Brett McComas

New walleye/ice fishing stuff from ICAST!

Just crawled in the door from ICAST — the fishing biz trade show — where we got a look at all the new feeshin’ gear for 2018. It’s a bass-heavy event, but lots more walleye and ice-fishing stuff there this year.

This will be the only Target Walleye this week, but it’s packed with stuff you won’t see anywhere else! Here’s some of the cool new gear that caught our eye, from Target Walleye/Ice sponsors and others. Enjoy!

MarCum

Lithium Shuttle

Starting off with one that really caught our attention — a lightweight, fully decked-out “shuttle” for your ice flasher/sonar. Lookit this work of art [heart-eyes emoji]:

Few specs for you ice-heads:

> Has a 12Ah lithium-ion battery that can extend a unit’s run time by up to 40 hours [!] and we believe trims about 3 lbs off.

> LED lighting to charge glow lures and see your hole without a headlamp.

> Built-in USB power ports to charge your cell phone, camera, or other stuff.

> Two “1/4 – 20 ports” for mounting additional accessories like RAM mounts for a GPS, cell phone and whatnot.

> Also has a couple of rod holders, fits into a 5-gallon bucket and too much other stuff to list here.

Designed for the new MarCum M-Series, LX-6 and LX-7 sonar systems, but word is it may work with other head units as well.

Rapala

A fast-ripping, hard-stopping finesse jerkbait you’ll wanna see underwater. Had the chance to chat with Tony Roach about it and found out he stuck an 8-lber with it on his third cast…and almost lost it to a dogfish the cast before that lol.

Guess that hard-plastic boot tail is like putting a brake pedal on a jerkbait…supposed to stop like it hit a wall and is super easy to fish.

Don’t be afraid to fish it straight in like a swimbait either…. Jimmy Lindner said the tail seems to soften up the back-end movement, and that it looks great swimming back to the boat. Can’t wait to take one out for a rip.

Here’s one for you walleye-nuts fishing in clear water: Now you can get the Scatter Rap lip on a Glass Shad, which picks up the color of its surroundings and bounces it back in an iridescent glow.

They dive 10-14′ and of course have that nasty-good erratic action to help trigger bites. Al approved:

5 new colors coming out in the always-fishy Rapala Shad Dancer (dives 7-10′). In front there is pink chrome, and they’re also adding purple chrome, redfire crawdad, pink tiger UV and green tiger UV.

Couple new colors coming the Slab Rap’s way including: purple clown and the must-have perch. Here’s an actual pic of Joel Nelson and Brad Hawthorne fighting over the prototypes last year:

It’s tough to make fishing tools look cool, but Rapala nailed it with their new Mag Spring Pliers. Holding a set feels almost as good as holding a 27″ walleye…almost lol.

Bonus New Colors

Rapala also added a bunch of new colors in the: Jointed Deep Husky Jerk, Husky Jerk, Down Deep Husky Jerk, Ultra Light Rippin’ Rap and the Rippin’ Rap. Way too many to show you here, just click the name of the bait and it’ll bring you right to ’em.

More new stuff

1. LIVETARGET

Swimbait Series

Got soft swimbaits? Here’s a handful (teehee) from LIVETARGET that caught our eye. Top to bottom: Sunfish, Sucker, Yellow Perch and Common Shiner:

That 4″ Common Shiner looks and feels like it’s asking for “overs.” Plus it’s cheaper than buying/losing/killing a dozen live shiners. Check the tail action:

2. Custom Jigs & Spins

Rattling Rotating Power Minnow

Custom Jigs & Spins dropped a new, rattling version of the Rotating Power Minnow. Has a built-in, BB-filled rattle chamber in the tail that gives off a subtle click on the sweep. What do you think about those 5 new colors?

3. Northland Fishing Tackle

Glo-Shot Spoon

It’s completely normal to daydream about ice fishing while it’s 90 degrees…right? Check the new Glo-Shot Spoon from Northland Fishing Tackle:

Comes with replaceable light sticks (red, green or chartreuse) that keep that puppy glowing for 8-ish hours. Always been a sucker for Wonderbread:

Butterfly Blades

Polycarbonate spinner blades? Yup! ‘Cuz they’re super light and will spin at speeds down to 0.25 mph. Comes in 3 styles: single hook, Super Death, crawler harness:

Also a great option in the weeds because they don’t crash to the bottom like traditional blades:

4. Lunkerhunt

Leech

Lunkerhunt has got some awesome looking soft-plastic leeches coming out sometime (hopefully) soonish. They’ve got a neutral buoyancy that’s tough to describe in words, but this short vid lets you see for yourself.

Don’t know many more details yet, but we’ll keep you posted.

