Heads up: Not sure if I’ll be able to get a Target Walleye out next week while we’re down at ICAST.... But will definitely have some special new product issues coming your way after I get back. In the meantime make sure you’re checking the Target Walleye Instagram next week for stories from the show floor. 👊 Now let’s get into today’s goodness!

Typically when we’re talking about plucking summertime walleyes out of the weeds, it seems like cabbage and coontail are the go-tos – sometimes even milfoil or chara aka “sand grass.” But there isn’t much talk about “eelgrass” or wild celery (vallisneria americana) as the scientific-y folks call it? Stuff that looks like this:

It’s a bite I first stumbled upon on accident...sort of.... Was up poking around for walleyes on a long, slow-tapering point – hitting that 10-14′ cabbage/coontail mix where the fish usually are on this central-MN lake – and striking out.

It was sunny and pushing 90 degrees, with water temps on the verge of bath water (81°F). I had seen several fish on my Humminbird MEGA Down Imaging hidden in the weeds, but just couldn’t get them to go. Figured the fish must’ve been straight-up buried down and the odds of ’em even seeing my bait was slim.

Was about to throw in the towel 🤦‍♂️ and figured for the heck of it I’d bomb a cast up on the tippy-top of this point = a 6-9′ flat with scattered eelgrass. Flipped the trolling motor to 10 and juuuust started to turn the boat to get to deeper water – so I could get the heck out of there – when I got “thunked.”

What do ya know, it was a chunky 15” walleye that absolutely inhaled my 4” Impulse Smelt Minnow on a 1/4-oz VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig. Have that combo tied on no matter what lake I’m heading to. Not sure the jig color makes a big difference since snap-jigging is mostly a reaction bite, but I was trying to mimic a tasty-little perch and this is always my confidence color:

I like to rig it with 10-lb Sufix 832 Advanced Superline and at least a 5-6′ leader of 10-lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon. Smooth + strong combo and can still feel ’em “donk” the bait on the drop. Heavier leader when snapping out of thick weeds, can drop down to 8-lb for the sparse stuff.

I immediately hit Spot-Lock on my Minn Kota and fired another cast up top. Ended up catching 3 walleyes in 4 casts [!] snap-jigging my bait so hard that every stroke looked like a hookset...and sometimes was.

Noticed on the 3rd cast (the one where I didn’t catch a walleye) I had a piece of “eelgrass” hanging from my bait. The next few casts after that flurry of fish helped me put together the pieces of that puzzle. Ended up catching a couple of largemouth bass, brought in a little more eelgrass, and snagged 2 small-ish perch in the belly. So now I knew what they were feeding on and where.

That “eelgrass” typically grows in 10′ or less...sometimes out to 15′. Likes growing on a semi-hard bottom...like sand covered with a thin layer of muck. It can get thick, but these fish were relating to thinner patches of the stuff. Only thing I can think of is it was enough cover to hold bait (perch) but thin enough that those fish could easily feed in and around it. Especially since the cabbage/coontail mix I normally get ’em out of was soooo thick and overgrown = a nightmare to snap jig through.

The “X” marks the spot(s) where I found ’em relating to that shallow eelgrass, and I highlighted in yellow where I normally catch ’em midsummer on this point:

You’ve got your typical “flash bites” for walleye – about 45 minutes near sunrise and sunset – but there seems to be another bite window for these shallow weed fish: they LOVE to eat midday. Not sure what it is – maybe that’s when the forage is congregated around these areas seeking out shade before dispersing?

I came across one of the most glorious, walleye-specific Humminbird MEGA Side Imaging screenshots I’ve seen yet – incredible! Had to pause quickly to share with ya:

And "yes," it was confirmed they were walleyes and not suckers lol.

It was one of MANY examples in a newer video from TJ's Guide Service on YouTube called “Find the RIGHT Weeds for Walleyes - How to Catch Walleyes in the Weeds.” Tons of Side Imaging screenshots, underwater camera clips, LiveScope footage, and fish catches 💯 so you can see exactly what TJ is seeing as he walks you thru how/where he finds walleyes in the weeds:

Dropshots aren’t just for bass 👀 they’re a simple and efficient way to keep your bait right in front of a walleye’s face and know it’s fishing in the strike zone the whole time. 🎯

They work all year round, but I don’t think there’s a better way to catch finicky, late-summer walleyes (on outside weed-edges and the tops of hard-bottom humps) that may be turning down other presentations.

Bonus points: If you’re fishing with your kids or someone who’s maybe not as experienced, this is the PERFECT way to help them catch a walleye without trolling. Few reasons being 1) the fish will basically set the hook on itself if they just start reeling, 2) don’t need to be a master at jigging cadences, and 3) the bait is always near – but up off of – the bottom.

Shared by David Keller. Wonder how many spots it would bump ya up in an AIM (length based) catch-photo-release derby? 🤣

Especially if it wasn't the only one to make the card:

I’d rather they have that bonus protein on their tail vs somewhere else...like this one caught by Stephen Roller near Bemidji, MN. Might wanna get that chin music checked out!

I just posted episode 75 on our YouTube channel. Hope you dig it 👊 and thanks SO much for taking the time to watch and comment!

Also a big thx to our friends at Sea Foam for keeping us running smooth and making this fun video series possible!

