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No offense Tom Boley.... 😂
Look at the stature of this 23-incher that engulfed Tom’s Moonshine Shiver Minnow on Lake Michigan during his "HUNT for the ONE." Crazy!
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Btw Tom recently did a really nice Leech Lake (MN) map breakdown, and also shows how he dials in his Humminbird’s depth highlight to find shallow sand areas where he’s pitching jigs for ‘em right now:
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I guess maybe Tom could be considered the "Freak of the Week" seeing as no one is kicking out YT walleye content like him! 😤💪 If you're not already subscribed to his YouTube channel, what are you doing?!
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Fishing forecast: What to look for when checking the weather.
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Some more great info from Virtual Angling and friends:
> Leisure Outdoors guide Toby Kvalevog uses weather and wind to determine his locations. Wind pushes plankton into areas, which also moves bait fish, and the predator fish he's targeting are never far behind. Toby also pays close attention to the moon phases. On a given day, there are 4 moon phases: When the moon is rising. When the moon is overhead. When the moon is setting. When the moon is underneath. These moon phases dictate fish activity, and some of the biggest fish will fire during specific majors and minors, a good fish and game calendar will highlight which of these phases makes for the best fish activity on a given day. Look up Solunar Tables or Fishing Calendars in the app store to find one you like.
> Brian Brosdahl of Bro's Guide Service checks the weather religiously and bases this on where he launches his boat and to determine what presentations to use. In high sun, for example, Brosdahl heads for thick weeds or deeper water where walleye are more comfortable in the harsh light. Bro also talks about barometric pressure and says on extremely low and extremely high-pressure days, he downsizes line and lure sizes and moves much more slowly. He also suggests setting the hook lightly, as fish in these conditions will bite lightly. Bringing a variety of live bait also helps to gauge what fish are more apt to bite in tough conditions. Brosdahl looks for stable weather. So, look for days when the barometer doesn't dip or rise much and conditions stay the same throughout the day. On those days with good, stable weather, he upsizes to heavy jigs for a faster rate of fall, which signals predatory instinct in fish.
> Hang Loose Outdoors Guide Colt Anderson is on the water daily, and his strategy is to get as accurate a forecast as he can get. He does this by averaging the information provided on a number of weather apps to see what they all generally agree on. It is essentially cross-referencing because, as we know, the weatherman isn't always right. Anderson also suggests having a backup plan as the weather can change quickly from what you anticipated.
> Leisure Outdoors counterpart Chuck Hasse likes to prepare the night before a trip and base his location on the forecasted wind. Chuck has found that on bright sunny days when walleye fishing can be tough, he'll go with more reaction-style baits to force fish into biting. Examples of reaction-style presentations include Jigging Raps, fast-moving plastics, and speeding up spinners or crankbaits when trolling. On overcast days, Hasse likes using bobbers to keep baits in front of fish until they are ready to commit, as they will be in more of a feeding mode.
Here's those 4 hammers diving in:
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Why you shouldn’t leave the dock without a toothbrush.
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Tell me “Reach” wouldn’t be a great name for a far-casting, deep-diving jerkbait. 🤷♂️
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Maybe they oughta try it with the electric, vibrating version lol.
Okay the real reason some folks say you need a toothbrush actually has to do with tying a certain joiner knot....
From everything I have heard the best “joiner” knot (connecting your mainline to a fluorocarbon leader) for longer leaders is called the FG knot, because it has a super slim, streamlined profile. It’s also one of the strongest ones out there. BUT the first time you take a crack at one you’ll feel like you need to be a rocket scientist to pull it off lol:
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Sounds like most folks will tie-up all their FG knots the night before since they’re much more time consuming, but of course fish incredibly well. Practice makes perfect pretty okay. 😅
If you’re like me and have given up on learning to tie the FG knot, then might as well try one more time lol? This dude says the easiest way he's found is using a couple of rubberbands and toothbrushes.... 👀 Because:
> “After extensive research, it turns out there is no need to have double-jointed fingers, cut off the circulation in your pinky, or use your teeth to tie the FG. With my way of tying the FG Knot both hands are free to work the knot-magic.”
