Monsters do exist, New Berkley Power Switch, Tom Boley transition trick

And it’s seeming more and more (especially this time of year) like the vast majority of them are solo fish suspended out over deep water. I’m sure it’s always been like that, but it wasn’t until…

*Forward-facing sonar entered the chat*

…that we reeeeally knew just how many big cisco-eaters were roaming around out in no-man’s land.

And I’m not just talking about big water…same goes for your average backyard lakes.

But without FFS, there’s really no good way to target those fish aside from trolling around for hours on end with your baits in the top half of the water column until you get lucky and cross paths with one…that actually bites…and also doesn’t spook from the boat.

Literally a needle in the haystack type of thing for the most part. Of course big water like Lake Erie, etc are obvious exceptions…but without FFS on “average” lakes:

I hate the term “game changer,” but forward-facing sonar has literally changed the walleye tourney game. It’s been happening for a number of years now – and more folks are finally starting to key in on those bigger, suspended fish – but the early adopters who have really learned to use the tech have been cleaning up $$$ in the tourney scene. 🤑

I’m not saying this is a negative thing. I’m not saying it’s a positive. I’m just saying it has completely changed how most folks approach walleye tournaments now.

I used to despise slot limits in tournaments. Ex: lakes/systems/formats where only 1 or 2 of your fish could be over say 20” and the rest of your bag had to be under 20”. My argument was why penalize the team who is truly catching the most big fish in a single day. But I can definitely understand why some folks prefer that because you have to be a very well-rounded fisherman/woman to put together a big-fish program AND a small-fish program, and perfectly execute them both to come out on top that day.

Also not saying you don’t have to be super well-rounded to execute the big suspended fish program with FFS and get 5 in the boat. They’re still walleyes and don’t bite more often than they do bite. And remember: fish have fins…. The only thing keeping ‘em there is food, which can easily be a mile away before the day is even over.

Of course there’s walleyes living up shallow all year long too. I’d argue that a lot of the ones up in the weeds probably see less baits each season than the suspended fish nowadays. But those weed fish are a ton of work and a lot of walleye folks still don’t like rip jigging and cleaning weeds off their baits all day lol.

Shoot, our local 25-boat walleye league is chock full of dialed-in LiveScope’rs 🎯 and it was won this week by a team pulling spinners thru shallow weeds. They whacked a dozen fish in a short 3-hour derby (randomly drawn lake with no pre-fishing) while a bunch of us were getting turned down by fish after fish out deep.

Not really sure what my point is with all this, just blabbing out some observations and random thoughts that have been trapped up in this tiny brain.

FFS isn’t the cure-all…you can’t slap one on your rig and start catching all the walleyes you want. But it has definitely changed the game and opened up the walleye-fishing door to those bigger-than-average suspended fish we haven’t been able to easily target in the past. I do think it will be fun to see how tourney folks and companies continue to push the limits and create new techniques and baits to put more and bigger fish in the boat.

I came across this one from MN multi-species guide Tanner Talbot, who is always posting mammoth fish catches on his Instagram.

Tanner was running a muskie guide trip in northern MN when Leah Andersen hooked into the walleye of a lifetime while throwing a big muskie lure at a mondo mark suspended over 60’. Ended up being a 32.75” long x 16” girth (13.25-lb) freak of nature! 😳

Tanner said, “she was more excited to soar past the 30” mark than the 4 muskies in one hour.” LOL what a day!

And here’s another 29.75” bruiser that hit is boat last week while chucking 14” tube [!!!] with bright blue 100-lb braid on the mudflats. 😳 Wild!

> Tanner: “The creel survey guy at the boat ramp said this was the biggest walleye out of 1,000 surveyed fish.”

And it didn’t come on a nightcrawler?!?!? Hahaha! Amazing fish, man.

Quick video from down at ICAST talking the new (available fall 2023) Berkley PowerBait Power Switch. Details straight from the Hoyer’s mouth 😅 and things get weird:

In case you missed it, this Tom Boley YouTube video called “The secret walleye spot no one is fishing” has some interesting info on why it can be more important to pay attention to your Side Imaging than your map/GPS this time of year.

The secret location where he finds late-summer walleyes stacked is hard to soft bottom transitions. Stuff in that 30′ or so range where massive pieces of structure taper off into the soft bottom basin.

