Lake Erie wins big, Blue walleyes extinct, Euro larva trick

> “…trolling just outside of the Cleveland Harbor break wall in about 35’ when the winning walleye hit at about 11:45 pm on Fri, Nov. 24. The pair were relying on two popular diving plugs – Smithwick Perfect 10 and Rapala Husky Jerk lures – that are favorites for both trolling on big water or casting from a shoreline platform. Purple with a chartreuse nose (known as the ‘Marvin’ color) is a mainstay.”

> The folks who saw Smith and his fishing buddy, Ward, launch on Lake Erie at the Cleveland Lakefront State Park throughout the derbies are probably still shaking their heads. The two regularly fished the derbies in Ward’s 19’ Sea-Doo jet-powered boat designed to only carry 2….

Sounds like these fellas are going to have to arm wrestle over the prizes, because that fish won 2 fully-rigged, 6-figure boats! A Ranger 622FS Pro Fisherman with a V10 Merc 400 ($140K-ish) AND a Warrior V238 (approx $175K). 🤑

Little more info from here:

> It also helps, if you’re a family man, to have a wife who understands a husband who spends about six weeks fishing after dark, the best time to connect with a trophy walleye.

> “My wife, Stephanie, understands my obsession. I spend as much time as possible at home with her and our kids, Emerson, 5, and Scarlett, who will be 3 in Jan. Stephanie simply asks if I’ll be fishing after dinner….

> “It became a regular thing during the fishing derbies, with work, dinner, putting the kids to bed and going to meet Dave to go fishing.”

> Smith has already submitted to a lengthy polygraph test. He has yet to determine how to share the two boats with his fishing partner, since taxes are a big part of a winner’s expenses.

I can’t even imagine. Congrats!!!

> “The blue pike was a subspecies of the yellow walleye that primarily inhabited the cool water layer of Lake Erie’s Central and Eastern Basins, and western Lake Ontario. It differed from yellow walleye by their smaller size, unique bluish coloration and proportionally larger eyes. They were sexually mature at 13” and reached a maximum length of 16” and 2 lbs.

> “They were especially favored by local restaurants for their convenient size that perfectly filled a dinner plate when hog-dressed, cooked and served intact, as was customary. Although their flesh was less firm than that of a walleye, the flavor was described as sweeter, similar to crappies.”

Wait, hog-dressed?! 😂

> “In the early 1900s, blue pike populations began to fluctuate widely, with high abundances every 4-6 yrs. This phenomenon was suspected to be the result of cannibalism by the older blue pike which cropped off their young-of-year offspring during their high cycles. As the adult population began to diminish, higher offspring survival would result in another huge year class. This pattern continued without much concern to fish biologists until the collapse of the population began in 1958, after 1954s last substantial hatch.

> “Several related factors have been suggested as the cause of this rather sudden, catastrophic extinction. Most scientists agree that the expanding, low dissolved oxygen dead zone led to suffocation of blue pike. It also reduced their primary food supplies, including burrowing mayflies and cool-water orientated bait fish such as trout-perch and silver chubs.

> “Invasive smelt and alewives increased in abundance during the mid-twentieth century, and preyed heavily on young-of-year blue pike, and may have been responsible for additional declines as populations were already fading.

> “When the schools of oxygen-starved fish concentrated near shore to avoid the low-oxygen conditions, an increase in landings by commercial netters further reduced the blue pike population. Commercial catches ranged from 2-26 mil lbs per yr in the 1950s. The final year that blue pike were sold, 1964, less than 200 hundred lbs reached the fish markets. The last few confirmed blue pike were caught in 1965 from Lake Erie.

> “For the next several years, bluish-colored walleyes were occasionally captured by both sport and commercial fishermen. Subsequent DNA-testing indicated that all of them were in-fact hybrids, apparently spawning with an increasing population of yellow walleyes as blue pike became scarcer.

> “When both species were abundant, they occasionally produced hybrids, known by commercial fishermen as grays, jumbos or mules, which grew larger than blue pike typically did and with blue pike color pattern.

> “A last-ditch effort to capture some brood stock for breeding purposes was attempted by PA and PH in the late 1960s, with several blue-colored fish taken to the National Fish Hatchery in Hebron and elsewhere. Propagation attempts failed and the species was officially declared extinct in 1976 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”

Now you (we) know. But…

While there hasn’t been any actual “blue pike” documented, no doubt you’ve probably seen some blue-ish variations of ‘eyes floating around the interwebz, which are a different species than their extinct cousins:

> “In a few lakes in ON and QC, blue-colored walleyes are frequently caught, but DNA analysis has repeatedly shown that they are simply a blue color-phased walleye that is missing yellow pigment and not a true blue pike.“

Still extremely B-E-A-Utiful and fun to look at.

Like this 💣 that Marie-Pier Michaud dropped on Instagram…a sick side-by-side comparison of a “regular” walleye next to a blue color phase walleye she LiveScope’d from northern QC:

Yup, there’s a right and wrong way to hook ’em. Look for the flat end ‘cuz there’s a scent sack – between the eyes – you’ll wanna “pop” to get the juices flowing:

And if you’re curious what “The Godfather of Ice Fishing” has been up to lately, this pic is from YESTERDAY. 🙌

Btw…Russians make weapons out of anything LOL.

…NO forward-facing sonar or MEGA 360 allowed?!

