Today’s Top 4
Jason Drewa cracked this melon chunk with a #6 Rapala Rippin’ Rap (gold chrome):
Another Rippin’ Rap fish: Ethan W. caught this 30″ head and shoulders fish rip-jigging on Sturgeon Bay. #RaiseEmUp:
Steve-O used a 5.5″ Trigger X Slop Hopper (dirt herring) on the South Saskatchewan River to stick this Saskatoon (eh) water pig:
Ethan L. with a Lake Champlain (VT) wallygator he popped while trolling a #12 Rapala Deep Husky Jerk (gold) at 1.5 mph in 25′:
Against a field of heavy-hitters, Matt Ernst and Doug Weidenhamer put together a 36.79-lb bag that whooped 2nd place by more than 13 lbs! Caught ’em pitching 1/4-oz VMC jigs tipped with medium-large chub minnows:
All those fancy do-dads and gizmos being slung by the competition and it’s won anchored up pitching jigs — doesn’t get much more traditional than that. Here’s a pic of them just before the school moved through:
lol nice work fellas!
Everyone was okay but it’s a good reminder to always use your kill switch and rock a life jacket:
Kind of looks like the tracks from Tommy “go fast” Skarlis when he’s pulling crankbaits:
Some of our favorite comments from the TWI Facebook page:
- That’s why they look like arcs on the graph.
- Must have been caught near a power plant.
- It’s from running into the dam.
- That’ll be fun to fillet.
- Looks like my Aunt Regina…only taller. [Better hope she doesn’t see that!]
News
1. MN: Group protests Mille Lacs regs.
Not sure if that got them anywhere besides a road trip to St. Paul. Are you picturing the same thing we are?
2. WI: Biologists battling the “walleye-bass flip.”
Stocking the snot out of lakes with walleye to combat the rising bass-to-walleye ratio.
3. ND: Biologists tag 36K adult walleyes.
> “…analyze movement between the Garrison Dam here in ND to the Oahe Dam in SD, while keeping track of the angler mortality rate.”
4. MI: Bowling ball-sized jigs for Detroit River ‘eyes.
5. ON: Lake Nipissing walleye survey underway.
6. New Rapala Scatter Rap Shad Deep.
7. Line COLOR choices for walleyes.
Good info. Time to get spooled up!
8. MN: Big results at the Zippel Bay pike tourney.
Multiple gators weighed in the 15- to 18-lb range. Good way to hurry up and wait for walleye opener.
9. What does your boat insurance cover? (video).
Bob Luellen is a tournament fisherman that writes insurance specific to anglers. Give him a shout, for the education if nothing else!
10. ND: Devils Lake summer giveaway.
Over $3K in goodies! #DevilsLakeND
11. Using your ‘bird to catch walleyes from shore (video).
12. New Yo-Zuri walleye colors…
…in the Crystal Minnow Deep Diver Walleye Series. 12 colors and 2 sizes (3.5 and 4 3/8 inches).
Also doing a 53,000 sq ft manufacturing expansion.
14. LAST CHANCE: TWI survey could win you free lures.
Only takes a few minutes to tell us about you and what you want to see more/less of in Target Walleye. One person who takes it will be randomly chosen to get some fishing lures. Click here to get there, thank you!
Events
Fishing Reports
Tip of the Day
> “There are times when clear-water walleyes are either glued to the bottom or sky high in the water column and don’t show up on your graph, no matter what brand electronics you’re using.”
> “In one spot I noticed a pile of perch just off bottom with my Helix 12 CHIRP unit. But I could tell by how they were disrupted that walleyes had to be nearby. So I ground crankbaits on and just-off bottom and we started catching 28 – 30-inch donkeys.
> “We put some in the box for photos and they started puking up perch – just chunks and carcasses everywhere.
> Typically, this time of year trolling spinners at almost rigging speeds would trigger these inactive ‘eyes, but the perch were making that almost impossible. The switch to cranks on long leads with Sunline Super Natural mono (.013) covered most of the depths that we needed with Reef Runner 800 cranks, but Sunline SX1 braid has a super small diameter and allows me to get in the 30’ plus range without adding weights.”
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