Everybody welcome Yo-Zuri and Okuma to Target Walleye/Ice! They make quality stuff walleye and ice-heads need — pumped to have them on board!
Reminder: If you’re getting this Target Walleye/Ice email for the first time, a friend probably signed you up!
Today’s Top 4
Giant musky caught…and caught again.
Mike Fogarty and his family were packing up after a day of panfishing on Okoboji when one of their rattle reels went off! #FutureChristmasCard
That toothy trainwreck measured 49″ x 26″ and literally plugged up an 8″ hole! Could tell it was a super-recent catch before even reading the story because that Catch Cover Ice Rod Rack on the wall has barely hit the market:
Fish nut Scott Bringle actually caught the SAME fish back in 2011 when it was 3″ shorter and a tad bit skinnier. More proof that catch-and-release works:
Ice troll to find fish before setting up.
A big reason guys like Tony Roach stick so many fish is they find ’em by “ice trolling” before they even think about setting up their shacks. Sounds simple enough, right? Bet you’ve never seen anything like this before:
Lol! Okay, that was a different kind of (absolutely ridiculous!) ice trolling…. What Tony actually does is he pre-fishes a spot to figure out what the fish are relating to that day, so there’s no second guessing where he set up his shack.
Start out using heavier baits — like a 1/4-oz Northland UV Macho Minnow — that get down fast and can be fished aggressively. You’re not necessarily trying to catch fish, but want to see how many (if any) are in that area.
Tony might only fish a hole for 30 to 60 seconds — looking for any signs of life on his MarCum LX-7 before moving. He also likes to fish high in the water column when he’s in search mode so the fish can see the bait from farther away.
Once you start graphing/catching fish, you can get inside the shelter and fish with a lot more finesse to actually turns those lookers into biters:
Ziploc makes ice fishing shacks?
As seen on the Ishim River in Kazakhstan. Temps as low as -30 and these guys are a-feeshin’ in plastic bags?! We gotta hook these guys up with some legit shacks:
What’s colder: -30 C or -30 F? Doesn’t matter!
Pic of what it actually feels like to drive a Lund.
If you don’t believe us, try it out for yourself.
News
1. MI: Six rescued from Saginaw Bay (video).
Glad everyone was okay. They were fishing and saw the bottom moving under ’em. #NoThanks
2. MN: Pike wins Gull Lake extravaganza.
Les Laidlaw won a new truck for catching the biggest fish — a 5.54-lb northern — out of 10,000-ish other anglers at the world’s largest charity ice derby. Said he caught it on a live minnow on a treble hook 10′ off bottom in 60′:
> “The fish just came straight up…I didn’t know I had a big fish on until I saw his head in the hole. I reached in and grabbed him, and that’s when I hooked my hand.”
Willing to bet we’d all take a treble or 12 to the hand for a new pickup. Couldn’t find a pic of Mr. Laidlaw, but with a name/story like that…we can only imagine:
3. MN: Year of the burbot on LOW.
Some of the biggest burbot we’ve seen anywhere have been coming out of Lake of the Woods this ice season. The lake may be best known for its walleye/sauger fishing, but the new sheriff in town has got a single whisker under her chin:
Here’s Joe Henry from way up der in Baudette talking ’bout the rise of da burbot:
The type of structure on LOW is a bit different than other burbot lakes in the Midwest, but how/what you fish ’em on is much the same. Gitcha a few pointers in this TargetWalleye.com post on ice fishing for burbot.
4. MN: How walleyes first got into Tonka.
James Wyer has been credited with introducing the great North American walleye into Lake Minnetonka, where it wasn’t originally a native fish:
> “…Each year he would bring thousands of bass and walleye from the League’s breeding pond and stock Lake Minnetonka.”
It’s frowned upon to be a bucket biologist nowadays…good thing the Westonka Walleye Program and Kraus Anderson have got Tonka’s back now.
5. New Storm 360GT Searchbait.
Al Lindner always gets to try the good stuff before the rest of us have ever heard of it — here’s what he had to say after using this new bait last season:
> “This is truly a ‘Go To’ bait…the closest thing that I could think of to what you’d call a universal bait. Fish love it.”
Love that it has a built-in rattle in the jighead. FishUSA has all 11 colors in stock right here, but we’re digging the ‘houdini’ color:
6. Big-boy approved pop-up shelter.Kyle Agre has gotta be pushin’ the 7-ft mark…if he can comfortably stand in the Eskimo QuickFish 5i pop-up, you’ll for sure have no problem:
7. Tips on border crossing without issues…
…to get after greenbacks. Some solid info for us ‘Mericans planning a trip there.
8. Ever seen an ice fishing rod like this??
Called the “Total Touch” rod system from HT Enterprises. Haven’t had the chance to try one on the ice, but does look pretty slick:
Giveaway winners!
Kris Bain won the last Rapala giveaway. We are for sure sending some goodies to the runner-ups too…. Thanks for everyone that entered! If you missed it, you can click here to see dang near 1,000 pics of fish caught on Rapala baits, a lot of them PBs (personal bests).
Events
1. MN: Kraus-Anderson Walleyes on Ice tourney, Tonka, Feb 11.
They posted yesterday that the next 20 people to register were getting a free Tuned Up Custom ice rod. Better see if there’s any left…. All $$$ goes to stocking 8″ to 13″ walleyes back into the lake. Hope more tourneys follow suit.
2. MN: Ultimate Fishing Camp, Leech Lake, Jun 25-28.
Chance to hit the water with legendary Lund pros like Ted Takasaki, Perry Good, and Gary Roach to name a few. Love Jiggy’s game face in the preview:
Tip of the Day
Now that we’re in the age of mobility, deadsticking has become a forgotten art. Here’s Ice Team pro Matthew Breuer talking about taking advantage of that second set-line, and what his go-to deadstick bait is when ice-fishing walleyes:
Quote of the Day
Go fishing any time and every time you can…you may get hit by a train tomorrow.
– That’s Tony Roach’s response — and a VERY sensitive one! lol — when he and Joel Nelson were asked when to go fishing based on the time of day, weather, barometric pressure and lunar phase. Spot on!
Joel did eventually go on to answer that question — you know his response is worth reading when it starts out with an Anchorman quote:
Today’s ‘Eye Candy
