Fall jig pitching tips, Bass eat the darndest things, Fishing superstitions

I follow this dude on Instagram whose name is Kamden Glade, a grad student at Bemidji State University who’s studying fish diets in MN…or as he likes to call it: #fishpuke hahaha. Check out this pic and caption he posted yesterday about a largie that had a rather interesting appetite:

> Kamden: “We’ve seen lots of interesting diets throughout this project, ranging from common (fish and bugs) to unique (small mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles). However, this has to be the weirdest yet! The largemouth bass that gave this sample went through the buffet line and got a fish (tadpole madtom), a small snapping turtle, and a DANG CHICKEN LEG. Just when you think you have fish figured out, they go and do stuff like this. Just another reason that I absolutely love my job!”

Quite the combo! But who am I to tell Mr. Bass that those foods don’t go together…? I can think of a few other combos I’d run from, but others will tell you are the deal!

• Apple pie and cheddar cheese (sorry dad! 😂)
• Peanut butter and mayo sandwich
• White rice and ketchup
• Pizza and bananas
• Chocolate and avocado

These people ^ walk among us hahahaha!

I’ll go first:

The first cast curse! I think it’s bad luck to catch a fish on your first cast of the day. First cast at a new spot? Sure! But definitely not on the first of the day or it’s all downhill from there. 😂🤷‍♂️

Drop a comment on our Facebook or Instagram pages and please keep it PG at most. We’re working on a little something for an upcoming Target Walleye email….

Q: How many days per year does guide Brad Durick spend on the water?

A: All of them…

Hate to hear it. 😔🙏 Prayers to the family.

2. NWT: Drake Herd wins AOY.

Great dude [!] and obviously a walleye fishing hammer. That link ^ is a video recap from right after the championship. And here’s a few quotes from the NWT’s Insider Report:

> Drake: “First and foremost I want to thank my wife for letting me go chase my dreams. Coming into this tournament, I honestly didn’t know if it was possible. But I love this lake. I’m just ecstatic – it’s an awesome feeling.

> “I’ve looked up to these guys for years. To finally give it back to them feels awesome. With 4 top 10s this year I can’t complain one bit. It’s been an awesome experience. I couldn’t be happier.”

Found out that winning AOY also means Drake “receives paid entry into each of the 4 qualifying events of 2022 season.” Pretty cool. 👊 Big congrats, bud!

3. MN: Hasse/Topper win Cass Lake MWC.

> “…concentrated on locating specific fish, using Lowrance’s Active Target, moving slowly as to not spook them out of the shallow, clear water of Cass Lake. A simple jig/minnow combo pitched at each fish seen on the electronics produced enough to secure the win. It wasn’t a numbers game the duo played, it was more so a methodical execution of each move, knowing they didn’t need many bites, but only a few of the right ones.”

Huge props, fellas!

4. MWC World Walleye Championship happenin’ right now.

Lake City, MN.

5. MN: Fishing to End Hunger charity tourney happening tomorrow.

On Gull Lake. Sounds like they’ve got 114 teams signed-up and swinging for the fences trying to claim the 1st-place payday of $15K. Good luck, all!

6. WY: 480K walleye stocked into 3 reservoirs.

Grayrocks, Hawk Springs and Wheatland reservoirs. The walleye were raised in outdoor ponds at the Garrison National Fish Hatchery in ND…so you know they’re gonna grow fast and be catchable on artificials up shallow all year long lol.

7. PA: Study shows Lower Allegheny River has more…

…legal-sized walleye (>15″) than Kittanning and Templeton pools.

8. WI: Some more ‘eyes being stocked in the Menominee River.

More stocking is always a good thing 👊 but I had a tough time focusing on the info in that write-up ‘cuz the dude who wrote it called ’em “walleye fish” and also said they’re “known for their dark eyes” lol.

9. What’s Berkley got up their sleeves now?

Some sort of a prototype crankbait that can even catch ’em out of a barn lol:

10. IA: Rapp Park will be stocked with walleyes this month.

Since Rapp is under 500 acres, the DNR doesn’t stock it so:

> In the spring, the county’s conservation dept asked the public for donations to purchase walleye from the state hatchery to establish a population at the lake north of Shenandoah. Conservation director John Schwab says the county will spend $1,512 to purchase 550 walleye between 6-8″ long.

11. OR says walleye are eating all their salmon babies.

12. ON: Couple folks fined $5.2K for fishing on closed fishery.

Shoal Lake.

13. SK: Tim Geni gets SWT Hall of Fame induction.

Well deserved!

14. IDO did a Humminbird MEGA Live runtime test (video).

Billings teen wins national fishing title, finds out on TV after math mistake.

Talking about McKeever Dahlberg who had mathematically ruled himself out of the race…but then found out his algebrateria (lol) was off and he had actually won NWT’s Co-Angler of the Year. Congrats dude!

7 steps to protect your boat during the off-season (winterization).

Whether you’re wrapping up your open-water season now, or in 2 months when some folks are walking on water, these are some useful tips from from Wired2Fish’s Ryan Dechaine:

“…a decades-long argument between walleye and bass anglers, a state with a Great Lake and 60,000 miles of rivers and streams still doesn’t claim a state fish.”

– From this write-up talking how OH is just 1 of 3 states (IN and IA are the others) that don’t have a state fish. They have a state gemstone, fossil, prehistoric monument, you name it…BUT lawmakers can’t agree on which fish to name the state fish LOL.

Here’s some actual leaked footage from the last time they tried to debate on it:

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH