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Sorry for the late send – ran into some technical difficulties.
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Let the fish tell you what they want! 🕵️♂️
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Sometimes it’s easier said than done:
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Sounds like from his Instagram post that he caught those fish "around the Northwest Angle". Did some diggin' and found the YouTube video of that day – here's how they caught 'em:
> "We marked a pile of fish that would chase and chase and chase. We had big rattlebaits on, we had tiny little tungsten [jigs] on, we had full deadsticks down. We threw the everything at them and picked them off here and there.
> "We caught some of these perch. They were spitting up some sort of larvae. I don't know if it could be dragonfly larvae or something....
> "One that was spit up, [we] ended up putting [the spit-up bug back on] the hook and put it right back down and caught a fish instantly."
Prime example of how you gotta pay attention to what those fish tell you!
Something similar happened in a recent Target Walleye YT vid while we were chasing jumbo perch out on Mille Lacs.... Found ‘em coughing up some sort of larvae, and so we got dialed dropping 1/16-oz VMC Tungsten BugBite Jigs in natural colors. 👀 Here’s why I chose that specific bait. 🎯
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Most of the jumbos were in the 11-12” range (which is awesome for around here) but we did stick a few that were the next caliber up. 😳
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Gotta pay attention to those little details...it can turn an okay-ish day into a memorable one. 👊
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Late-ice crappie locations and presentations
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Whole pile of great info from diehard fish-head Blake Tollefson in the full In-Fisherman write-up here, but a few excerpts below:
High-probability spots
> “Once we start getting into late ice, typically March, a lot of crappie ice anglers abandon the basins.... I still start my search in the basin, especially shallower ends of it, then I proceed to 10’ to 20’ flats adjacent to the basins.”
> “Fish will begin to transition from mid-winter’s deeper crappie-holding basins and start moving toward spawning areas in shallower bays, typically the northwestern ends of lakes, where water temperatures and the ice melts first.”
> ...crappies tend to cruise higher up in the water column as they move from mid-basins to flats on their move shallow.
> “You’ll notice them from 5-6’ below the ice all the way up to just under the ice. They’ll chase a bait really high to smash it!”
> “In WI we have a lot of man-made fish cribs, Christmas tree piles...brush and timber. ...load up during late-ice – especially those in the mid-depth range. The deeper and shallow cribs don’t necessarily hold fish during late-ice...it’s that mid-depth stuff you want to target.”
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> ...crappies will pretty much stay on this kind of mid-depth structure until they get ready to move into the shallows to spawn.
> “And if there are green weeds shallower, there will always be crappies there, too...."
Presentations
> ...it’s hard to beat a 3 to 4mm tungsten jig tipped with a micro-plastic, most often without the addition of a waxworm or a couple maggots.
> “Late-ice fish are aggressive. It’s all about getting your bait to pods of fish fast and not worrying about having to re-bait. While scent can be important, it’s not super important for me during the late- to last-ice period. These fish just want to eat.”
> In terms of specific micro-plastics, Tollefson is a fan of the Eurotackle Bloodworm for fishing many of the smaller basin-style lakes in his neck o’ the woods that have a soft, muddy bottom with emerging critters.
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> “The other bait I fish a lot is the Eurotackle Leech...which is like a tiny Beaver-style bass bait with a big, water-displacing tail...."
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> “In really stained water I might use pink or chartreuse – and in clear waters I might try a bluegill or green pumpkin hue pattern – but 90% of my late-ice crappie fishing is done with red, black, and white micro-plastics [because they work across all water clarity situations].”
You can keep reading here or by clicking the pic below:
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“Do you think a walleye would eat this? I’m trying to figure out if bass are that dumb or walleye fisherman are thinking way too hard on what bait to choose?”
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- That’s walleye pro Drake Herd talking about the ‘fuzzy dice’ style of baits (believe the original was made by Japanese bait company OSP and called the Saikoro “Dice” Rubber soft bait) that have legit won hundreds of thousands – actually probably millions by now – of dollars in bass derbies the last few seasons. 🤔🥴
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No idea what they’re actually supposed to look like. 🤷♂️ But obviously some sort of buggy, or zooplankton-y type of thing.
Funny enough, I recently found out that MN has freshwater jellyfish 👀 which is probably completely unrelated, but, ya know. 🤷♂️ They've been spotted in 20-30 lakes and are likely in more. Sounds like at their largest stage (medusa) they range from 5 to 25 mm in diameter – the equivalent of a quarter or smaller – and are only around for a few weeks.