Spotted this in the last BassBlaster email (Top Item #1). Sounds like a guy named Allen Brooks, from GA, is behind it, and explains it in this intro YouTube video. Here’s the stated mission on the website:

> Touring Anglers Assn is a non-profit Christian belief-based fishing tournament designed to dramatically reduce tournament costs and significantly increase winnings for anglers. Our mission is to offer anglers a fishing tournament that pays out the maximum cash prizes. The world’s largest performance-based cash earnings.

> “Right now it’s an idea – it’s just an idea. We want to see if there’s 200 anglers that’s interested in a high-level competition that levels the playing field as much as humanly possible.

> “We’re definitely nonprofit. …give back 100% of the [entry money?] minus expenses. And how you do that is by reducing overhead.

> “I want to create…a tournament that I want to fish. This is similar to the format that I grew up fishing….”

> “We’re not trying to create a professional tournament organization. This is meant to be a supplemental tournament for people who can’t get enough…or who can’t take that much time off work, or who just like this format.”

It says on the event format page that entry fee will be $5,000 for the tournament, and here’s the payout chart.

Note that he says this is NOT a definite thing yet, and that he’s just trying to gauge interest. But sounds like he has 75-ish folks interested of the 200 he’d need to fill the field.

2. WI: New Wisconsin Ice Fishing Expo is this weekend.

At the Sunnyview Exposition Center in Oshkosh.

3. MN: Arrowhead Ice Fishing & Winter Show is this weekend.

At the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

4. MN: World’s largest charitable ice-fishing contest happenin’ Feb 3.

Of course I’m talking about the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza – just up the road from us on Gull Lake’s Hole-in-the-Day Bay.

Did you know that over the Extravaganza’s 33-yr history, more than $4.3 mil has been raised and donated to more than 75 different charities?! 🙌 Incredible.

5. Jason Mitchell hopped on “Another Fishing Podcast” (video).

> …co-host Greg Underdahl talks with professional fisherman Jason Mitchell about his career and what it takes to make it in the fishing industry. Jason and Greg discuss the incredible Devils Lake fishery and how it helped put Mitchell on the map. The pair also take a deep dive into current angling trends and make predictions for the future of fishing media. Underdahl even gets advice on how to finally catch a walleye on Pool 2! But there’s SO MUCH MORE!”

> “…to discuss Lake Erie walleye fishing, the Lake Erie Walleye Trail, using the Fish Hawk X2, and the World Predator Championships.”

7. Why am I just now seeing this?!

Most everyone has heard of the Original Johnson ThinFisher, but I had no idea that Berkley has made a bunch of big #NewSchool upgrades to it.:

8. SD: Flooding is moving Asian carp to new waters.

9. Brunswick made another fancy list. 📈

They were named one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek for the 4th consecutive year.

10. New 2024 Lund catalog is out.

You can view/download the online version here, or also request a hard copy.

11. Fishing’s economic impact by state.

Gotta click around on a map to find what you’re looking for, but some interesting #s.

12. Last chance to get it on our giveaway…

…for your chance to win a Two Brothers Innovations ice-rod package!

Up for grabs is a trio of high-end ice rods – from Paul and Gregg Thorne’s Two Brothers Innovations – that will elevate any ice anglers’ game. Only takes a minute to enter by clicking here or on the pic below. 👊

Jason Mitchell’s full Virtual Angling write-up and video here, few excerpts below:

> When it comes to early ice fishing, anglers often face the challenge of intense winds before freeze up that stir up sediment and create turbid, muddy waters, especially in small, shallower bodies of water. In this video, Jason Mitchell discusses how to adapt your tactics for success in these conditions and make the most of the limited visibility, especially when it comes to walleye fishing.

> In regions like the Dakotas, you’ll run into a lot of those small, shallow dish bowl lakes, often less than 10’ deep, that freeze quickly after a 30-mph wind. That colder water can suspend particles for longer periods of time, causing the water to remain cloudy for weeks after freeze-up. This dirty water can have a negative impact on fishing, even in significant bodies of water like Lake of the Woods and Upper Red Lake…along with backwater areas on Devil’s Lake and small dish-bowl sloughs. If you get really strong winds with lakes freezing over immediately afterward, you might find yourself facing several weeks of tough fishing.

> So, what can you do to improve your chances of catching walleye in these challenging conditions? One key strategy is to modify your jigging strokes and tactics. Keep in mind that in these murky waters, fish have limited visibility and can’t see their prey from a distance. To address this, you’ll want to make your presentation more enticing by using sound and vibrations.

> One effective technique is to focus on pounding your lure in place with a hard, but short, jig stroke or quiver. This hard and deliberate motion creates vibrations in the water that fish can detect even when they have limited visibility.

> Using spoons tipped with minnow heads can be especially productive in dirty water. Jointed spoons like the Clam Jointed Pinhead Pro can be really effective in these conditions by creating extra noise and vibrations to attract fish. Rattle spoons are another option that can work well in these conditions. The key is to use lures that produce a lot of noise and vibrations and focus on a hard cadence keeping the bait in one place so the fish can hone in on its location.

> Avoid high jigs strokes and baits that need to make larger runs like glide baits. Fish might have limited visual detection, but they can still hear and feel what’s happening in the water and keeping your bait in one place can help them navigate to it quickly.

Full scoop here:

> Does a 2′ rip – adds a decent amount of slack in the line after each pump – then follows it down on a tight line. That slack is key ‘cuz it really lets the bait ‘walk’ and get outside the cone angle.

MN-FISH