WOW! Kathy Link at Delaney Lake Lodge, ON:
Examining the pics closely, we think we’ve found the secret: the hat!!
Mille Lacs villain is…walleye?
Or maybe the MN DNR? Great article by Dennis Anderson:
> …cannibalism of young walleyes by older and/or bigger fish, including older walleyes, might be the biggest Mille Lacs problem.
> What’s more, the DNR’s continuation of tight harvest sportfishing slot limits in the years since likely has contributed to, if not solely resulted in, the lake’s present-day imbalanced (measured by age and size) walleye fishery.
> 2003: “As long as the Mille Lacs walleye population remains heavily skewed toward the larger size classes, the threat of heavy cannibalism of young-of-the-year walleyes will persist.”
> 2014: “…they’re not surviving in sufficient numbers as yearlings and 2-year-olds. …our leading hypothesis is that they are probably dying from elevated predation.'”
Artist rendering of MN DNR at secret Mille Lacs walleye meetings:
lol
Trollin’, trollin’, trollin’ – walleye!
Only a walleye fisherman would redo “Rawhide” like this — and only walleye fishermen can appreciate it!
Speaking of trolling…
…if you don’t like it, here’s what you’re missing hahaha!
News
1. MN: Update on Mille Lacs, Red, Leech stocking.
2. SD: Regs might change for some lakes in 2016.
Fisheries include: Bitter, Opitz, Waubay, and Cattail/Kettle.
3. MN: Leech Lake fishing report.
Larry Anderson:
> This time of year the fish have the advantage because of the young-of-the-year hatch. A wide variety of food is abundant and this is the challenge for the walleye fishermen. Depending on the type of weather, fish can be as shallow as eight feet on a windy day, and on a calm day can be found 30 feet deep on the humps in Walker Bay.
> Trolling or drifting and rigging with a spinner rig and an extra-long Lindy rig still seem to be a great option while covering a lot of water to find scattered walleyes. Pulling crankbaits early or late evening along sand flats, rocky structure and on the edges of weed beds is very good this time of the season.
> On the east end of the main lake, the rocks are still producing by pulling bottom bouncers with a spinner rig or using crankbaits. On the west side, trolling or drifting the middle of Sucker Bay, Grand Vu Flats and the Goose Island Flats has been successful.
> Bite has been hot and keeping anglers on the move. Walleyes are being caught jigging, drifting with spinners and trolling crankbaits. Nice limits filling in a mix of walleyes and saugers with a few jumbo perch. Graceton Beach, Zippel Bay, headed east towards towards Gull Rock are active in depths of 10-18 or 29-32 feet. Some are still headed north towards Garden, Knight, and Bridges Islands in 15-23 feet over rubble and off points. Hot colors are hammered gold and pink tipped with minnows or crawlers.
> Up at the NW Angle, points, reefs, and rock piles best for the walleye bite. Areas around Little Oak and Four Blocks active in 26-30 feet using bottom bouncers and spinners. The hot depths in Ontario waters are 22-25 feet. Try areas in and around Little Traverse such as the Massacre Island area. Any florescent colored jig is working tipped with frozen shiners.
Here’s how Jesse Tintes is catching them:
> Pulling crankbaits out in the mud in 30+ FOW is still producing nice walleyes on LOW and similar lakes. A few techniques producing for us:
3) “Snap Weights” — we actually use a 2-oz Wing-It Fishing Products quick snap weight 10-15′ in front of the desired crankbait (low price / good results)
5. ND: Devils Lake fishing report.
‘Nuff said!
6. ON: Nipissing gillnetter going to trial.
> Ministry officers pulled 13 abandoned nets from Lake Nipissing from June 7 to late August last year. A majority contained hundreds of dead fish.
New Stuff
1. Rapala Scatter Rap Tail Dancer.
Marry the the skinny tail and wide sweep of the Tail Dancer body with the hunting action from the Scatter Rap lip, and you have the new Scatter Rap Tail Dancer. Designed to be a Great Lakes or big-lake trolling bait.
2. Rapala Custom HD finishes.
Have to be seen to be believed, but here’s a good example:
An uncoated braided line that apparently does well around zebra mussels, but the greatest endorsement we heard was that it makes a 1/16-oz jig drop like a 1/4-oz. Can’t wait to try it….
4. Great vid on the Humminbird Helix 7.
By the Technological Angler:
Did we mention that the Helix 7 won “best electronics” at the recent ICAST fishing trade show, and that this was Humminbird’s 5th consecutive win?
5. New Off Shore Tackle Pro Mag board.
> …a new in-line planer board known as the OR-37 SST Pro Mag. Perfectly weighted and ready to fish right out of the package, the SST Pro Mag planer is designed to pull more weight farther out to the side than any board on the market today.
> Bigger than other boards in the OST family, the SST Pro Mag is designed to troll for trout, salmon muskie [and heavyweight walleye] with generous amounts of copper line or lead core, clip on weight systems and even diving planers.
> The new SST Pro Mag planes to the side beautifully and comes factory equipped with the exclusive Snapper Release on the tow arm and a Snap Weight Clip mounted at the rear of the board.
It’s already been used to catch wallys:
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Events
July 24-25. Plus the NPAA Future Angler Fishing Clinic is there tomorrow.
July 25.
July 25.
July 26.
GREAT places to fish – check ’em out!
‘Eye Candy
Mark Romanack says walleye don’t get any bigger than this one, caught on Esnagi Lake, ON. No length or weight given — what do you think? Let us know on Facebook.
Tip of the Day
Eric Naig: Hunting summer ‘eyes.
Eric is Northland’s marketing VP and a former walleye pro:
> “I don’t think catching walleyes in July and August is much different than catching them at any other time, except that the fish are likely going to be deeper. Walleyes are basically lazy fish. They don’t like to chase bait very far and are always looking for an easy meal, so I find out what the main forage species is in a given lake and then find them.
> “If fishing a natural lake, I begin by checking the edges of the weedbeds with the finder. Yellow perch are one of the main forage species for walleyes in many of these lakes, and the schools tend to follow the edge of the weeds. If I don’t find them there, I look for them in the transition zones – off the edge of weedbeds along structure such as creek channels.
Shot of the Day
When we close our eyes and dream about what our tackle shacks could look like, this is what we see…except bass pro Dave Lefebre isn’t in the picture (get out of our dream Dave!).
TargetWalleye.com | Rapala.com | IceForce.com
To send us walleye pics, ice shots and whatever, just respond to this email or click here to email us. Or post it on the Target Walleye Facebook page.
Jill M.
July 24, 2015 at 7:17 pm
Thank you so much for sharing our post on Kathy Links big walleye day!