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Regardless of what these “dice baits” are supposed to look like, I’d be willing to bet that by this time next year, the majority of companies will either have or be coming out with some sort of version or different twist on this. Because they flat-out get bit!
I was just snooping 'round Scheels and saw that they have numerous options from other companies (from left to right): The Z-Man Fuzzy Nuggetz, Strike King Tumbleweed, Yamamoto Fuzzy Nut, SPRO Coike, 3 Brothers Baits Loaded Dice, and surely more to come:
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Now here’s what folks in the comments said under Drake’s post... 😅
> Tyler A: Bass eat licorice. They will eat this.
> Greg B: No, they won’t...but put this on a 2’ stick to keep the geese off your dock.
> Lynn L: Walleye eat a worm twirling around on a bent hook. Why not?
> Will P: *Notify me if price drops.
> Jake D: Lotta walleye caught on spinnerbaits, arguably the least realistic bait in the bass world.
> Rick M: In Lake Erie they would definitely eat that, wrapped in an old gym sock they would still eat it....
> Cody N: I’m more curious about how I can market hair jello for $20.
But also...
> Doug Glimmerveen: A lot of walleye guys have been really quiet about bass techniques since they found out Ned Rigs work on walleye. I'll bet this works too.
I might just have to take one $10-20 🤑 for the team and see if those big, suspended ‘overs’ would eat this thing on days when they won’t touch anything else.... I've played with a homemade version of it a bit, and did get a few 'overs' to bite on a local lake that's usually pretty stingy in mid-summer, so I'm hopeful it wasn't a fluke....
Although waiting for weightless 'dice' to sink down to depth sure was fun.
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"We used to brag about 'he who drilled thousands of holes would usually win'. Now the guy who drills the least amount of holes and catches the most fish wins."
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That's MN guide Brad Hawthorne talkin' in this Humminbird YouTube video on how much efficiency matters nowadays when you're chasing fish on hardwater.
Used to have to make your area look like it just took an artillery shelling, peppering it with hundreds of holes! 😅 But nowadays it’s more like a scout-sniper team the way folks work together and call their shots.
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The vid is definitely worth a watch – shows you how to chase big 'ol schools of crappie around the basin using Humminbird MEGA Live 2. 🎯
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Watch this 'eater' smoke a spoon 💥
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That's how you want 'em to hit it! And dang did Tom Boley ever hit 'em back LOL.
Tom Boley ^ had that one go ballistic on his spoon and captured the whole deal on his Aqua-Vu. Sick eat. Forward-facing sonar can definitely be the deal, but some of the guesswork is taken outta there when you're eye-to-eye with 'em on the underwater cam!
Fishing with an underwater camera is one of those things that still gives me that giddy, kid-like feeling while fishing. I don’t care if it’s walleye, bluegills, crappies, bass, lake trout, or burbot – it just NEVER gets old! 🔥
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1. WI: ‘Walleyes for Tomorrow’ creates spawning area in Allouez
> A large bedding of rock spread across the Fox River in Allouez is part of a conservation effort by a local Green Bay group working to preserve walleye habitat and its $264-mil impact on the local economy.
> The Green Bay chapter of Walleyes for Tomorrow placed 300 tons of washed cobblestone on the shoreline in Allouez to increase spawning success for walleye, which are unique when it comes to repopulation.
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6. SD: AFTCO Walleye Throwdown, Lake Oahe, July 25-26
Out of Akaska and held alongside the South Dakota Walleye Classic and Festival. The biggest walleye weighed in during the 2 days wins a brand new Ford Maverick! I also like that they’re doing 8 bi-hourly cash payouts for the largest walleye caught during each period.
Register by June 30 and you’ll receive a $200 AFTCO gear pack, getting the full value of your entry fee back.
7. OH: Maumee River walleye run expected to be historic
Thanks to the ice coverage (hitting up to 96%) on Lake Erie.
8. MT: Lower Yellowstone River walleye flourishing 📈
Thanks to a bypass channel that now allows fish to get upstream of the Intake Diversion Dam.
> Many of the fish now moving up and down the Yellowstone River are coming from North Dakota’s Lake Sakakawea in the spring in search of spawning habitat.
9. WI: Winnebago sturgeon spearing szn lasted just 10 days
It was the earliest ending since 2015 (closed early because the harvest cap was met). There were 1,540 fish harvested cross the entire Lake Winnebago system in the 2026 season.
10. Wisconsin Fishing Expo is Feb 27 - Mar 1
Btw I saw that Wisconsin's own Jason Przekurat will be inducted into the Fishing Hall of Fame at the Expo on Sat, 2/28 at 3p. 💪 Well-deserved!
11. MN: Northwest Sportshow happenin’ Mar 5-8...
...at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
12. ND: 61st-annual Red River Valley Sportsmen’s Show...
...is happening Mar 5-8 at the FargoDome.
13. MN: Walleye Alliance Spring Banquet is April 23
14. Mitch Feathers new Yamaha Marine ops manager
15. John Bretza new Okuma VP of product development
16. Andrew Gritzbaugh is new Grundens CEO
Worked at MeatEater and most recently Grunt Style.
17. Josh Matthews is new Honda Marine division director
18. Tom Huynh is coming to a SCHEELS near you
Limited number of spots at each seminar, so best to register before they're sold out (see all of the locations here). Costs just $25 to attend, and they'll give you a $25 Scheels gift card in return. 😎
19. Ford wants to build a lower-cost EV pickup
Supposedly would start at $30,000, no mention of towing in that post:
> The end result...will be an EV truck with about 15% more range, or 50 miles, than an equivalent pickup powered by gas.
20. MN: Big news for bass-heads 📢
The DNR has officially changed the rules...catch-and-release bass fishing is now allowed year-round in MN.
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Which also means you could still go out and ice fish for ‘em....
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Jason Mithchell’s search strategies for late-ice jumbo perch
> What I find amazing about targeting perch through the ice is just how different ecosystems and forage bases can create extremely different patterns. Locations on Mille Lacs Lake will vary greatly from Lake Winnie. Saginaw Bay will be completely different from Devils Lake.
> Perch that are keying on shiners and crayfish act differently from fish that are using blood worms or freshwater shrimp as a primary forage. ...fish that are keying on minnows or crayfish are often more aggressive than fish living off invertebrates like scuds and bug larvae.
> Breaking down basins and large flats is often about making big moves until you find some signs of life and then making small moves to catch fish. This is a mistake that many anglers make, they get bogged down with drilling a lot of holes but drilling their holes too close together on foot.
> When you are on a large piece of structure, use your ATV, snowmobile, or vehicle to make those big moves. Don’t plop on a location, unload all your gear, and proceed to tear apart the lake within a hundred yards of you when in search mode unless you are extremely lucky.
> My best strategy for finding fish is making big moves, often traveling 200-300 yards between holes and spending more time in a hole, perhaps 10-15 minutes. By spreading your holes and settling into your holes longer, you also give fish a little bit of time to wander underneath you if you are in a productive area. This style allows you to break down bigger pieces of water and allows you to cover miles of water over the course of the day when you are starting from scratch.
> Once we zero in on a general area...drill a grid through an area where you can aggressively move from hole to hole and contact fish. This is where the small moves catch fish. Small moves or drilling out a small area is terrible for finding fish on a big lake but is the very best way to produce fish once you find them.
> On some fisheries, perch will school in a column where they stack up on top of each other and move very fast. These vertical schools are typically very aggressive fish and these fish will often climb much higher in the water column.
> There are also times where perch will seldom stack up vertically and instead school up where the fish swim side by side and you seldom have more than 3 fish on the Vexilar at one time. These horizontal schooling fish are often less aggressive and sprawl out over a larger area.
> Generally, if you can get fish to stack up on top of each other and get multiple fish below you...these fish are much easier to catch.
> If you are dealing with perch that are sprawled out over a general area, you can sit over one hole and just wait for these waves of fish to pass underneath. If you get a school of fish to pass by every 10 to 20 minutes, you can add them up to a great day.
> When fish are traveling fast in a column, you often need to be much more aggressive and land on them for short periods of time...windows are going to be intense. You might only keep these fish under you for 10 minutes at a time before you lose them but if you get 2 or 3 cracks at these fish in a day, you can tally several fish in a short amount of time.
Keep reading the full Virtual Angling write-up here.
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"Poor-man's LiveSope."
- By now you've maybe heard of the "rock the 'ducer" trick flasher folks have been using for decades (before forward-facing sonar was a thing) to be able to find fish out to the sides of the hole. Works especially well for crappies suspended over deep water:
But when folks wanted to kick it up a notch (pre LiveScope), they would attach the transducer to an ice scoop – at an angle – with either electrical tape or zip ties...which would allow you to control where it’s pointed and see specific locations/directions.... Can’t seem to find a pic of it right now, but I’ll try to dig one up.
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Thank YOU for reading! 👊 Back 'atcha in a couple....
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Sign up another fish-head!
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FRIENDS OF TARGET WALLEYE
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Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jay Kumar, Chris Philen, 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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