Target Walleye/Ice email

Boat ramp fail, Eclipse walleye, Throw bass baits

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Today’s Top 5

Roller vs bunk trailer debate.

And round 1 goes to bunk trailers:

Ouchies! It’s okay to poke fun only because A) everyone was okay, B) there was no serious damage thanks to Lund’s freakin’ incredible hulls [!], and C) we know the guy pretty well *cough* Brett McComas *cough*

> Not exactly sure what happened, just know I was in a hurry to get the boat out of the water and rushed the process. Thought the latch was clicked in, but must not have been. A not-so-subtle reminder that I could use a little more patience.

Here’s a few of our favorite comments under the OP that helped lighten the mood, ‘cuz sometimes laughter really is the best medicine:

  • Fishing the gravel/sand transition I see….
  • This is why we can’t have nice things.
  • Low tide?
  • Just gonna send it….
  • Lund boats, not just for water.
  • I’ll give you an 8.5 on the power load attempt….
  • Missed it by that much.
  • Been there, done that. Just don’t tell my dad. It was his boat.
  • Good thing it’s a Lund: crank her back up and go beat up on some fish.
  • Tell everyone the truth, you just did this for the meme GOLD!!??!!

Did someone mention memes?

But in all seriousness: be safe a slow down fishin’ peeps!

Bass bait walleyes.

You don’t always have to be using tiny-little baits to catch walleyes — them big ol’ chompers aren’t just for smiling! Ask these bass-heads:

Mitch Klatt was flippin’ a chunk of VMC tungsten with a YUM Wooly Beavertail:

Mark Schutz cracked this bonus rock melon while throwing a Storm Arashi Top Walker for smallmouth bass:

Nicholas Geoffrion chatterbait’d this slab of QB gold:

Philippe Vinette was dragging around a pumpkin/chartreuse lizard [!] when he caught this river rat that’s looking slightly saugerish?

Kirsti Harris was tossing cranks for smallies when this giant gravel lizard crashed the party. Her fishin’ buddy doesn’t look too impressed:

Gettin’ marble-eyed by the eclipse.

Karl Schwartz enjoyed the solar eclipse from Canyon Ferry, MT:

No walleye were harmed in the making of this pic:

Got any good fishing-related eclipse pics? Send ’em to us here.

Arnoldussen wins NWT championship on Green Bay!

Dean Arnoldussen won the NWT championship on Green Bay with a 2-day bag of 75.13 lbs (5 fish), earning him an $85K payday. Congrats man!

He spent 75% of his practice casting/jigging, but ended up catching ’em trolling during the tourney:

> “I would troll with my Off Shore planer boards at 1.4-1.5 mph and the crankbaits would dig into the bottom. There was 80′ or 90′ of water and it came right up to 22′ with a mix of sand, gravel and zebra mussels. If you got in 18′, you would foul up and get clumps of zebra mussels.”

Said he was using purple (custom painted) #9 Berkley Flicker Minnows and 2-oz snap weights to get to bottom. #Works

> “The guys that fished up north, Kemos, Parsons, Okada and Sprengel, their spots were really beat up by the wind [on day 2]. My spot was just consistent. So I felt good about that going into the last day. Those guys had big fish going, but not numbers.

> “I was due…I had a little dry spell. But the fishermen are getting better and better and the technology is getting better. There are no secrets out here anymore. It’s funny, trolling was my fallback plan. But trolling can still get it done.”

“No secrets” is right…. Lots of guys doing their best Michael Jackson impressions at the landing:

Some interestin’ NWT factoids.

Always been a number crunchin’ fact lover. If you are too, you’ll wanna check out these snippets from walleye-nut John Balla ’bout the 2017 NWT championship on Green Bay. Notice a few re-occurring names there?

> Winning technique: Dean Arnoldussen won the championship trolling crankbaits. It marks the 3rd time in 5 Green Bay NWT events in which trolling has claimed the title. The other victories were won casting glide baits and lipless rattling crankbaits.

> Angler of the year: Robert Blosser wins his 2nd angler of the year title with 754 points, 3 points shy of his 2013 record total of 757, shared by Korey Sprengel (lost AOY in the tiebreaker). He averaged just better than 13th place finish in four events.

> Top 10s: With a 9th place finish in the championship, John Gillman moves into 2nd place on the all-time NWT top 10 list with 6 in 20 tournaments. Sprengel leads with 7.

> Yearly top 10 streak: With his 6th top 10, John Gillman joining Korey Sprengel and Kevin McQuoid as the only anglers to have at least one top 10 in five straight NWT seasons (2013-2017).

