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If you’re getting Target Walleye for the first time, a friend probably signed you up!
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Harley-Davidsons wouldn’t be a thing if it weren’t for fishing?!
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Came across this post on Historical Snapshots FB and had to do a double-take:
> “When they were young boys, Bill Harley was tall and quiet while Arthur Davidson was short and talkative. Though different in personality, they shared a love for fishing. They would ride their bicycles to a lake nearby for fishing outings, pedaling up the hills.
> “One day in 1895, they came across an inventor riding a motorcycle. Inspired by the machine and looking to make the commute of their fishing outings easier, the two would go on to start building motorized bikes. Then they started a company. They called it Harley-Davidson.”
Cool! How awesome is this pic HD used in a 1923 advertisement?!
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Now I’ve gotta shout-out a few of my favorite comments under the Facebook post:
– The bikes have gotten a lot bigger and the fish a lot smaller.
– Proof positive that fishing is good for business!
– Everybody just calls them Harleys which ironically are not tall or quiet.
– Anyone know where their fishing hole was? Asking for a friend.
– Glad they didn’t make boats.
– Guess I have to put a suit on next time I go fishing. Never know who you will run into out there.
Some more interesting info and photos from this Peter Paeth write-up:
> “…Harley’s campaign chose to target the sportsman, promising him the ability ‘to ride to those hidden trout streams that never see a highway or railroad.’ This was only poetic justice since legend had it that William Harley and Arthur Davidson’s love of fishing had been the genesis of the first Harley-Davidson motor bike. That first bike, so the story goes, was designed to enable them to get up the trails leading to their beloved WI fishing holes faster. Pictorial evidence of the company creators’ love of fishing abounds on the internet.”
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NFL players guess what kind of fish are in pics. 🤣
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First off: I’d like to say a HUGE congrats to NFL’er (and Target Walleye reader 😏) Frank Ragnow who just signed a 4-yr, $54-mil contract extension with the Detroit Lions!
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Frank deserves it. Of course because he’s a freakin’ beast on the field, but also because he is straight-up good people. Even I was getting a little emotional while listening to Frank talk in this clip posted on ESPN’s Insta:
> Frank: “…my goal was to make it to the NFL and be able to take care of my parents. My dad and my mom are just my people, ya know…and I’m very grateful for them. I had an amazing childhood, man…so proud of the way I was raised and my upbringing. To be able to give back to my mom – I wish I could give back to my dad [who passed on] and go fishing with him and everything – but to be able to give back to my mom and my family means the world.”
Well-deserved, man! 🙌
Not only is Frank now the highest-paid center in the NFL…but pretty sure he’s also the highest-fish-catchingest one too lol. Few pics from he and his brother Jack’s fishy Instagram page called @grizzlymanoutdoors. Keep in mind Frank is 6′ 5″ and 311. 👀 #BeastMode
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As you can see, Frank catches a little BIG bit of everything…so it was absolutely hilarious to watch his teammates try to guess what kind of fish Frank was holding in his pics. First 2 episodes below…
Guess Frank’s Fish: Episode 1
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Stop vertical jigging on lakes with zebra mussels.
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Will you catch a few? Maybe. But you can catch waaaay more by getting that bait out away from the boat in clear, zeeb-filtered water…especially on sunny days when there’s shadows down there.
A couple years back, fish-head Jon Thelen went out jigging for post-spawn walleyes on a northern MN lake that’s chock full o’ zebra mussels and walleyes. Said no doubt zeebz have changed the bite, but can still pluck fish outta that shallow 12-14′ stuff if you switch up the way you’re targeting ’em.
They had water temps in the high-50s to low-60s and found walleyes on the first edges and flats out from where the fish spawned. Really like when folks take the time to map out the type of spots they’re fishing so I can duplicate it around home:
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Diggin’ the big ol’ hook-eye on those Lindy Live Bait Jigs. Jon says they come with no paint in ’em = bonus points for retying on the water:
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Walleye pros crush the brown bass!
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Heeeere we go again! “Walleye-nuts” made their presence known at the Sturgeon Bay Bass Tournament last weekend in Door County, WI. A pile of ’em finished high in the standing against a stacked field off bass-heads.
How? This quote from Gary Parsons still sums it up nicely:
> “You put a green largemouth in front of us, we all get scared…but smallies are almost walleyes.”
Lol touche man!
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Sounds like they were chucking tubes and slow-rolling swimbaits as close as they could to bottom without touching it (lots of moss). Couldn’t give up all their secrets ‘cuz I’m sure these fellas will be hanging around town a few more days to hop in the big $$$ Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament this weekend – already has over 130 teams signed up.
I don’t want to be “that guy” and say it, but someone has to (lol). I’m willing to bet you wouldn’t see those same kind of results if the situation was reversed…. Would almost feel bad throwing a handful of bassin’ pros into a 130-boat walleye derby – almost!
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Another good reason to keep smaller walleyes…
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…and let the big breeders go. Might just be the definition of “biting off more than you can chew.”
WARNING: If you get queasy easy, you might wanna skip this next pic…
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And that’s not the only possible side effect of eating too many big walleyes – apparently it can cause ya to start growing scales and wearing argyle socks, too:
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That ^ is from Pelican Rapids, MN. You should see what the cormorants look like….
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1. If you missed Al Lindner live on…
…BOB Country’s Reel Talk Outdoors about a week-ish ago, can click on the “May 2nd Reel Talk Outdoors” episode at that link to hear him chatting with hosts Mark Fisher, Tom Neustrom and Larry Hanson.
And thx to those fellas for throwing the links up on their site so we can listen back if we missed the live show – great weekly radio show loaded with interviews, live call-ins and of course tons of fish stories.
2. Max Wilson gets Clam Outdoors.
If you watched the last H2H Fishing live-streamed walleye derby, you know Max has already been using their stuff a long time. He was crushing ’em with the Clam Drop Tg Jig, which I believe is still the only open-water TUNGSTEN jig. I own a few (not enough!) and they are 110% amazing. Bunch of great colors but that “matte black” is nasty!
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So why tungsten? Of course there’s the whole non-toxic, environmentally-safe side o’ things…but here’s a few fishier reasons why it’s a big deal – pay attention fish-heads:
Heavier and denser
> 30% smaller than the same weight lead jig = better jig control and sensitivity, punches through weeds, plummets fast to deep-water schools and the smaller profile is killer for pressured or finicky fish.
> 1.7x more dense than lead – denser tungsten shows up better on graphs and sonar. #AskGenz
> Less resistance in heavy current or deep water to keep your jig more vertical…keeps curls and kinks out of the line.
Increased sensitivity
> Lead absorbs impact – harder tungsten does not = more “feel” of your jig as you work it through cover. The energy of impact with a rock, sand, mud, wood structure, log or a bite does a better job of transferring through to the line. #thump
> Also heard that lead absorbs sound while harder tungsten is noisier…especially when “tinking” off rocks. Something to think about….
Gotta hold one in your hand – or better yet fish one! – to really know what I’m talking about. Can be tough to find these jigs so I hope Clam keeps kicking them out. 🤞
3. MN: Interesting thoughts on choosing an “opener” lake.
> “Ice out has occurred 2 weeks earlier than normal, and the opener is coming later than normal, leading many to ponder: This might be the year to forego the conventional wisdom of starting out on the shallow, early-to-warm lakes in favor of the deeper lakes known to harbor some of the best walleyes.”
Usually around the opener, lot of folks seem to have better luck actually getting walleyes to bite on lakes that warm up more quickly. The fish are further along in the spawning process, and have had more time to recover and now get their post-spawn feedbag on. But of course some of the bigger, deeper lakes can have more and bigger walleyes…so I definitely get the draw to them.
Will be interesting to see how it goes down. I do think the cool weather we’ve had lately has maybe slowed that whole idea down a bite tho. The bigger lakes I’ve been chasing crappies on the last few days have still only been 53-54°F, which may be a little warmer than “normal” but not by much. Either way, I seriously can NOT wait to catch a fish that actually fights back when you set the hook (no offense panfish lol).
4. Lindner’s Angling Edge asked folks to caption…
…this photo over on Instagram:
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Quick reminder to get that grass cut BEFORE the weekend – it’s all downhill from here:
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Is it just me or does that fish look super young for being so dang big? #Flawless
Thx to Cole Frenzel for sending in that ^ pic. And apparently he didn’t need Kirk in the boat to catch ’em again (lol) ‘cuz he landed in 3rd place in the derby with 33.7 lbs for 5.
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Sign up another fish-head!
If you’re forwarding Target Walleye 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 them for spam, etc.)
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Friends of Target Walleye
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Who is Target Walleye
Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Jay Kumar, Brett McComas and other diehard fish-heads like you!
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Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye 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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