Same thing can be #money in the springtime if you can find similar hard to soft transitions in shallower 10-15′ water. I’ll completely ignore my map once I’m on one, and follow that brighter vs darker return or line on my Humminbird Side Imaging.

But hey, it’s not springtime, so I’ll save that for another day. Now let’s get into Tom’s summertime location more walleyes will be piling out onto every day until we cool off:

Btw Tom posted a new video the other day talking his “3 must have summer walleye lures” he’s using with his Humminbird MEGA Live, for you folks that would rather snipe ’em.

– That’s Alan McGraw with the ultimate in you gotta do what you gotta do:

1. MT: It took OVER 100 lbs to win the Gov. Cup on Fort Peck!

Brem Phipps and Clyde Phipps hauled in a 2-day total (10 fish) of 104.32 lbs to take home $15K + championship rings and plaques + ultimate bragging rights. Just incredible!

Actuallyyyyy it took over 100 lbs just to make the top 3…. 😳 I’ll track down some more details and pics here soon-ish because WOW.

2. WI: Green Bay MWC is happening right now.

Out of Oconto.

3. ID: Fish & Game tells folks where $$$-tagged walleyes are.

They have a map that shows where acoustic-tagged walleye have been hiding on Lake Pend Oreille in June – tagged fish could be worth up to $1K a piece in their angler incentive program:

4. NE: Biologist researching Missouri River walleye/sauger decline…

…that occurred after the 2011 flood.

5. ON: Dude fined $6,600 for 17 walleye over limit.

I feel like there’s normally not a comma in those fine amounts, so it’s actually kind of nice to see it be hefty enough to maybe detour folks. 🤷‍♂️

6. MN: Cool story on Walleye Willy’s Bait & Tackle…

…who encourages people of all abilities to try fishing. Will Isaacson and his son, Willy, opened their Stillwater bait shop back in Dec. They also chat about the Chromie Homie Fishing Extravaganza happening this Sat (from 11-4pm) at Big Marine Park Reserve in St. Croix:

7. MN: Mississippi R. environmental project complete.

> “The $324K Pool 2 wing dam modification project is the first ecosystem project in the nation to awarded under the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program, or NESP, and the first NESP project in the nation to be completed. The wing dam notching modified the channel to provide suitable habitat for fish. Potential fish species that will benefit include channel catfish, white or yellow bass, walleye, and paddlefish.”

8. MN: 2,600-acre cattle ranch to become nature preserve.

> “A complex Washington County land deal decades in the making could soon come to fruition as a 2,600-acre cattle operation becomes a wildlife management area and an addition to a county park.

> “Considered one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land in the metro area, the privately owned Kelley Land and Cattle Co. property [in Marine on St. Croix] includes lakes, woods, wetlands, wildlife habitat and wide open expanses of rolling prairie and grassland….”

9. IN stocked a pile of lakes with walleyes this year.

10. NY: Experts still don’t know what killed thousands of Oneida Lake fish.

> The widespread die-off of gizzard shad, a type of herring, was first reported on Oneida Lake’s south shore on May 24 and lasted about one week.

> On the bright side, the report ruled out a bacterial or viral infection as potential causes of the die-off.

> …the likely cause of the die off is natural phenomenon such as post-spawn stress combined with changes in water temperature.

Jason Mitchell Butterfly Blades mid-summer walleye.

> An easy way to catch mid-summer walleye right now is to cover water and find fish with bottom-bouncers. Targeting walleye on the outside edge of weedlines….

> Algae blooms and wind enable you to fish right below the boat with a heavy bottom-bouncer and spinner harnesses. We use the Northland Butterfly Blades because these harnesses turn and lift at much slower speeds which is an advantage when following irregular weed edges.

Those Butterfly Blades are slick – can use ’em to cover water quickly, but can also slow way down (when necessary) to 0.25 mph and the polycarbonate blades will still spin. Here’s J-Mitch putting ’em to work in SD’s Glacial Lakes Region:

Being a fishing guide ain’t all glitter and sparkles:

Another good one shared by NPAA (National Professional Anglers Association) on FB. 🤣

From @panoramic_outdoors on Instagram:

Helps with the net ❌

Baits the hooks ❌

Brings calm to the boat ❌

Inspects each fish for lickability ✔

Who else has a 4-legged fishing buddy?

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH