Well, I think this screenshot from a short video about sums it up! 🤣

That big girl totally engulfed Berkley bait designer Dan Spengler’s Berkley Stunna 100 in the “stealth shad” color. Which I believe would be the BBQ equivalent to this:

Got to lookin' at the Stunna on Scheels and their color game is strong. Here’s a few favorites (clockwise from the top left): northern lights, perch, wakasagi, and stealth minnow:

I was lucky enough to get in the boat with Dan late last spring and watch him work his Stunna magic. 🤫 Here he is talking about the secret jerkbait cadence he used to school us from the back of the boat.... Oh, and I promise those saucy wings will all make sense if you watch the video lol:

Dan is always cooking something up and I’m here for it!

Been talking to a lot of fellers about looking for that dirtier water this time of year to get on walleyes making a push in or out of the rivers...but what if you don’t have dirty water available? Where's the love for the clear-water folks!?! 😅🦓🦪

Well, you're in luck because leave it the the 🐐 Al Lindner to get dialed on some clear water spring walleye in this Lindner's Angling Edge YouTube video – tell 'em Al:

> "The water is so clear in most of the lakes...a lot of our walleye lakes...have become a little bit weary. When there's that many fish up in shallow water you're better off casting off to the sides

> "You used to be able to go if you had big winds you could drift over the top of them and almost vertical jig them.

> "When you get up on shallow breaks like this you can't come over them. You got to move. You'll see those fish moving off to the side – you can make long casts away from the boat to get 'em to bite [when they're being] real finicky"

Thankfully Al didn't just leave it there either.... 😅 So here's how he's catching 'em in that clear water:

> "One of the mistakes [I’ve seen] when I have people in the boat with me is that when they put plastic on the back of a jig, they fish it the same way they fished when they had a minnow or a piece of nightcrawler or a leech"

> "[Guys] fish the old cliche ‘fish the lightest jig you can get away with’ and fish it real slow – that's fine as long as you got bait on there. [But], guys fish plastic the same way and they don't catch the amount of fish that you do when you fish with plastic"

> "When I'm out fishing and talking to other people in the camp – from what I can tell, artificials pretty much produce bigger fish day in and day out"

> "When you go to soft bait and you get off the bait you [have to] fish a little bit heavier bait and you fish much more aggressive – you gotta snap that bait off the bottom whether it's a Jigging Rap, a Rippin Rap, or a piece of plastic."

Al's weapon of choice early in the season:

> "The VMC Bucktail Jig – this bait can be fished with or without a trailer in shallow water oftentimes there is no need for added bulk...fish eat it just as it is.

> "I've been fishing this Bucktail Jig a lot just like I'm snap jigging a Jigging Rap or a plastic. Nothing on it, just the way it is, and doing extremely extremely well"

Al's Bucktail setup:

> VMC Bucktail Jig, 6-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro leader, barrel swivel, 8-lb Sufix Advance Mono main line, Diawa Fuego spinning reel, 6' 8" M St. Croix Icon Series spinning rod.

And as the water warms up and he wants to fish his hair even snappier/faster, then he busts out the VMC Moontail Jig:

> “If you can imagine taking a jig and putting it in a vice and flattening it out, that’s what they did.

> “...have the same weight, but it’s thinner so it cuts water much faster. You get a better, faster drop speed.

> “You make the profile much bigger. And the eye becomes gigantic. And the bigger the eyeball, the more the walleyes like it.”

> “The Moontail is not made to be fished with live bait – that would defeat the purpose of it – you fish this just the way it is out of the package.”

Measures 4” long including the jighead, which Al says is the magic length. Has that fishy VMC TechSet Technical Locking Hook that locks fish in place.

> Al: “That hook is unbelievable. You don’t miss anything on it. This is the best hook – on the market on a jig – I have ever seen. Most jigs have sub-par hooks to cut costs.

> “They cast like a bullet. You can throw them right into the wind with no problems.

> “I’m throwing up on some shallow-water stuff with it, you can back-troll with it, it works phenomenally well on deep-water structures. You could rip through the weeds with these jigs. You can do things with them that you couldn’t do before. And that’s the idea of the Moontail.

> “You’d be amazed at how deep of water I can fish with the 3/8-oz. It gets down there quicker than most people realize. You think, 25′, 30′, 35′, that’ll take forever for that jig to get down [to the bottom]. But it doesn’t. It goes fast.”

Coming to a lake near you SOON:

That’s the Big Bite Baits Spotlight Minnow, designed by Major League Fishing BPT angler Drew Gill – built to sit perfectly level in the water and give fish that natural look. There’s been a quiet trend building since FFS was the deal about minnows that sit perfectly level in the water. Not nose-down, not sagging...just hovering like the real deal. Saw this come through Jay Kumar's BassBlaster, and while it’s really taken off in bass fishing, it carries over for you walleye pingers.

At the end of the day, bass and walleyes are both apex predators. They eat the same baitfish and are wired to react to similar presentations, so a minnow that holds that natural horizontal posture just looks right, especially when fish are pressured or neutral. 

Here's a bit from Drew on what that minnow was built for:

1. What do we need to know about the design of the Spotlight Minnow?

> "The important facets of the Spotlight Minnow in terms of design that I think make it unique...these components might not necessarily be unique on their own but when put together make a bait that I think functions different than most on the market.

> "It's got a hollow core, which means it keeps a horizontal body position...it looks like a baitfish even when you sit it still and shake it in place. It doesn't droop, it doesn't sag, so you can fish it pretty slow and keeps its horizontal posture.

> "Which is really important. If you've got a bait that starts to sag in the back, they're not as interested.

> "That hollow core is really important. It lightens it up, so the bait is really responsive. It's more like just shaking a jighead. Whatever size [Spotlight], it weighs far less than competing options in that same size, so it doesn't fight the jighead. When you shake it, it rolls really good because of that hollow core.

> "The tail is wider than the body of the bait at the base, which means when you fish it faster, that tail is still gonna have action. So you can fish it really fast and that body still moves....

> "And because it's slightly off-center it still has that good roll. The tail is actually set off on a 1-degree offset so it's not quite flat – it helps get the bait out of balance a little bit."

Foller-up: The hollow body – is it air hollow or water hollow? Does water get in there and that's why it does what you're saying?

> "...once that bait hits the water, water is able to fill the cavity. So it's a cavity, not just a pocket. ...has that ability for the water to keep the bait balanced."

2. Is this bait better for pinging in all circumstances?

> "No. This is a bait that is optimized for quick movements, for situations that I would say are trickier....

> "Meaning when you need a bait you can fish a little bit slower – at times – because of that hollow core, but you can also fish it very fast when you need to.

> "It's optimized for catching tricky suspended bass. In my mind there's 2 categories of minnows. The [Big Bite Baits] Rollerama [regular minnow] – that's more like a bottom fish, ledge, school, brushpile type of deal. This is more of a highland reservoir, cold water, suspending bass [and clean water, he said] minnow.

> "It allows you to be fast and put those hesitations in there without that bait sagging.

> "I've caught 'em [on it] in other situations for sure...not going to say it's perfect for everything because that's not true about anything in bass fishing."

Few other tasty looking colors:

Are/were you even fishing the Rap-V bro? 😅 And no, I'm not proud of this facial hair lol:

Here's a little blast from the past 🕰️ from this time a few years ago fishing the Rainy River with a sneaky little Rapala bait that just never got talked about much – the Rapala Rap-V Blade Bait.

Was catching a few here and there on some jig and plastics and starting smackin' 'em when the Rap-V got pulled out.... So here's a bit of 🧃 from that throwback vid:

> "I tied on a Rapala Rap-V Blade Bait – I have made 9 casts and caught 4 walleyes now in a spot where we were just pitching plastics and only caught that many in over an hour.

> "What's really cool about this bait, and I've honestly never seen a video or really many photos about people using it for walleyes, it's basically a hybrid of a blade bait, which is incredible in super cold water, and a Rippin’ Rap.

> "You can cover water like a Rippin’ Rap and do a steady straight retrieve if you want. You can also do the vertical, more yo-yo presentation like would fish a blade bait. It's just a hybrid – crazy awesome in cold water.

> "...running 8-lb Sufix 832 braid and a12-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro leader....

> "The reason I bumped up to 12, it's a little bit thicker diameter...doesn’t wrap around the hooks as bad when you're yo-yoing and fluttering. I really like the braid and feeling that thump and knowing if there's a leaf or junk or anything on your bait.

> "To make up for [the braid] I have a medium-light rod. There's no stretch with the braid so this much softer rod...is just the shock absorber to hopefully lose less fish and keep them pinned."

Can check out the full throwback YouTube vid here to see exactly how and where we were catching ‘em, and let me know (or should I say "no") if the 'stache needs to make a return! 😅

What this really all got me thinking about is how making a quick bait change can 100% turn around the day.

Often find myself getting stuck in the whole “If they’re not going to eat [THIS BAIT] then they’re not going to eat anything” type of mood...or “They must not be walleyes because how could they turn down [THAT] dropped right in their face.” But always gotta be rotating thru different actions and style of baits until something clicks.

Posted by @rob_fischt on Insta:

Thought it had some sort of deformity at first, but the more I look at it, I think it’s just really good at overindulging HA! 🙋‍♂️

Reminded me of this "subcompact pike" that Bryan Waltz (aka Chasen Walter) caught while perch fishing a few years back. 😅 Thing looks like it’s at least 18-20% bluegill hahaha.

Spend enough time on the water and you're bound to see some craziness!

1. The all-time greatest walleye tournament! 🤯

Gotta check out these AMAZING stats from the 2002 PWT event on Lake Erie, posted by one of Target Walleye's original founders, Jim Kalkofen:

Absolutely insane!

2. WI: Walleyes For Tomorrow incubates eggs

Doing their part to help the WI walleye population recover. 🙌

3. MN: 4-walleye bag limit debate continues

4. MN-FISH’s “World’s Greatest Fishing Auction” kicks off...

...April 21 and will run thru April 26. Will be a bunch of great prizes and guide trips to bid on.

5. Minnesota Mom’s Fishing Challenge, May 9-10

A free virtual fishing challenge for those lovely ladies in our lives! Will be happening over this year’s fishing opener, which is also “Take a Mom Fishing Weekend” = all MN moms can fish without purchasing a fishing license.

> To participate in the challenge, moms simply need to join the Minnesota Moms Fishing Challenge 2026 Facebook group and submit one photo of each fish they catch on May 9-10.

> The 2026 Minnesota Moms Fishing Challenge is a collaboration between the Minnesota DNR, Student Angler Organization and Women Anglers of Minnesota. All participants who submit a fish photo will be entered in a random drawing for prizes (including gift cards from Scheels) provided by the Student Angler Organization and their partners. Participants are also invited to tune in for pre-challenge fishing webinars, hosted by Women Anglers of Minnesota, to brush up on technique before heading out.

6. MN: Fishing to End Hunger charity derby is Oct 3

There’s already 55 teams registered for this Gull Lake (Nisswa) derby that’ll be trying to fish their way into a top-15 finish for their slice of the $36K pie.

This fishing tournament is about two things: Walleyes of course, and raising donations to support The Outreach Program of Brainerd Lakes:

> Outreach BLA provides meals to soup kitchens, food shelves, community meal programs, shelters, churches and wherever there is a need for food. No child – regardless of age –should be worried about where their next meal is coming from. ...80-90% of the meals they package will be distributed in MN. The remaining 10-20% will be used for disaster relief and/or international distribution.

> They buy ingredients in bulk, package them with community volunteers and distribute them for FREE to area food shelves, community meal programs, shelters, mobile meal distributions, school backpack programs, take-one-need-one carts, etc. 

This year a local company, National Conductor, has issued an incredible fundraising match challenge: For every dollar the fishermen/fisherwomen raise, National Conductor will match it dollar for dollar up to $20,000! 🙌

Team Target Walleye will be out there chasin' some gold ones and supporting a great cause – hope to see ya there!

7. MN DNR finalizes long range muskie plan

8. Aqua-Vu's The Captain now has its own site

9. Sharrow high-tech props scaling production with Ford

Interesting. #1 deal for that supposedly amazing prop is to get the price to come down so....

10. DC: USFWS wants us to eat invasive species

3 quick things to maintain your outboard at the start of the season

"I got to go and watch [the doctor] put that transducer thing on her belly...."

- Ex-Duck Dynasty star and now full-time fishin' man John Godwin talkin' about an ultrasound on The Duck Call Room podcast! I mean, what else would a fisherman call that thing! 🤣

This shot is coming from Brian Eavey who said, "I don’t think I’m supposed to be here." LOL! You ever need to go fishing this bad?

Maybe those [Hummin]birds should've stayed south a little longer lol.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026