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Interesting, but to be honest I’m just stubborn and not going to even mess with the FG knot LOL. I can literally tie a double-uni knot in about 30 seconds...in the wind...with my eyes closed.... I swear it! And until I have that baby fail me on the water – I’m sticking with it!
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Walleye pro Drake Herd is getting gassy!
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Wait – not the kind from too much Taco Bell...he’s talking tips/tricks on how he gets the most bang for his buck with every gallon of gas while on tour chasing walleyes across the Midwest:
> When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, this is the hardest thing for me! This will minimize the vapors that are created while you are pumping gas. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less bang for your buck and we all know when you run from Green Bay to Escanaba we need every ounce!
> Only buy or fill up your boat in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all gas stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening...your gallon is not exactly a gallon. The exact gravity and the temperature of the gas products plays an important role. A degree rise in temperature is a big deal for jamming as much gas in as you can. But the gas stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.
> One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL, if possible. The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates fast. Less air, more gas! Most of your wives will like less air!
> Know your gas tank.... How your tank lays in your boat is very important when on the trailer. Whether it’s perfectly flat, tilted back towards the motor or forward towards the bow. You will either need to raise the tongue of your boat or unhook and drop it lower.
> One last thing if there is a tanker truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up! most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the junk that is normally at the bottom! Ask Jason Hamernick about that one!
Great info! Thanks Harry Drake!!
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This boat has a suspension system?!
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My back would love it, but I sure wouldn't want to try landing a fish over those gunnels. 😅
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1. Walleye Nation Creations 🤝 NWT
The National Walleye Tour’s newest partner for the 2025 season:
> Walleye Nation Creations, a very popular company among many top walleye anglers across the North American continent, has been an industry leader in lures and product innovations since 2016. Owners Bill McGannon and Brian Hunke originally founded the company designing a few products that they saw a need for as serious walleye anglers themselves. Having developed multiple style of baits for walleye anglers over the years, Walleye Nation Creations have found themselves in a number of walleye anglers tackle boxes and continue to be a top pick among NWT Anglers like Craig Sleeman, Ed Stachowski, and many others.
> Walleye Nation Creations is most known for the creation of the Death Jig, a special type of jig head designed to increase catch ratios with live-bait. This bait is just one of the namesake products along with a line-up of walleye specific crankbaits, blade jigs, and jigging hard baits.
> Bill McGannon & Brian Hunke of Walleye Nation Creations: "We are excited to be working with the National Walleye Tour and supporting some of the best walleye anglers in the world. The National Walleye Tour and Walleye Nation Creations seem to be a natural partnership. We continue to create new and innovative products and look forward to hopefully seeing some of those products in action on the tour.”
2. MN: Walleye derby raises $125K for local organizations
That’s the Knights of Columbus Walleye Classic whose committee recently donated $125K raised at its fishing tournament to 11 local organizations.
> Money was raised through donations from 45 community sponsors and the sale of raffle tickets for the Lund boat, motor and trailer, which were donated by Ray's Marine. This year was a record-breaking year for the KCWC, both for fundraising and community attendance....
3. MN: “Fishing to End Hunger” charity derby is Oct 5
On Gull Lake. This derby has BIG-time payouts for around here, and also supports a great cause by raising funds for The Outreach Program of Brainerd Lakes to help this awesome organization fulfill their mission: Feeding Families in Need. 🙌
Back to some tourney talk...
Father/son duo Nate and Butch Blasing won the Fishing to End Hunger charity derby on Gull Lake last year (full results) with a monstrous 5-fish bag for 20.19 lbs (only 1 fish > 20″ allowed) which also included ‘big fish’ of the derby with a 9.62-lb GIANT.
The Blasings (good people) are local Brainerd Lakes Area guides and the best dang live-bait rigging fellas I’ve ever met – no forward-facing sonar needed. #OldSchool
Clear water + pressured fish + insanely stiff competition...and these fellas came out on top for a $16K+ payday [!!!], some serious bragging rights, and will get their names stamped on the coolest dang traveling trophy for the third time.
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But their derby season isn't over yet – Minnesota Tournament Trail is having a Mille Lacs Lake shootout on Oct 26.
5. Head2Head fishing is taking applications
Only accepting 10 teams to fish their Walleye League in 2025.
6. Virtual Midwest Fall Walleye Classic starts Sat
A month-long virtual fishing tourney thru Angler’s Atlas:
> Anglers from 14 areas in the US and CAN are invited to participate: IL, IN, IA, KS, MB, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, ON, SD and WI.
> The tournament is funded by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and aims to collect data on walleye, sauger and saugeye populations for fisheries’ biologists.
> Anglers have two options to register for the tournament. A paid, $25, entry allows participants the chance to win biweekly cash prizes. Those who enter for free are eligible for non-cash prizes. Both types of entries will have the opportunity to win a grand prize at the end of the challenge.
https://www.anglersatlas.com/event/820/2024-midwest-fall-walleye-classic-2024
Looks like they have lots of random prizes mixed in as well if you’re worried you won’t catch long-enough walleyes to be at the top of the leaderboard.
7. MI: DNR begins fall survey.
> ...conducting nighttime walleye recruitment surveys. Fisheries managers use these surveys to determine whether walleye that hatched in the spring (known as young-of-year) were born in the wild or were stocked, as well as how many are present in an area. This information about the status of young walleye in lakes helps the DNR make well-informed management decisions.
8. Which lithium battery is best for your electronics
Here is a GREAT chart from Amped Outdoors giving you the expected hours of runtime based on which electronics setup you have – super helpful!
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> ...what we call “the plain rig” walleye presentation. This rig consists of a bottom-bouncer and plain fluorocarbon snell with 2 hooks tied-in that are baited with a nightcrawler. We use this rig to target walleyes holding in lots of different places. We have used it the most to target classic walleye-holding structure like sunken humps, the edges of underwater islands, and weed edges. We have, however, caught fish pulling plain on the tops of flats and in featureless basins as well.
> The plain rig works best when a heavy bottom-bouncer (we use 2 oz) is attached to a 15- to 20-lb braided line. As mentioned before, we use 10-lb fluorocarbon line and tie in 2 hooks (about 2.5” apart) using a snell knot.
> We pull plain about 1mph...simply slide the rod back to a biting fish, and sweep forward to hook the fish. A key with this rig is to keep the line to the bottom-bouncer nearly vertical, but on bottom, when pulling it...this imparts a fish-attracting stutter to the bait.
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“Sometimes you don't hold the fish to try to make it look bigger for the picture...instead you just try to hold on!”
- That’s the FishDonkey crew talking about this huuuuge 34” walleye caught by WA/OR hammer Kimo Gabriel. 🤯
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There’s still plenty of great fall fishing left [!!!] but I’m diggin’ this chilly first-ice teaser on Elliott Rod’s Instagram. Gotta love that magical first-ice window where you can drag out gear in a sled and the sled basically drags you:
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Gonna be sprinkling more and more hardwater schtuff in these emails going forward as we get closer to ice...but don’t worry, there will still be plenty of goods for those fishing in the boat or from the bank. ✌️
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Sign up another fish-head!
If you're forwarding Target Walleye to a friend who loves to walleye fish or want your fishing buddies to get these emails, just send us their email addresses and we'll take care of it! (We won't sell the addresses, use them for spam, etc.)
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FRIENDS OF TARGET WALLEYE
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Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jay Kumar, Chris Philen, Brett McComas and other diehard fish-heads like you!
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Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye He was discovered in Brainerd, MN after years of wondering how in the heck people break into the fishing biz. He's in it now, but still can't answer that question.... Brett is one of those guys who majored in marketing, only because there was no such thing as a "fishing degree" at the time.... Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com
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