If you’re receiving this Target Walleye/Ice email — covering the best of walleye fishing during open water and the best of ice fishing during hard water — for the first time, a friend probably signed you up! Target Walleye/Ice is brought to you by Al and Ron Lindner, Jim Kalkofen and other walleye and ice fishing nuts like you.
Have a great weekend walleye-nuts! And most importantly:
Love you guys/girls, and thank you.
Today’s Top 5
Rock melons of the week!
Samuel Tesser popped this paunchy 15-lb rock melon on the St. Lawrence River at Trois-Rivieres, QB. He was trolling a Bomber crankbait near an 18′ flat when Girth-trude came out to play:
Even the guide gets to pick up a rod once in awhile: Matt Cornell of Bruin Outfitting and Guide Service cracked this bulbous sand dragon with a Rapala Rippin’ Rap in greenback country. Great shot man:
Check this Rainy River, MN behemoth caught this week that weighed 14.08 lbs and measured 32.5″. Landed on a jig/minnow while fishing out of a ROWBOAT — no joke:
TW subscriber Glenn Daugherity and his bro-in-law pulled this 28.25″ cheesehead from Castle Rock Flowage, WI. They were fishing in 12′ with 1/4-oz Hutch’s Tackle jig (orange/white) and a minnow:
New spear-hole markers??
Can also get ’em in a velvet version earlier in the year:
Jeff Erickson found a pair of bull moose locked-up just outside of Unalakleet, AK. Guess they got in a tussle over a lady (sounds about right) and ended up being put on ice. Jeff plans to remove ’em intact for a one-of-a-kind head mount:
That’s incredible, but is anyone else noticing the fact they’ve got fishable ice in AK?? #RoadTrip
How Bro keeps his shiners pinned while pitching jigs.
Nose-hooking doesn’t always cut it — especially when pitching a jig around weeds, wood, rocks, anything really. Bro’s got a simple way of rigging ’em so they stay pinned straight on the hook:
Need to have a long-shanked jig like the Northland Sink’n Jigs or Gum-Ball Jigs.
Zandebeast caught!
Can’t stop staring at this wallowing-channel cow #TargetZander:
Would probably want to be strapped into one of those fish-fighting belts that saltwater guys use. Okay now release that thing back into the barnyard it came from:
“Well someone is sure BENT out of shape.”
TW fan Paul Audiss either has one heck of a handshake or he caught himself a new ice scraper:
News
1. Tommy Skarlis doin’ better.
Finally able to sit up for the first time since breaking his neck — making progress each day. Guess he’s having dreams about winning tourneys, and his new favorite food is orange jello + ice cream mixed together…says it’s, “simply incredible.” We’ll take your word for it man!
Prayers fishing brother.
2. MN: 2017 Fishing Hall of Famers announced.
Legends Doug Stange, Perry Good and Terry Tuma, plus all of Clam Outdoors. Congrats guys! Interesting that it’s a requirement you be at least 50 years old to be nominated — guess all you middle-aged sticks need to hurry up and wait.
3. MN: State ice-panfish championship.
On South Lindstrom and Chisago. Over $20k in cash and prizes — it’s finally big-tourney time in Minnie.
4. ND: Lake Alice open to ice fishing.
Was open last year on a trial basis — word is there was a new sign at an access saying it would be game on again this winter.
5. ND: Devils Lake jumbo perch (video).
The Across the Ice Belt crew hits DL with the world famous Perch Patrol guide service:
6. Newish BaitCloud brings the fish to you.
One of the more interesting newbies we’ve seen in awhile…a biodegradable fish-attracting super ball called BaitCloud:
Can’t wait to try these for ice fishing…in a hole a couple feet away so your flasher isn’t affected. You can buy ’em right here before your fishing buddy does.
7. MN: Brian Brosdahl’s talkin’ ice.
Doing ice seminars in St. Cloud this weekend at Scheels then Fleet Farm. Tell him we said, “Yo!”
8. New Clam Leech Flutter Spoon (video).
Gitcha some right here at FishUSA.
9. Check flasher batteries now.
Nearly all flasher failures on ice are from a shot battery. Test ’em out now instead of ruining your first trip out.
10. Aqua-Vu used in modern day gold rush.
Actually being used for the kind of gold that’s actually worth money, not the gold we chase in lakes.
Fishing Reports
> “Excellent fall fishing continues with lots of fish in front of the gap and Pine Island in 15-20′. The entire south shore has been producing: Twin Islands, Long Point, Zippel, Morris and Lighthouse gaps are all putting out fish. Ice fishing is setting up to be most epic!
> “Shiners are still running and there’s good numbers of walleyes chasing them. The go-to is fish a jig/shiner in 10-25′ with hot pink, bright orange, gold and glow being the hot colors. A stinger hook can help to boat more fish.”
Can’t find a current fishing report because anglers are too busy blasting their limits of ducks! Good problem to have. #BangBang
Tip of the Day
Pork meat vs soft plastics.
Tipping jigs with pork-meat is somehow still overlooked by most walleye anglers, though bass-heads have been using it for nearly 100 years. Get Jason Mitchell’s take on pork in the full Jim Cunningham write-up here, but there’s a few excerpts below:
> “The durability and effectiveness of pork rind like Uncle Josh is starting to spread. This past season, this iconic company in the bass world reformulated some baits for walleye anglers and the effectiveness of the new Uncle Josh ‘Meat’ series of walleye baits has been impressive.
> “What situations dictate soft-plastics over the real deal? Anytime the lure is presented to trigger a reaction. Could be a jig and soft-plastic getting swept down stream, snap-jigging through the edges of emerging coontail, or pulling crawler harnesses behind bottom-bouncers.
> “Water-soluble baits dry out in the air and retain more taste or smell. These baits typically don’t have as good action as many traditional soft-plastics, but the upside is that fish will often hold on to the baits longer.
> Jim: “Live bait — say a shiner or nightcrawler — is typically good for one fish. Tip with soft-plastics and you might get up to half a dozen fish before you have to replace. The pork is so durable that you can catch over 20 fish before having to replace.
Quote of the Day
You can’t make them eat if they’re not hungry.
– Tourney angler Brian Hammond talking about the stuffed-full walleyes on NY’s Oneida Lake. Catch rates were down 40% this summer, and they’re blaming it on the lake’s gobie explosion.
Today’s ‘Eye Candy
IG user @burbotbros with a mouthy Red River greenie:
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