These 80-90°F air temps came out of nowhere and are gonna have the spring bite flipping upside down! Which means that bugs may be showing up at your secret fishing spot before you do....

First, here’s a little bug ID so you can stop calling everything that flies a Mayfly lol.

MN DNR, G. Mikel

Some awesome info from MN DNR Large Lake Specialist Eric Jensen in this older PDF (from May 2015) but still loaded with interesting insight:

> One of the first major insect hatches to occur on Mille Lacs each year is the non-biting midges from the Chironomidae family. Midges are commonly known as “fish flies” or “lake flies”, and the first midge hatch usually occurs sometime in May.

> Adults look like a very large mosquito, but without the piercing mouthparts. Some of the mating swarms of the adult midges are so dense, that from a distance, they actually appear to be columns of rising smoke.

> One of the most common midges in Mille Lacs is the bloodworm. They have red larvae, which is why they are called bloodworms. The red color is due to a hemoglobin-like substance which helps carry oxygen, allowing them to live in very low oxygen areas.

Last spring, I was sent some awesome images from Outdoor News’ Glen Schmitt after he came across a very interesting find in his livewell – all these "bloodworms" aka midge larvae were coughed up by just 2 walleye that came out of small, central-MN lake:

Another interesting factoid from MN DNR Large Lake Specialist Eric Jensen:

> Bloodworms live in tubular cases on soft lake bottoms and feed on organic material.

Here’s a pic of “midge larvae tubes in the soft substrate of Mille Lacs.”

I can just see walleyes cruising around munching on all the little buggy things popping up and wiggling their way outta that lake-bottom buffet. Maybe this is THE secret as to why walleyes loooove plucking Ned Rigs off bottom so much...? 👀

> Several emergences occur over the open-water period as their life cycle is relatively short.

🎤🎵 Started from the bottom, now we’re here 🎤🎵

Don’t let a hatch scare you off the lake! Here’s a few tricks to help you catch more walleyes right now:

From just a couple days ago in the Brainerd Lakes Area, MN.

We were chasing 'em down in our local walleye fishing league when a nasty storm blasted across the lake with 49-mph gusts. Sure made things tough, but we still caught one of the biggest walleyes I've ever seen come out of this particular lake.... 👀

They randomly draw the lake the night before (so no pre-fishing) and then we have just 3 hours to put together the pieces to a walleye puzzle against a bunch of local hammers. Always my favorite night of the week. It's a chaotic, stress-filled scramble...but such a blast!

Hope you enjoy the new vid that just went live a couple hours ago! 🍿

Semi-related side note: Lightning is no joke on the water....

It's insanely scary to think that someone was HOLDING THIS ROD. 🤯

That pic is from Dalton Ray’s FB post from June 2025 where he said:

> “As many of you know, my girlfriend [Marissa Maddox] and I were fishing a tournament Wednesday and she was struck by lightning...it instantly knocked us both to the deck of the boat. She could not feel her lower half and her clothes were torn down her side and melted to her leg.

> "She was rushed to the hospital and she suffered some pretty severe burns down her leg. After 3 days in the hospital and tons of tests and scans she is doing very well now.”

Terrifying experience 😳 but so glad it somehow wasn’t worse.

Dalton also said:

> “Just wanted to let anyone know that it’s not worth it whether you’re just out on the boat hanging out or fishing a tournament no matter how much money is on the line if the weather is getting bad go back to shore. Things could’ve turned out completely different. Thanking the lord he was watching over both of us. She’s ready to get back out on the water and get in some more tournaments.

Sometimes the signs are more obvious....

I mean, you know it’s time to get off the water when mother nature tries to turn your rod (or you) into a sparkler. 😳

That ^ was posted by @boise_bassin on Instagram, who said:

> “This has got to be the craziest thing to ever happen to me while fishing! Only lasted about 10 minutes but the fish were biting the whole time so we had to stay.”

Ummmm....

Few A+ comments under the original post:

But in all seriousness I’m glad those guys are okay ‘cuz it could have ended very badly. If you ever see that happening, or your rod tip buzzing, or line floating (yup, all real things) pls get the heck off the water!

Clockwise front the top left = cabbage, coontail, milfoil, and chara (aka sand grass).

This AnglingBuzz write-up is jammed full of the ins and outs of snatching walleyes out of the weeds. They do an awesome job of breaking down each weed category, and how/when to approach ’em.

Few quick excerpts on how Al “catch ’em all” Lindner finds the best weeds:

> “Day in, day out, it comes down to using my digital lake mapping, in my case LakeMaster digital charts on Humminbird units. I can usually tell by looking at the contours where the good weeds are going to be....

> “With LakeMaster, you can set a Depth Highlight, which is the most important factor for me. Key in on the initial breakline the fish are using on the first dropoff edge – whether it’s weedline or just a natural breakline that rolls into deeper water – and you can stay spot-on all the time.”

> The best weed habitat for walleyes are found on large, tapered flats, points and humps. Find erratic weed edges, pockets, and seams that form good hunting funnels for walleyes. [Like this]

> For example, if the weed edge is in 15′ Al will set his Depth Highlight at 13′ and key in + or – 2′ to reveal areas of 11-15′ where the bottom flattens out, forming a funnel going up on to the flat.

> “When you’re fishing shallow-water breaklines, fish will penetrate farther up into these funnel areas than you might expect. What you find is a living space that is much more extensive than the sharp breaks on the weedline. You’ll find groups of fish, not just a single here and there.

> “It’s astounding how many walleye fishermen avoid shallow water. They get into 12′ or shallower and start touching weeds, and they get nervous and immediately go back down. It’s mind-boggling to see guys pulling rigs, boards and vertical jigging the breakline and deeper when the walleyes are in the weeds.”

Way more info in the full write-up 📝 click here to keep reading.

Of course live bait is great for walleyes, but there are legitimately times where reaction bites and the "fake" stuff catches 'em even better.... This wasn't how I was planning on catching 'em 👀 but I sure am glad that I wasn't too stubborn to bust it out!

If you haven't thrown the Rapala PXR Mavrik 110 Jerkbait yet – get on it! Thing is a legit day-saver when walleye won't eat anything else! And towards the tail end of that video ^ you can see how far up they're willing come to SMACK it.... 🤯 Couldn't believe it the first time, but then began to expect it lol.

Oh, and don’t be afraid to “doll ‘em up” 🤫 to make any of them look a little more like a spottail shiner, perch, or both! Always gotta keep some Sharpies and lure tape handy, it’s half the fun.

Per usual, all of the gear I used (specific sizes, weights, you name it) is linked in the video’s description over on YouTube. Thank YOU for taking time out of your day to watch and leave a comment! 👊

How to prep and clean walleye like a guide

There’s a bunch of useful nuggets in this 12:29 video from legendary Lake Erie captain Paul Powis. Electric vs traditional knives, bleeding walleye, zippering fillets, knife sharpening, pre-meal prep, etc.

I spent some quality time with my Rapala R12 Heavy Duty Electric Fillet Knife Kit the other night again – for sure has been one of my favorite purchases these last 5-ish years – thing actually makes cleaning fish fun, which is a big statement lol.

Maybe oughta treat yourself to an early Father's Day gift.... 😎

Careful...it's gonna be a hot one this weekend! 🥵

Killer shot from @bigbearoutdoorsmedia 🔥 LOVE watching 'em wave goodbye!

And now it's our turn to wave goodbye 👋 back atcha next week... 

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026