> In the money (ITM): In finishing at the championship, Robert Blosser and Korey Sprengel have not cashed 12 checks in NWT events. They join Tom Keenan at the top of the list.

> In the money (ITM) all season: In finishing ITM at the championship, Robert Blosser and Eric Olson completed a year in which both angler cashed a check in all 4 season events. Accomplished 4 other times in NWT history including Robert Blosser in 2013.

> In the money (ITM) streak: In finishing 16th and in the money at the championship, Robert Blosser extends his cash-checking streak to 6 in a row across two seasons, one short of the all-time record of 7 held by the late David Andersen.

> Heaviest 5-fish NWT Green Bay limit: Tommy Kemos weighed 46.49 lbs on day 1, the largest 5-fish limit during any of the five Green Bay NWT tournaments since 2013. John Gillman still owns the all-time NWT single-day limit record of 51.7 lbs, caught in 2013 at Lake Erie.

> Limits weighed: On Day one of the championship, 35 anglers weighed a 5-fish limit. After the final day, only 15 anglers finished the 2-day event with a 10-fish limit.

> Maximum fish weighed: With a 2-day, 10-fish limit in the championship, John Gillman weighed 40 of the max 40 fish allowed during the season. He joins Korey Sprengel in ’13 (35/35), and Chris Gillman in ’16 (40/40) as the only angler to weigh a limit every tourney day during a season. (Totals don’t include day 3 of championships)

> Total fish weighed in NWT history: In catching 8 fish in the 2-day championship, Korey Sprengel increased his total fish weighed in 20 NWT events to 180 out of a possible 195, a 92% catch rate. (Day 3 of championships not included)

News

1. Blosser wins NWT AOY.

Well deserved dude!

2. MN: Are zebra mussels making walleye smaller?

New DNR study looking at how invasives impact the walleye food pyramid:

> If zebra mussels and spiny waterfleas can’t be eradicated, the state must learn to manage walleyes in the face of those enemies.

> We’re looking to understand the food webs supporting walleye and how zebra mussels and waterfleas disrupt the web.

> Zebra mussels have proven to be the most troublesome, spreading in MN at a rate of 20-30 water bodies each year despite [spending] $10+ million a year to stop them.

3. MN: AIM championship on Lake Vermilion.

Happening this Fri/Sat. Love that catch-record-release format. Good luck to everyone that’s fishing!

4. Gotta shout-out Bay Rat Lures…

…Long Extra Deep Divers. I (Brett) was trolling with ’em last night — during our local walleye league — and was ticking bottom in 22-24′. Makes life easier being able to hit those depths without leadcore, snap weights, scuba divers, whatevs!

Was running 100′ of 20-lb Sufix 832 braid out at 2.2-2.7 mph. Stuck a 25-incher in the first 30 seconds and a couple others not long after.

Wish we would’ve figured out the program earlier in the night…tired of getting the #bridesmaid (2nd place lol). Here ’tis in the “black flash” color:

5. CO: Get $20/pike caught in Green Mountain Rez.

> Anglers are encouraged to catch and keep as many smallmouth bass and northern pike in the reservoir as they desire.

Don’t want them to scarf up all the “endangered native fish” like: the CO pikeminnow, humpback chub, razorback sucker and bonytail.

#SaveTheMinnows?

6. Strike King is walleye happy.

> VP of sales/marketing Doug Minor: “We’re taking our knowledge of bass and crappie baits and expanding into the walleye category with a line of premium of crankbaits and jigs. These baits will feature different actions and achieve different depths than traditional lures that are currently available.”

Also, SK just formed a partnership with Fishing the Midwest.

Tip of the Day

There’s a night and day difference (punny) between glow and UV jigs:

Quote of the Day

You can be a great fisherman, but if you don’t understand the business side it will be hard for you.

– That’s Mr. Bassmaster KVD talkin’ ’bout being a pro fisherman. Speaking of which…who is, or do we have, a KVD of tourney walleye fishing?

Today’s ‘Eye Candy

Both looking a little glassy eyed lol:

That’s the new Crystal Minnow Deep Diver Walleye Series from Yo-Zuri, which are buy 2 get 1 free on FishUSA right now.
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Who is Target Walleye/Ice?
Target Walleye/Ice — walleye during open water and all species during hardwater — is brought to you by Al and Ron Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Brett McComas and other diehard fish nuts like you! #fishheads
Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye/Ice. 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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