Right now most of the fish you’re catching after dark will stay in those shallows all day. The difference is in the daytime they’re not actively feeding, so you need to target ’em differently:
> Al Lindner: “Early in the season, a lot of these fish don’t leave these shallow rocks [or weeds]. You can come up here with an underwater camera [during the day] and you’d be amazed how often you can look in 3-6′ and there’s walleyes all over…but they quit feeding and the deeper fish turn on.”
Al and Jimmy thwack ’em using VMC Hot Skirt Glow Jigs with boot-tail plastics to slow the drop speed — a minnow is going to fall faster and more erratic:
Wart-nosed walleye caught.
TW fan Kelley Kerling caught this Lake of the Woods walleye that was carrying a little extra baggage:
Called Lymphocystis, but is usually described as warts or tumors:
> Although the virus occurs naturally in the environment, infections occur at a much higher rate during cold periods in late winter and early spring.
> It’s not usually fatal to the fish unless it affects their feeding, breathing or a secondary infection occurs.
> Not known to infect humans…however, proper cooking of any freshwater fish is recommended. Dispose of uneaten portions by burying [lol] or in household waste.
Looks like a great time to practice catch-and-release lol, yuck:
Joey Piskel was fishing the Mississippi River west of Grand Rapids, MN when he snagged a set of chompers that would scare the slime off a northern:
> Joey: “No way was it a decoration on a boat or anything because there was a lot of flesh still on it and the cartilage was still very flexible.
> “We put the jaw in some hydrogen peroxide and water to clean it up. Some of the flesh has come off and it no longer smells terrible.”
He brought it to the local DNR office where they later concluded it to be a sand shark. Lots of rumors flooding social media about how it got there, but clearly:
Kennie Williams and Travis Scott dominated the Crooked Creek Walleye Classic with a 2-day bag (10 fish) that weighed 82.85 lbs…nearly 40 lbs heavier than 2nd place! Get this: they had over a 10-lb average on day 1!!
Is Montana trying to keep their ridiculously-fat walleyes a secret? Here’s the only pic we could find of the winning team — their bag included a 32-incher and several other fish of a lifetime:
Ever had a chance to attend an NWT event? They start off each morning with the National Anthem and a prayer before take-off, then it’s game time. #Stout
Hope the Missouri Secrets Tackle guys who put together this video got the chance to do a little feeshin’ too?
> An entire fish-stocking season is being lost in Whiteshell and Nopiming provincial parks because of insufficient staffing at the provincially run Whiteshell Fish Hatchery.
> On the natural lakes of the upper Midwest, walleyes typically spawn in depths of 1-4′ over gravel bars, mixed gravel and sand flats, then when they’re done, they drop off to the edges.
> Male walleyes will linger near the spawning sites, and females will slip out into 4-12′. Some will slide farther down the break, but they’ll still move up mornings and evening to feed.
> By far, the best spots will be those with new-growth cabbage, coontail, sand grass, etc.
> May through July I’m watching my Side Imaging for scattered areas of emerging cabbage weeds, which may be nothing more than foot-wide isolated clumps of inch-tall stuff, but hold food.
Post-spawn male walleyes behave like teenage boys who have been coerced into taking a buddy’s fat sister to the high school prom: After the dance they can hardly wait to collect on the promised beer and pizza reward….
Not again? Lol. You know it’s a good hunting area when you can stick one at a Wally World! Tom Grasswick said, “I figured I was bigger than the deer so I’d win that wrestling match.” He did:
Sign up another ice-head!
If you’re forwarding Target Walleye/Ice 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 ’em for spam, etc.)
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 quit sports in high school because they were interfering with his fishing time. Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com
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