5. Okuma

Epixor XT

The purrrrtty new Okuma Epixor XT has “torsion control armor” that helps reduce line twist, and a slower oscillation system that helps to evenly lay the line on the spool (especially lighter braids). Which in English means less this:

Felt like it should cost a bunch more than the MSRP of $69.99. Should be out this fall.

6. Onyx Outdoor Gear

A/M-24 Inflatable Life Jacket

Really diggin’ this new color in the Onyx A/M-24 inflatable life jacket. Might not be flashy enough for those bass guys though (lol), but it’s also still available in blue/black and pink/black.

Same model PFD that guys like Al Lindner and Jason Mitchell run. Love that life-savers are becoming cool:

STR Rain Jacket

Also a new ladies STR Rain Jacket that’s #notpink

7. Bay Rat Lures

Long Extra Deep Divers

Drool alert. Bay Rat Lures are hand-painted and 100% made in the USA…every part down to the packaging. It all goes down on the shores of Lake Erie:

That’s just a few new colors of a zillion tasty options. FishUSA has a pile of ’em in stock here, including some custom colors you can’t get anywhere else….

8. Aqua-Vu

Micro 5.0 Revolution

Aqua-Vu’s got a gorgeous new underwater camera called the Micro 5.0 Revolution that’s got a smartphone-like screen, digital temperature, direction, zoom, magnetic power plugs and the “Pro” model adds DVR for recording. LOVE that cable-management system:

Available this fall but you can pre-order ’em now.

9. Yo-Zuri

3DR Series

There’s a purtty new 3DR (Real) Series of Jerkbaits, Long Bills and Minnows coming out this winter with an “internal 3D prism” that’s supposed to be killer on heavily-pressured fish or super-clear water. Might feel bad getting teeth marks on those gaw-jus patterns though….

Crystal Minnow Walleye Deep Diver

By now you’ve seen/used the Crystal Minnow Walleye Deep Divers from Yo-Zuri, but what you probably didn’t know it that they’re adding a bigger 5.25″ size that’ll dive 15-20′. #Money

10. Moonshine Lures

Super Glow Harness Blades

14 new colors painted with Moonshine’s super-secret “special glow.” Here’s 5 of ’em that caught our eye. On FishUSA right here.

11. BaitCloud

BaitCloud InLine

New BaitCloud InLine lets you feed line straight through the fish-attracting ball, so you can get creative by: suspending it, pegging it down in current/waves, cast it around on a separate rod, rig it on your line above your bait, [insert creative idea here].

Sounds like this makes BaitCloud technically legal to use in a few more states that require the attractant be “inline with your offering.” Check your local regs!

Even more new stuff

1. Berkley

Snap Jig

A winged jighead with a gliding/darting action. Allows you to swap out the body with your favorite plastics to quickly change the color, action and profile:

Walleye pro Korey Sprengel likes matching it with a 3″ Pro Twitchtail Minnow or 3″ Pro Jig Worm. Check it:

Available this September, just in time for the early-fall bite

2. Vexilar

FLX-12 and FLX-20

Vex added a couple new models to their FLX series of flashers after the sucess of their FLX-28. Here’s Tommy Z with a sneaky peek for ya:

3. YOLOTek

PowerStick

If you still haven’t seen/gotten a YOLOTek PowerStick to video all your missed hooksets and dropped fish, do it! Mounts right in your nav light port and keeps your camera fully charged.

4. MinnKota

15-foot Talon

Meet the medium-water anchor, formally known as a shallow-water anchor lol:

The new Talon will pin you down in 15′ [!], which would be about perfect for the cabbage walleye bite that seems to last all season long.

Added bluetooth to work with: the upgraded remote, new Talon phone app, allows you to do software updates, and link to some Humminbird units. Bonus LED light on the top cap for after-dark missions. Available this October. #TalonDown

5. DuraSafe

Keyed-Alike Locks

Marine security products such as: RAM Mount locks, trolling motor locks, receiver locks, coupler locks, a universal spare tire lock, locks for your locks locks (lol). All can be keyed the same so you don’t have to fish with this in your pocket:

6. Gruv Fishing

Hard Bait Box

Uses silicone anchors to hold your baits in place — no tangled or chipped paint. Could be an awesome option for storing Jigging Raps:

I (Brett) played around with a Micro Jig Box prototype last winter and really liked it. More info coming….

Maybe win ya some new stuff!

Have a shot at winning the NEW Northland Tackle Glo-Shot Spoons, which aren’t even for sale yet! Plus a massive, glowing replica signed by Gary Roach, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl, Gussy, Chip Leer and Duane Peterson!! Just click here to enter. Good luck!

Who is Target Walleye/Ice?
Target Walleye/Ice — 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 nuts like you! #fishheads
Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye/Ice. 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 quit sports in high school because they were interfering with his fishing time. Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com

To send us walleye pics, ice shots or whatever, just respond to this email or click here to email us. Or post it on the Target Walleye Facebook page.

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