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If you’re getting Target Walleye for the first time, a friend probably signed you up!
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🙌 Talk about crappie goals! Congrats dude!!
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First: I’ve got to apologize to Jessie Baker ( @jjessiebaker) for sharing her fish AFTER a 4-lb near-state-record crappie…. Sorta like stepping up to the plate right after the dude before you hit a grand slam lol. But Jessie’s cranking out homers too! She hit up a new lake and ended up icing this 16″ golden doodle 🤩 with the new “”glow tiger” color VMC Rattle Spoon. Amazing fish – congrats on the new PB!
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Beautiful burbot medley. 😍
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In case you need any more incentive to get out and chase some burbot…check out how different the patterns/markings are on each fish depending which body of water they come out of…. Love the uniqueness!
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Then you’ve got fish that grow more wide than long 🙋♂️🍕🍔🍟 like this one my tourney partner – his name rhymes with “Laramie Myth” lol – caught the other night but was too stubborn (or old lol) to enter it:
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Isn’t it crazy that both those are the same species of fish? Let alone caught just 2 hours away from each other in MN.
Btw – I’m currently getting my butt absolutely kicked in this derby 🤦♂️ but having a blast doing it! It’s a fun excuse to get out and adds an extra adrenaline rush to each hookset.
The current leaders have 155.5″ for their 5 longest burbs = over a 31″ average! Can’t wait to get back out after ’em and try to build a 5-fish stringer I’m not embarrassed about lol. But huge props to those already getting it done this early in the Feb 20 – Mar 14 derby.
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I guess in Maine there’s no law against wasting fish….
And:
> “There is no limit on catching smaller lake trout on Sebago. Anything under 26″ is fair game. The limit is 1 fish for anything bigger.”
> “Technically, lake trout are an invasive species. They’re non native to Sebago. The state stocked them there in the 1970s and now they compete with native landlocked salmon for food – especially smelt. Earlier this month, the fisheries and wildlife department encouraged anglers to keep as many lake trout as they want.”
I understand needing to weed-out smaller fish to help balance things out, but how can there not be a law against flat-out wasting them?!
Why not donate them? Make fertilizer out of ’em?? Something??? Anything???? 🤷♂️
Either way it’s a bad look to be able to legally leave them in piles to rot. Seems like a great way to get the anti-fishers/hunters/outdoorsers to root against all of us…not just the folks up in the wild west northeast.
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What happened to this perch???
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Was sent this pic from TW fan Tom Tolman of a SD jumbotron his buddy’s kiddo caught. Thing looks like it took a 9mm round and just kept on eating:
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2. Pure Fishing owner is now the 2nd-biggest owner of Rapala VMC?
Wait what?! Now that’s interesting:
> …US-based Sycamore [Partners] purchased 7.5 mil shares, which represents 19.23% of total shares and voting rights. The aggregate ownership increased above the 15% threshold on Feb 11…makes Sycamore the 2nd-biggest shareholder in the Rapala VMC group behind Veillard Migeon & Cie., which has 15 mil shares (38.46%).
> Pure Fishing, which was bought by Sycamore from Newell Brands for a reported $1.3 bil in 2019, currently has 19 brands, including household names like Berkley, Abu Garcia, Shakespeare…and is the world’s biggest producer of fishing tackle by volume.
3. ID: Dude caught a 46.5″ (31-lb) gator on Hayden Lake.
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I haven’t been ice skating since I was probably in elementary school, but one look at the background of the pic made me want to for some reason. Oh, and catching that GIANT would be pretty okay too lol. 👊 Congrats on the fish of a lifetime, man!
Btw the ID state record pike is a 51.5″ (40.13-lber) caught outta Lower Twin Lake by Kim Fleming in 2010. #MonstersDoExist
4. WI: 7.6-lb walleye “wins” 14th-annual Battle on Bago.
Sorta…? There was over $275K in cash + prizes up for grabs and Dannen Baillies’ 7.6-lber was the biggest fish caught = won him a new cooler. 🧐 But then I saw that the dude in 150th place won $10,000 CASH with his 2.034-lb walleye so sounds more like a fishing raffle than a fishing tourney.
5. MB: Angler’s Edge Mapping goes mobile.
Cell phones and tablets rejoice!
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> “We’ve got bundles available for our coverage of Lake Winnipeg, the Red River, the Winnipeg River, Lake of the Woods, Buffalo Bay, Lake of the Prairies, Shoal Lake and more!”
Full list of lakes here.
6. Registration now open for the 2021 MN Fishing Challenge.
Happenin’ Jun 5 on Gull Lake:
> “Last year’s teams raised more than $350K [!!!] to support Mn Adult & Teen Challenge’s drug and rehabilitation programs statewide. The cumulative amount generated via this family-friendly tournament since 2009 is more than $2.6 mil!”
And for every $500 your team raises you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a new Lund boat. More info here.
7. CO: Boy’s DQ at Vallecito ice tourney sparks uproar.
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14-yr-old Darron Boling’s 2.68-lb brown trout would’ve put him in 2nd place ($500 prize) but he was disqualified….
Apparently he didn’t have “a valid Pine River Irrigation District Recreation Permit, which is a $5 daily pass to access any recreation areas related to the reservoir.”
Apparently the rules stated that the permit needed to be displayed in competitors’ vehicles. But dude is 14 so obviously can’t drive….
Apparently he “tried to pay the $5 fee when he registered around 6:30am [and] the person conducting registration asked Darron if he drove to the event. Darron said he was 14 and did not drive. The registration attendant said he did not have to pay the fee.”
Apparently his dad dropped him off at the event and “then went fishing elsewhere (not as a tournament competitor) when the teenager registered.”
Apparently it was “determined that there was no recreation permit displayed in that vehicle [that dropped the kiddo off to fish in the derby].”
No matter who’s in the right 👀 it’s a bummer for the kid. Hopefully he goes back next year – tapes the $5 parking permit to his chest – and gets his trout on.
8. MN: Fish-house removal dates always come up too soon.
Feels like we finally got THICK ice, and now it’s time to take those “shacks” off. If you’re south of this line, they’ve gotta be gonzo by Monday, Mar 1:
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North of line = Mar 15. And border waters are all different. If you’re lucky-enough to be up on the MN/CAN border at Lake of the Woods you have until Mar 31.
Side note: You can still get out and fish in your permanent houses after those dates, they just can’t be left unattended.
9. MN: Some aerators now running.
But only if you remembered to buy your 47th package of D-cell batteries this winter.
Okay, okay…that’s actually talking about select MN lakes where the DNR use aerators to prevent winterkills:
> The milder winter has allowed dissolved oxygen levels to remain high enough to support good fish survival rates, allowing many of the aeration systems to remain idle for the first half of winter.
> “There are 260 lakes in MN that are permitted to have aeration systems. In the south region, we have 86 lake aeration systems permitted. Right now 55 of those are operating.”
I see ’em all the time when driving down in southern MN, but was pretty surprised to find there’s a handful of lakes with aerators near me – never knew. Full list of lakes and more info on why here.
10. MI: Shanties gotta be off soon-ish.
As early as sunset on Sunday depending where you’re at in The Wolverine State.
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Where to find last-chance MN walleyes.
Walter season closes after 2/28 here in MN. There’s still plenty of fish in their typical midwinter spots (deep humps and saddles) but have definitely been starting to see the more-active fish up shallower during the 30 min before/after sunrise and sunset. Here’s a few tips from fish-head Parker Butler on how he targets these last-chance walleyes up shallow:
> This point in the season walleye begin to transition to their spring spawning areas. Rocky, hard-bottom flats and runoff or inlet/outlet areas with current are great places to find walleyes this week.
> Look for areas to intersect their daily movements on and off shallow structure or breaks. Keep in mind the typical shallow movement during low-light periods and off the edge during the middle of the day.
> Now is the time you can find walleyes extremely shallow on some lakes (4-6′ is not out of the question) but these late-season white tips only slide shallow for a short period of time with one thing on their mind: food.
> The best way to attack this is to have some set-lines in various depths and work the deeper edge until the fish tell you to go shallow – follow the flags in. Have plenty of holes drilled in shallow before prime time, as it can spook fish and you do not want to miss out on the bite window punching holes.
> Can still catch fish on deep humps or off the breakline in low-light windows – fish move in and stage at different times…but these shallow-water haunts are some areas we focus on this time of year.
> Smaller spoons with a full minnow work great in shallower water. If fish are still hesitant, deadstick with a full minnow. Oftentimes fish will rush in off the graph and crush your bait catching you off guard, so be prepared for a big head-shaker at all times in the shallows.
And if you’re plopping down a wheelhouse for one last weekend getaway: Try setting it on a sandy break-line in say 17-19′. Might not see much during the day there – when you should be outside hole-hopping! – but it’s a great spot to pick up a few fish on rattle-reels throughout the night.
Happens every year that walleyes finally start biting again and then BOOM the season closes. Would love to see some sort of a catch-and-release walleye season in MN one day…instead of completely shutting things down for nearly 3 months a year.
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I’m sorry, but this is waaaay too funny not to share again. 🤣🤣🤣
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Breanne Jada ( @breannejada) has been fooling big Lake Winnipeg #greenbacks with a “gold” WIlliams Wabler Spoon + minnow. Those fish are probably so used to seeing rattlebaits now, that when they get tricked into eating a spoon they get that “bewildered” look in their eyes:
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Another great fish, Breanne! 🔥 And love the shot.
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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 and Ron Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, 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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