsack pulled off the ‘dubyah’ last year (results) with a 5-fish bag for 17.84 lbs. Only allowed 1 walleye over 20″ in this tourney and theirs was a 28.5″ kicker that went 8.21 lbs = took home the $15K payday!

Messaged with Chaz a little bit to get the scoop on how they caught ’em, and it sounded like the equivalent of what some folks call “junk fishing” in the bass tourney world…aka using multiple techniques throughout the day vs sticking to a specific pattern. Said that creek chubs, leeches, crawlers and Rapala Jigging Raps all came into play.

Targeted their bigger fish by rigging chubs and ripping Jigging Raps (“bluegill” in the biggest #9 size was best) out deeper in 30-40′. Their first big “over” was a 26-incher they didn’t think was going to be enough to give ’em the win, so they stuck with the deep program a little longer and got a 28.5″ hawg that scarfed a 6″ chub.

Chaz said they focused on 15-23′ weedlines for their “unders” and he had been saving big leeches all summer long just in case, knowing others wouldn’t be able to find them this time of year. Ended up being a key move with the fish turning ultra negative on game day and preferring leeches over minnows.

These guys put in their time and can obviously catch ’em. Big congrats again, fellas!

3. Bass Pro Shops buyer Ron Manrose now at Pitman Creek…

…as “director of assortments.” Ron managed one of the largest fishing lure assortments in the world for the last 25 years at Bass Pro Shops.

4. Check out the lips 👄 on this thing:

That’s the new Freedom Tackle Ultra Diver, and that large “soup cooler” pushes the biggest size down to 14+ feet on the cast and 25+ feet on the troll (unassisted). Some fish-sexxy looking colors too:

5. MN/WI: Fishermen want white pelican research on the upper Miss.

Saw this in the last BassBlaster email:

> Following a few small meetings with state and federal wildlife officials along with representatives from local politicians, some concerned bass (and other species) anglers have just started a petition with the end goal of encouraging some site-specific research on the impact white pelicans may be having on the upper Mississippi River.

> Numbers have increased dramatically over the last 20 yrs after they reappeared on the river. There are an estimated 4,000+ on Pool 13 alone where they have the only breeding colony on the upper Miss. They are being seen in increasing numbers on all the pools.

> Since they are primarily fish eaters and feed only down to about 3′ – and bass and panfish on the river spend most of their time in 3′ or less – you can see why there is concern. Anglers want to know if they are feeding on gamefish and if so how many pelicans is too many pelicans.

Pelicans have no problem scarfing-up walleyes in the spring when they are shallow… unless they’re big enough to fight back….

Like this time a pelican literally choked to death on a walleye:

But the fish survived! It was a fat ‘n sassy 25-26 incher that DNR officer Demosthenes Regas saved while out working spring fish-run activity on the Tamarack River in MN:

Love the quote in the last line of this Adam Uren Bring Me The New write-up:

> “In fairness, the walleye falls within the protected slot limit of 17-26″ for the 2020 season, so the pelican would had to have released it anyway….”

😂 +1 for team walleye.

6. MI trying to keep invasive “European frog-bit” in check.

First found in MI in 1996 but has been on the spread. Sounds like they’re using herbicides and good ol’ fashioned hand-pulling to try and slow its roll. Also showed itself in WI for the first time just last year:

> European frog-bit can form dense mats on the surface of slow-moving waters like bayous, backwaters and wetlands. These mats can impede boat traffic and alter food and habitat for ducks and fish. Because European frog-bit is free-floating, it can easily spread or be transported to new locations. European frog-bit also produces seeds and other seed-like structures called turions that may remain dormant for multiple seasons.

Sorta looks like tiny lilypads that overlap on each other:

And that’s why the bassin’ crowd has 1.5-oz tungsten flippin’ weights – to blast through that stuff!

7. IA: Anti-milfoil herbicide to be used at Lost Island Lake.

> The IA DNR confirmed Eurasian watermilfoil is growing at 4 sites along the west and southwest side of Lost Island Lake…. …developed an emergency action plan, and treated 14.5 acres with an aquatic herbicide approved for use on lakes on July 27….

8. River rats: If you’ve ever fished with willowcats….

…you know they 1) can straight-up crush fish…especially on the Mississippi River, and 2) can be nearly impossible to get thx to trapping restrictions/bans.

Guy named Eric Ingvalson started a company called Liquid Willowcat – they make liquid scent “from wild-harvested, fresh-ground preserved willowcats” and plastics to mimic the real thing:

Pretty cool! Dude said that the biggest drawback so far is how well the stuff works…’cuz people wanna keep it a secret lol.

9. Zeebz confirmed in Embarrass Mine Pit.

St. Louis County.

10. MN: DNR’s holding confiscated fishing/hunting equip auctions…

…online Aug 27 and Oct 1.

Here’s a few of the confiscated items they probably won’t be auctioning off (lol):

Larry Myhre’s August walleye tips.

Throwback write-up with some interesting snippets, excerpts below:

> Most of the time the fish are relating to weeds, particularly cabbage and coontail. I prefer to fish cabbage as it is much easier to move your presentation just outside of the weedline….

> I abandon the typical “Lindy” sinker when fishing weeds and instead use a cone-shaped [bassin’] sinker…slides through the weeds without fouling on them and can save you a lot of aggravation.

> During the heat of Aug, I tend to use nightcrawlers much more than leeches…crawlers beat leeches most days once the insect hatches start going off. If panfish are driving me crazy stealing crawlers, I’ll switch to leeches which are a lot tougher….

> Before snelling the hook, I slide on a 6mm bead…could be fluorescent orange, chartreuse, green or white. Some days one works better than the other – I’ve fished a lot of live-bait situations where the bead made a tremendous difference….

> I also carry fluorescent orange and chartreuse yarn, the same stuff steelhead anglers use. I usually divide it in half (because it’s pretty thick) and cut off a piece about 3″ long.

> Next I attach it to the snell right at the eye of the hook with a simple overhand knot…trim the ends down to about 1/4″ long. It provides a bigger target than a bead – acting almost like a spinner – but you can go a lot slower.

> Pinch off the tail of your crawler, removing about 1/3 of its length. Not sure why – some think it puts more scent in the water – but it’ll definitely make a difference most days.

> If your hook is picking up moss or other gunk, go to a floating rig so the hook doesn’t drag over the bottom. Floating jigheads work well and add a dash of color ahead of the worm.

Bunch of tourneys coming up soon-ish around these parts, and gotta say I always enjoy those awkward conversations at the ramp. 😅 No matter how someone’s pre-fishing actually went, it was always “slooooow”….

“Couple here and there, but it’s been tough….” 👀 But then after weigh-in you hear how everyone was lighting them up all week hahaha!

How about SoDak-ian Ryan Busche getting it done trolling from the pontoon?!

Seriously tho: How dang fun would it be to get the crew together on a pontoon, run a big spread of lines, and take shifts standing watch over the Side Imaging = 🔥🔥🔥.

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH