Craziest walleye of the year, How fast fish actually grow, Longer ice rods better

For me, it’s gotta be Jared Shypkoski’s new ND state record from last March coming in at 16.39 lbs and 33″ long! 🤯 Check it out:

Caught her about 1 hr before dark trolling crankbaits in the “Cannonball” area of the Missouri River south of Bismarck.

I reached out to Jared at the time to confirm some deets and found out he caught it with a Smithwick Perfect 10 Rogue custom-painted by Team Ultimatum Customs in their “neon glow shad” color. He said they were running their baits in 3′ or less [!] when that freakazoid bit. Using Off Shore Tackle Planer Boards so they could run 4 rods off each side and of course not spook those skinny-water slobs. 🎯

Huge congrats (again) on the fish of a lifetime, man!

Came across this super interesting write-up from MN DNR fisheries specialist Steve Kubeny that I thought others might like to see, too. First a little background from Steve:

> Fish grow at different rates depending on which part of the country and what type of lake they’re living in. In general, fish in the southern parts of the country grow much faster than fish living in the northern part of the country. The growing season or the length of time that water temperatures are ideal for fish growth are longer the farther south a fish lives. There is even a difference in growth rates between southern and northern MN fish.

> In Otter Tail County [MN], fish typically only grow during 3 months of the year, Jun, July and Aug. Once water temps begin to decline in Sep, fish growth stops and excess calories are preserved as fat for the long winter ahead instead of continued growth. In the spring, energy is spent on spawning instead of growth. With such a short window of opportunity for fish to grow, many anglers are surprised to find out how long it takes to produce a “keeper” sized fish.

> The type of lake a fish lives in also determines how fast it may grow. Shallow, fertile bodies of water tend to warm quicker in the spring and have more productive food chains. Growth rates tend to be faster in these types of lakes. Deep, less fertile lakes take longer to warm in the spring and have less productive food chains, which leads to slower growth rates.

Now, here’s Steve outlining the average growth rates for the more-popular species in MN’s Otter Tail County. Keep in mind that most gamefish species sexually mature at about the same age as anglers consider them keepers:

> Walleye: Typically about 6″ in length after their first year of growth. On average, a 14-15″ walleye (1 lb) is 4-5 yrs of age. A 20″ walleye (3 lbs) is usually 7-8 yrs of age. Walleyes in excess of 20 yrs of age have been documented in Otter Tail County.

 

> Bluegills: In most lakes, bluegills don’t reach a “keeper” size of 7-8″ until they’re 6-8 yrs of age.

 

> Black crappies: Most anglers consider a 10″ crappie a “keeper” and on average, a fish that long would be 5-6 yrs of age.

 

> Bass: A 14-15″ bass (2 lbs) is on average 5-6 yrs of age. A 20″ bass (5 lbs) is approximately 10-12 yrs of age.

 

> Northern pike: Typically reach an average length of 25″ (4 lbs) at 4-5 yrs of age. A 34″ pike (10 lbs) is 8-10 yrs of age.

 

> Muskies: Can reach lengths of 50″ or more, which typically takes 15-20 yrs.

 

> Lake sturgeon: Don’t sexually mature until they’re 20-25 yrs of age, and will have attained a length of 50-60″ or greater at that point.

If this stuff interests you like it does me, here’s some more info on how DNR biologists age fish. Thanks Steve!

Mid-winter can be a tough time to chase down walleyes…a combination of fishing pressure and cold temps often lead to lethargic fish and a finicky bite.

We had TW friend Will Stolski track down Forrest Leitch to see how he finds productive water during the mid-winter lull:

> Forrest: Seems like a lot of guys come mid-winter set up their hard houses in community holes close to access points – obvious points, humps, etc.

> My strategy is looking for high-percentage spots and using angler pressure to my advantage. Mostly applies to lakes I fish in northern MN with deeper structure, but can be used in a lot of different places.

Structure

> My favorite spot for this time of year is a mid-lake saddle…an area that has a flat or point on either end, and inside bends coming up out of deeper water on either side.

> The saddle itself serves as a hub where all these components come together…and usually holds the most aggressive gravel lizards.

> I try to find saddles out as far away from groups of houses as possible…community holes can kick out ‘eyes early in the season, but by mid-winter the fish have been pretty worked over.

Strategy

> It’s usually pretty cold this time of year and the ice is thick, so you want to plan accordingly…last thing you wanna do is wear yourself out drilling giant areas. #SpotOnTheSpot

> My strategy works best with a couple of anglers…gives you the ability to spread out set-lines and dial in the juice.

> I stick my portable right in the middle of the saddle and spread out set-lines [aka deadsticks] onto the different structure components. Love using the JT Hot Boxes for set-lines because they keep holes wide open in frigid temps.

> If one set-line is getting more bites than others – say closer to shallow water – I’ll move my shack accordingly.

Baits

> Usually start off with a Rapala Slab Rap – it’s a little more finesse than most “ripping” baits (no rattles) but still overall has an aggressive action.

 

> If fish are shying away from the Slab Rap, I’ll switch to a 1/8-oz VMC Tingler Spoon. Can fish ’em high in the water column – with a lot of action – to draw fish in from a distance…still able to slow down and fish subtly.

 

> On my set-lines I run a VMC Glow Resin Treble for larger minnows (shiners and rainbows). For smaller minnows I’ll scale down to a 1/16-oz VMC Tear Drop Jig.

We’ve come a long way from those wooden jiggle sticks your grandpappy used to use in the darkhouse…hand-lining in panfish next to a wood-burning stove. Nothing wrong with that [!] unless you’re looking to up your game….

There’s a time and place for everything, but IMO the longer the ice rod = the better.

First, here’s the 2 times I’d argue shorter sticks shine:

1. If you’re fishing inside a smaller portable shack where you physically can’t use longer rods because they’ll hit the roof on a hookset.

2. And when you’re “tightlining” finicky fish. A style of detecting bites by watching the coils in your line as you pound the jig – hunched over the hole as close as you can be, watching as far down the hole as you can see. When you think you have a bite, drop the tip of the rod to see if the line floats…if it does, you set the hook.

Okay, so why is longer more better?

1. Longer rods flat-out give you better hooksets. You’re simply moving that much more line on your sweep. Ever been working/jigging a fish up on your flasher and run out of room to set the hook? If you’re not constantly choking up, you can get caught in a bad position to set the hook – sometimes up over your head – and then you’ve gotta crank like a crazy person to try and catch up to the fish. Longer rods can overall keep you in a better position to whack ’em.

2. Also have waaaay more control over that fish once it’s hooked. There’s a lot more rod to help absorb the fight of the fish (instead of tearing hooks out) and also keep your line tight when they thrash or make runs (instead of getting enough slack to throw the hook).

3. On windy days, it’s super important to keep your rod tip as close to the water line as possible. The farther the distance between your rod tip and the ice, the more the wind is going to take away your feel for what’s going on below. So unless you want to hunch over all day (your chiropractor might not mind lol) a longer ice rod is going to let you keep wind out of the equation while still letting you stretch out.

For you visual learners, this AWESOME graphic from Elliott Rods does a way better job of describing that than I can:

4. There’s times when I’m fishing shallow panfish – or say late-ice crappies riding right under the ice – where I literally don’t even touch my reel handle. With a longer rod, I can walk from hole to hole with the right amount of line out (sometimes that’s 4′, other times that may be 8′) and drop right down to the fish’s level…set the hook and swing ’em right in like I’m using a cane pole. Talk about efficient hole-hopping!

And it’s tough to explain, but once you fish with a longer rod (whether it’s open water or ice) it’s hard to go back to shorter sticks. It legit just feels better [!!!] aside from the benefits I chatted about above that can help you catch more fish.

If you’re a diehard hole-hopper you know it’s been a nightmare to find loooong ice sticks in the past. So I was super pumped when Elliott Rods released their original trio of 42-44″ hardwater sticks called the Evolution Ice Series. High-end, ultra-sensitive, with Syncork handles and all:

Few details on the original 3 models:

> The ES44UL-XF is a solid glass 44″ rod with an extra-fast ultralight tip action to detect lite biters that smoothly transforms into a stiffer midsection and powerful enough to handle most fish that dare meet the challenge.

 

> The ES44L-F is a 44″ solid carbon fast-action blank that excels at small spoon presentations or light-line presentations. It weighs nothing in your hand and fishes with both finesse and authority.

 

> The ES42M-F, a 42″ solid carbon blank that is a master at working rattle spoons, Jigging Raps or any reaction lure presentation. The fast-action tip section parlays into a perfectly structured mid and butt section for the best hook sets and fish fighting performance.

Now, they’ve added 2 more sticks to their Evolution Ice Series lineup this year:

> The ES42NOODLE-F: Ultra soft noodle often used for light biting panfish…with a soft tip to reflect a slight load when using tungsten jigs. The slight load will show the “up bite” so often prevalent when fishing panfish.

 

> And the ES45M-XF: A 45″ medium power, extra-fast action dream rod for the angler that likes to fish reaction baits. The rod loads very quickly with a simple flick of the wrist. Has more power than the ES42M and a faster action to facilitate working reaction baits.

All those Elliotts sell-out fast so you better be quick on the trigger!

Hmmm…Nick Lindner must’ve been fishing the bent-rod pattern again lol:

Always knew Brian “Bro” Brosdahl was a Grumpy Old Man. 😉

Hahaha! Kidding of course.

1. Dave Genz X’d another off his ice-fishing bucket list.

He has now caught a walleye in every Great Lakes system. Funny enough, the last one on his list – Lake Superior – was also the closest to his home near St. Cloud, MN. The 23-incher scarfed a Clam Leech Flutter Spoon at sunset on Superior Bay. Congrats Dave!

2. ON: New walleye regz for Lake Nipissing this year.

> Harvestable slot size for walleye must be 40-45 cm (sport license limit: 2. conservation license limit: 1).

> According to MNRF…[this] will help to continue to build the biomass (the kilograms of fish in a lake) of walleye to a healthy level…continue to protect young fish so they can grow to maturity and reproduce…and start protecting mature walleye to rebuild a healthy age structure.

3. IN DNR successfully grew bigger ‘eyes for the 1st time.

Their hatchery system was able to produce “advanced walleye fingerlings” measuring 5-7″ in large numbers for annual fall stockings. They also stocked 6-8″ fish purchased from a private commercial fish supplier.

Important because:

> Predators feeding off smaller walleye is a huge factor limiting stocking success. Smaller fingerlings (measuring 1-2″) were traditionally stocked in the spring and were often eaten before they could attain a mature 14″.

4. OH: Port Clinton had a “Walleye Drop” on NYE.

Forget the “ball” drop in Times Square…Port Clinton, OH had their 25th annual “walleye drop” with a custom-built 20′ fiberglass walldawg.

5. MT: FWP wants your 🎄 for fish structure.

On Tiber Reservoir, something they’ve been doing since 1990. Sounds like they get several hundred trees each year and sink them (in spring) near the dam and marina.

> The trees provide a place for perch to spawn and are necessary because there’s very little shoreline vegetation for them to spawn in due to fluctuating water levels in the reservoir.

> Yellow perch are a primary forage species for our walleye. They’re very important for food for our popular walleye fishery.

Heads up: You can not do it yourself…they do so under permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

6. The Jasons are going live at 8pm CST tonight.

That’s the one(s) and only(s) Jason Rylander and Jason Durham, who will be taking over Clam’s Facebook page live tonight. Great chance to ask Qs and no doubt get your chuckle on knowing these two haha. 👊

Btw if you’re having a bad day…just remember that Jason Rylander cropped me out of our photo together. 😂😂😂😂😂

7. Garmin bought Vesper Marine.

A marine communications company.

8. Yamaha US has a new CEO/prez.

Mike Chrzanowski = internal hire most recently serving as SVP of the YMUS Demand Chain Division.

9. Frank Sargeant moving from The Fishing Wire to BoatTest.com.

10. Crocs is buying Heydude footwear for $2.5 bil.

Dang right this is big news, ‘cuz Crocs may just be the #1 accessory owned by fishin’ folks LOL. They’re basically mandatory in wheelhouses, and no one wants to put on boots to sneak out into the garage and get things rigged up either.

Take the air bladder out of your minnows.

Quickie tip from Ice Team pro Chris Granrud on a little something you might overlook when pinching off those minnow heads. He’s talking about the Clam Bomb Spoon, but it’s especially important when using any smaller profile baits/hooks:

“It’s a great day when your buddy loses his favorite PK then you catch a fish with an extra PK in its mouth!”

– From this PK Lures post with a little something you might occasionally see happen with northern pike…but super special when we’re talking walleyes:

Those PK Rattle Spoons and their original PK Spoon are legit fish-catchers. The “red dot glow” color will forever hold a special place in my heart.

This Green Bay waldo isn’t husky…it’s just big-boned lol. Awesome shot of @capt.gavinscray getting down with the sickness thickness:

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH