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Heads up: This might be the only Target Walleye email this week as I’ll be heading out of town for the St. Paul Ice Show. I have a feeling there’s going to be one heck of a crowd this year considering the majority of folks aren’t hitting the hard stuff yet:
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So if you could just stop complaining about the lack of ice and head to the show instead that would be great, mmmk…. 🤓 HA!
Thx much for reading! Now, here we go…
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Another TEENER walleye was caught on a…
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He released the fish because he “wanted to give someone a chance to catch a state record next year.” Congrats Jack! 👊 And awesome release!!
Btw I just found out that WNC does-up some exclusive (limited-edition) colors each month, and tomorrow they’ll be dropping the only “naughty list” you wanna be on this time of year lol:
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What to do if you break through the ice.
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We’ve gotta talk about it, ‘cuz this video could for sure help save a life…maybe yours. Mad respect to Capt. Adam Walton for taking one three for the team and showing everyone how it’s done:
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Speaking of frigid water… 🥶
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This is the most Lund Alaskan pic I’ve seen in some time.
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When Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson isn’t hoisting up the Bassmaster Classic trophy, he’s bopping around Kenora, ON doing some very flannel-wearing type of things. 😤
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Which “Raps” to fish when. 🥶 #icefishing
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For this video breakdown, I’m specifically looking at the Jigging Rap vs Rippin’ Rap vs Slab Rap. All 3 of these hardbaits do a killer job of pulling walleyes thru the ice, but knowing which to tie on when will for sure help you to catch even more/bigger fish.
Which I grab first depends on numerous specific factors: The time of year, time of day, water clarity, fishing pressure, and the overall mood of the fish on your electronics.
Now let’s break ‘em down:
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Is this graph setup overkill?
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And some folks give me a hard time for having 2 units on the bow. 🫢
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3. MN: Lake of the Woods walleye/sauger #s up.
> The Sept survey tallied an avg of 21.1 walleyes and 17.5 saugers per net, both of which are above the historic average of 15.3 for walleyes and 15.2 for saugers.
> In 2022, the survey yielded 12.8 walleyes and 16 saugers per net.
There’s a big crop of youngsters coming up:
> “The increase in walleye numbers…largely results from strong catch rates of 0- to 2-yr-old walleyes hatched between 2021 and 2023. The oldest of those fish are now 11-13” long…while walleyes from the 2023 yr-class are 7-8” long.”
Bunch more info here on the current #s and size structure of the other 20 year classes they’re seeing.
4. WI: 17th-annual ‘Battle On Bago’ is happening Feb 16-17.
Over $350K in cash + prizes up for grabs!
5. MN: World’s largest charitable ice-fishing contest happenin’ Feb 3
Of course I’m talking about the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza – just up the road from us on Gull Lake’s Hole-in-the-Day Bay.
They had nearly 12,000 people fishing last year (for roughly $275K in prizes) and it was 13-yr-old Zac Padrnos who took home the top honors with a huuuuge 9.45-lb walleye!!! Won himself a new truck!
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And in case you didn’t know, over the Extravaganza’s 33-yr history, more than $4.3 mil has been raised and donated to more than 75 different charities. 🙌 Incredible.
6. MN: Average “ice-in” dates for some lakes.
If you want to compare this year to what’s “normal.” Feels like we are way further behind than we really are to me.
7. MB: Zeebz confirmed in Clear Lake.
> “…despite the implementation of boating protocols at the lake over the summer that prohibited boaters from taking their vessels to other bodies of water and required them pass inspections and obtain tags to use Clear Lake.”
> “Zebra mussels in Manitoba were first discovered in Lake Winnipeg 10 years ago. From there, they spread west to Lake Manitoba and north to the Nelson River….”
8. How Mike Raetz tricks his Traps.
Nice video running down a bunch of Clam accessories to help trick-out your shelter:
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14. UT: Flaming Gorge Rez “Burbot Bash” happenin’ Jan 27-29.
I believe they gave out over $52K in cash + prizes last year. Burbot Bash = annual tourney (and non-profit event) to help rid the western fishery of the invasive species while also “generating some biological data to further understand the population in the reservoir (diet and creel data collected).”
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Hold up….
The crew at Two Brother Innovations said they want to sweeten the pot! 😎
If you enter their separate Triple Down Giveaway you’ll receive 3 bonus entries into our giveaway PLUS an entry into their drawing for another ice rod, rod case, hoodie, hat and fishing towel.
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Jason Mitchell’s favorite knot for horizontal panfish jigs.
> “If you ice fish with light line and have to use some of the smallest horizontal jigs for panfish, you need to know how to tie this knot. The snell knot is a very useful and functional knot for the smaller panfish jigs that have extremely small eyelets. Keeps small jigs fairly horizontal without having to adjust the knot”
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Btw if you’re having trouble seeing the specifics in the vid, this Akara diagram might help walk you thru it:
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That’s either really good news, or really bad news, depending just how crazy you are.
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Josh Johnson stuck this giant 12-04 cisco-eater while throwing a Nishine Simcoe HW on (I believe) Fort Peck, MT. 🔥 Obviously he gets bonus points for the Stormy Kromer:
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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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Who is Target Walleye
Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Jay Kumar, 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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422 Laurel Street
P.O. BOX 541
Brainerd, MN 56401
(218) 824 5026
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