1. MT: 37th Annual Governor's Cup happening right now.

It’s day 2 of 2 of the Montana Governor's Cup Walleye Tournament on Fort Peck. No day-1 results were anywhere yet on their FB page or site?

They'll probably be like 10 for 159 lbs 4 oz won and just leave it at that 😅no fish pics, zero details/specifics on how the fish were caught, just a picture of a printed out sheet of paper with some results 8 days later with it taking a 10-lb avg to get 14th place HA! Kidding...sorta....

But for real: Brem and Clyde Phipps won it last year with a 2-day total (10 fish) of 104.32 lbs.... 🤷‍♂️ That was the only info tho.

2. MI: More than 1 mil walleye stocked...

...into MI waters by Sault Ste. Marie Tribe's fish program.

> Since 1995, their fish-rearing program introduced 20 mil [!] walleye into the ecosystem. This year, over 1 mil walleye and 45K whitefish were released into northern-MI waters.

> Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Chairman Austin Lowes: “We want to be good stewards for the environment. We want to give more to the fisheries than we take out, and we want to leave more resources for the next 7 generations than what we currently have.”

3. MN: Little more insight on the GRAHA win.

Randy Topper hopped on Paul Bunyan Country Outdoors to chat a little about how he and Brock Anderson sacked-up 5 for 51.21 lbs to win in the Lake Pokegama derby.

BUT Randy does a pretty great job of dodging the specifics when asked, "Where did you find the fish and what were you using to win the tournament this year." 😅

4. New Berkley Fusion19 Hybrid Jighead looks fish-sexxy.

5. What’s Clam got up their long sleeves? 🤔🥶

> "A CPT bait is back and improved! This lure has a one of a kind action that rattles and shakes in the upward motion, then as the bait free falls it has a subtle dying minnow action. This combination is simply irresistible to fish!”

6. TX says crappie NOT at risk due to FFS.

> "The main finding is that crappie populations are not at risk of collapse due to FFS. There is a relatively small percentage of crappie anglers that harvest 10 or more crappie. You're not going to see a large number or anglers, or the crappie population, impacted by lowering the bag limit."

> ...on average [TX crappie] FFS users catch and harvest about double the number of fish per hour than non-users. "Since the average fishing trip lasts about 4-5 hours, we are talking about 4 or 5 more fish harvested per person."

> The TX study also showed FFS users were more size-selective in the fish they harvest. Bennett said that group harvested more 11-12" fish, and voluntarily released smaller, legal-length fish that he believes contribute to the bulk of the annual spawn.

> "I think we are seeing a lot of self-regulation come out of this LiveScope phenomenon, which may be a silver lining. Some anglers are concerned about the possible overharvest of larger brood fish, but I would say in reality the 9-10 inch fish are more responsible for future production each spawn because there are so many more of them than the fish over 12 inches."

7. Save up to $10K on select Lund models. 😯

Thru July 25. I don't remember ever seeing incentives this big.

8. PRADCO Fishing has 3 new VPs.

> Chad Warner is in his 9th year at PRADCO and has been named...VP of brand management. He oversees its largest brands – YUM and BOOYAH. He is also the direct report for 5 brand managers and manages the product development processes for all fishing brands.

> Mark Cowan has been promoted to VP of operations.... In his 29th year at PRADCO, Cowan oversees its operations in Fort Smith and Guatemala and is also in charge of the global supply chain for raw materials and finished goods.

> Heather Chaffin has been promoted to VP of people and culture. She is responsible for recruiting and retaining talent, and initiated Fishing's Mentoring and Career Development Program 2 years ago, which identifies and trains team members to be promoted into key company roles....

9. Tammy Foshee is now with Fishing Tackle Retailer.

Believe she was previously the president of Big Bite Baits until it was acquired by GSM.

10. New Great Lakes ballast water regs in effect soon.

> They will require vessels entering the Great Lakes to transition to modern ballast water systems that cleanse water of organisms before release.

My bud Jay Kumar (aka BassBlaster) bring sup a great point:

> “That's good to maybe help stop more invasive species introductions but – what has the shipping industry paid so far to mitigate all that stuff? Will keep asking: Why is it only outdoorsmen – who had NOTHING to do with this – who are footing the bill for all of it?”

11. Al Lindner will be on Reel Talk Outdoors.

With Mark Fisher, Tom Neustrom and Larry Hanson this Sunday, July 14 from 7-8pm.

12. MN: DNR proposes selling 80K acres of school trust lands...

...in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to the U.S. Forest Service to benefit MN’s public schools.

How to make braid and leadcore less visible.

Another good reason to keep a Sharpie in the boat. And finally some proof that Ross Robertson can color inside the lines. 😅 But seriously, his trick of slicing the tip of the marker is gold:

Btw the marker scent goes away quickly 🤔 but it did make me curious if there was anyone out there that makes a fishy-scented black marker? Did a little snooping and I realize now that Spike-It Dip-N-Glo Markers do come in black.... I’ve used them (in different colors) on soft-plastics, but never tried a black one to see if it stays on line.

Temps are on the rise – stay safe out/in there! 🤢

Gotta give props to fish-head Blake Tollefson on getting out there and making memories with the little one! And BIG congrats on your first walleye, girly! 🙌 Moments like this are what it’s all about:

Have a great + safe weekend, Target Walleye fam!

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026