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If you’re getting Target Walleye for the first time, a friend probably signed you up!
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And it was part of a 59-fish day for these fellas 😎 fishing with guide Justin Soffa on MI’s Lake Gogebic:
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Justin talking:
> “From what I’ve gathered, it’s a different genetic makeup than the yellow perch…. They are missing their yellow or red pigment, almost like an albino but it still has the other pigments.”
Just also said that blue perch was released. Word is if you eat a blue perch you’ll blow up like a balloon and get attacked by oompa-loompas:
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Still the biggest blue I’ve ever seen was caught last year by Eric Boson, who was also fishing with Justin on Lake Gogebic. Here’s a little side-by-side comparison so you can get your color bearings on what might be the biggest “blue perch” ever?!
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Sheesh, man! Keep putting folks on those and you might earn a new title. #BlueTigerKing
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The double sunglasses are a little aggressive tho. 🤣
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Al Lindner is soooo ready for open water…
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You gotta admit that looks pretty dang fun!
> Al: “We did really well, lots of carp, most lakes still have ice but tail waters are open. It always amazes me how carp in rivers will bite really good on jigs, loads of fun…and I’ll go do this again before the ice is off.”
I was gonna say, somewhere out there (in CA, TN, UT, or maybe VA???) multi-species wizard Troy Lindner is smiling…but turns out he was catching carp of his own – at the exact same time as his dad Al – in AZ lol:
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Okay Troy, I’ve GOT to know: How many different fishing licenses do you have at any given time? We the people want a picture of ’em piled up like spawning carp.
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How to catch BIG early-season river walleyes.
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You dreaming of open-water yet? No doubt winter has taken its toll, and we’re jonesin’ to put fat ‘eyes boat-side! Lot of the lakes across the ice belt are still locked-up, but a handful of river systems are opening right up and can kick out pre-spawn giants like these:
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We reached out to multi-species guide Doug Wegner to get his approach for early-season slaunches. Full write-up on TargetWalleye.com, few excerpts below.
Doug spends most of his spring trips on WI’s Fox River, but same type of deal can work on other river systems like the Rainy River, Mississippi, Peshtigo, etc.
Location
> Doug: “Some of the best areas to find early-season fish are sand or mud flats adjacent to the main river channel…fish position themselves on top of these because they usually warm up the fastest.
> “I also look for current breaks and seams close to the main channel…areas where walleyes can get out of the current and create natural ambush points.”
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> “Subtle bottom transitions can be crucial on tough days (sand to gravel, sand to mud, etc). I rely a ton on Humminbird MEGA Side Imaging to find these transition areas quickly – saves a bunch of time – especially in stained water.
> “I also keep a really close eye on my temperature gauge. Sounds obvious, but there’s often pockets of water (even 1-degree warmer) and fish will load up.
> “I’m a firm believer that early-season fish move shallower with the sun – just because they’re walleyes doesn’t mean they’re scared of light. At the end of the day, they want to find the warmest water.”
Baits
> “The first few trips of the season – when the water is still super cold – it’s tough to beat live bait. My go-to is a 1/4-oz jig tipped with a minnow. Stinger hooks help with the short strikes from lethargic fish.
> When the water warms to 36+ degrees, I transition to plastics and hard baits. I like ringworm-style baits and paddletails…our water is pretty stained so I stick with orange and chartreuse for colors.”
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> “As the water continues to warm up and the bay opens up, I’ll start focusing more on the area outside the river mouth. This is where a Rapala Rippin’ Rap really shines.
> “My go-to size is the #6, but I’ll bump up or down a size depending on depth. The retrieve is everything – think of it as ‘yo-yoing’ it back to the boat.
> “Cast it out, let it hit bottom, then lift the rod tip to 11 o’clock…keeping the tip up as the bait swings back down. Drop the tip to 9 o’clock and repeat.
> “The biggest mistake I see people make is dropping the rod tip as the bait falls – you don’t want a super-sharp fall, rather a subtle swing. Most of the bites will come on that swing…you’ll feel the fish as you make your next lift.”
Okay Doug: Just let me know the next time you need help hoisting up one of these 🐷:
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How did you rig LiveScope on your boat?
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Since this warm weather has hit, I can’t stop thinking about chasing open-water walleyes. I bought a Lund 2025 Impact last summer and have everything dialed on it, besides my Garmin Panoptix LiveScope Ice Fishing Bundle that I’d like need to (lol) convert to an open-water system.
There are SO many options for how to set it up for the boat, and it seems like every day I’m leaning towards a different route. 🤷♂️
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Would think the easiest way would be slapping the transducer right on my trolling motor shaft. I could see this being “the deal” when working up a piece of structure and quickly scanning around to find fish. Or when hovering over the top of fish in Down mode. But the problem is once I find ’em, I wouldn’t be able to Spot-Lock and still scan around looking for fish and know exactly where to cast.
So that has me thinking some sort of a pole/bracket system over the edge of the boat might be better. Then when Spot-Locked I could still scan around with those real-life video games. Would also give me the flexibility to move the unit anywhere I wanted – say off the back of the boat. Could maybe even leave my unit right in the ice-fishing bundle then.
How sick would it be to shoot LiveScope out the back of the boat when trolling crankbaits or pulling bottom-bouncers?! BUT this type of setup wouldn’t be hands-free, and then it’s one more thing to mess with setting up and taking down between moving spots…instead of just pulling the trolling motor up and the whole system comes in with one pull.
Then I’ve even seen some wild motorized mounts out there like Rite-Hite Turrets or The LiveScanner, etc that attach to your trolling-motor shaft and let you independently turn the LiveScope transducer hands-free with a foot pedal. Amazing! But can be a little spendy, and you’d lose the ability to shoot out the back of the boat for trolling.
Man, maybe I’m just seriously overthinking all of this:
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With any of these setups, I’d probably spend a lot less time actually fishing since I’d be messing around with LiveScope non-stop hahahaha…but that could also mean a whole lot more catching in a shorter amount of time. Something I know the dudes and dudettes in our local walleye league would LOVE 🤣🤣🤣.
Keep you posted with whatever route I end up going, and how I’m liking or NOT liking it.
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Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. 👀
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Not saying Mathieu Theriault Vincent isn’t both, but he definitely had luck on his side with this drop:
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Looks like one of those Buck Classic Knives to me – good thing Mathieu kept a sharp point on it!
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Quick note on the Ron Lindner tribute shirt:
It was the last little project I was working on with Ron before he passed. The design features artwork from Larry Tople – one of Ron’s favorites and he had the original framed in his office right next door to mine. In honor of Ron, a portion of the sales of this T-shirt will be donated to Fishing For Life = a non-profit organization that Ron loved to support. They use hands-on fishing events and mentoring programs to impact the lives of at-risk youth, families, veterans, and communities.
7. WI: DNR’s holding a Zoom meeting Mar 24.
> To discuss a proposed walleye rehabilitation effort on Katherine and Clear lakes in Oneida County and Laura and Anvil lakes in Vilas County.
8. MN: How climate change might be affecting walleye (podcast).
> “Gretchen Hansen studies lakes and climate change as an assistant professor of fisheries ecology at the U of MN. She joined Climate Cast this week to share what’s currently known about how climate change is affecting the prized fish.”
9. Rapala VMC has appointed Cyrille Mathieu…
…as president and managing director of Normark Canada:
> [Has] more than 23 yrs of experience with Rapala VMC Corp. and the international sport fishing industry, Mathieu brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his new role in Canada. Mathieu’s previous role as general manager-vice president of sales and marketing for VMC Inc.
10. Did you know some Crestliners have windshield wipers?!
Was chatting with Jason Durham about how clutch wipers would be when things get nasty, and found out it’s actually a thing – his Crestliner 2250 Authority with a 400-hp Merc is BIG-water approved:
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Last Chance: Ice Defense Pro giveaway!
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Here’s your shot to win an Ice Defense Pro from Cold Nation Outdoors. If you’re sick of your ice hole freezing over you should probably keep reading…. 👀
This slick little made-in-the-USA gadget circulates warmer water from below and “creates thermal flow on the surface to defend against slush and ice build up.” Quick video for you visual learners. I’ve been running one for 2 season now and thing’s are LEGIT!
They also come with everything you need to transform it from a flasher-mounted system to an Ice Defense for your tip-ups and set-lines:
> ”Just strap it to an extra flasher battery with the included strap, hook up the power cable and you never have to worry about your set-lines freezing again!”
Takes just 10 seconds to enter below and can share the link you get for bonus entries. 👊 Good luck!
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How John Hoyer fishes the Berkley Snap Jig.
Gonna start sprinkling more and more open-water tips in here going forward = it’s coming! I’m challenging myself (and you all!) to pick up a new technique or 3 this season. It’s too easy to get “stuck” fishing the same ol’ techniques in the same ol’ spots. Nothing wrong with that, but how are you ever going to learn if you remain fish-stagnant?
One of those new, cool techniques I plan to do a lot more often this season involves the Berkley Snap Jig. It’s a winged jighead – with a gliding/darting action – that lets you swap out the body with your favorite plastics to change up the color/action/profile:
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Bringing back a few nuggets on how NWT pro John Hoyer fishes ’em in the bigger 1/2- and 3/4-oz sizes. He says there’s really no wrong way to fish ’em, but that being said…I’m definitely gonna work ’em EXACTLY how Johnny “hot sticks” Hoyer does lol:
> I make a long cast (works best in 10-20′) and let it hit bottom. Then I do a light pop-slack…pop-slack…pop-slack…. This gives the bait a 3-4′ side-to-side walk.
> Then I hold my rod on tight line and let the bait coast back to bottom…this is when they stroke it. So basically a triggering sequence followed by an easy coast down to the bottom, giving them a chance to track it and eat it.
> Vertically: I pop it up 2′ and let it fall on semi-slack line, catching it just before bottom to let it plane out. I’ll hold it steady as it wanders back to center for 2 or 3 secs…then pop it again.
He’s played with zillions of trailers on the business end of the Snap Jig, and says a couple of his overall favorites are a 4″ Berkley Gulp! Minnow when using the 6/0 hook and a 3.4″ Berkley PowerBait The Champ Minnow for the 4/0.
If you haven’t seen that Champ Minnow before (they sell-out FAST and can be hard to find!) it comes in some sick high-def patterns – this one’s the “HD round goby” color:
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“This may be the first time the Bassmaster Elite Series trophy has ever gone ice fishing.”
– Leave it to Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson to bring his new blue friend out on the CAN hardwater:
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I think I have a problem. 👀 I’m sitting here working on this Target Walleye email, and for whatever reason all I can think about is catching a dang burbot.
Decided to call my buddy Christian Hoffman (team “Lota Lota” who’s currently in 5th place in the virtual Burbot Bash tourney) and he stuck 2 just while I was on the phone with him! If that’s not incentive to get work things wrapped up for the weekend, I don’t know what is:
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Dude has been putting in work! Not sure he’s even left the ice to shower since this derby started (HA!) so not sure how he convinced a blonde and a brunette to get this close to him for a pic:
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Hope you get the chance to sneak some hooksets in this weekend, too!
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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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