1. MN: Father opens bait shop to help son with special needs.
Walleye Willies Bait and Tackle in Stillwater. 🙌
2. MN DNR might boot some state records.
> In a draft proposal…the DNR acknowledges that the dozen MN fish records established before 1980…might not be legitimate. Before that date the DNR didn’t require record-fish submissions to be weighed on certified scales.
> …until 1950, the agency didn’t keep formal records of big fish…. It instead largely accepted as fact anglers’ monster-fish claims – though at times their only validation was by Field & Stream magazine or other publications….
> There’s no proof these or the other pre-1980 records are legitimate. But there’s no proof they aren’t. “Our supporting files for some of these older records are simply empty. There’s nothing there.” Thus the decision to label the pre-1980 records “historical.”
> “Going forward – and we hope to have the new record-keeping system in place by Mar 1, 2024 – we will open up the 12 species with records from before 1980 to new certified weight records.”
> The DNR also proposes to add 18 species to its catch-and-release record book category, a program that now applies only to muskie, northern pike, lake sturgeon and flathead catfish. Because adding so many fish at once to this grouping might create workload problems for the DNR, 6 species a year over 3 years….”
Which would have walleye rolling out with the last group in 2026. Lot more info here.
3. MN: John Hoyer’s speaking at the TCWU meeting on Thurs, Jan 5.
Everyone is welcome – Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited meetings are open to the public. Not sure what Hoyer’s charging for autographs nowadays tho. 😉
4. MN: New DNR Northwest Region fisheries manager in Bemidji.
Marc Bacigalupi (sort of pronounced like Botch-uh-guh-lou-pee) who’s extremely knowledgeable, passionate and a straight-up GREAT guy! Mark began his career with the DNR in 2001 and had been the Brainerd area fisheries supervisor since 2010.
Congrats man, well-deserved! Tho I’m selfish and would rather have you around the Brainerd area lol.
5. Would structure godfather Buck Perry have used LiveScope?
Interesting read – the general consensus is no way in, well…. 🏒🏒
6. Hey river rats!
I’ve heard these Marble Eye Jig Heads from Walleye Nation Creations are legit. 💯
> “…bright, contrasting colors, big eyes for a target, and a stubby nose that creates strike-inducing action. Jig or cast the Marble Eye lure into moving water with your soft plastics, which the strong baitholder will keep fast to the XX-strong hook. Let the swimming motion in the current do the fishing for you.”