Some local walleye league shenanigans.... 🍿
|
|
|
Our local walleye league randomly draws the lake the night before (so no pre-fishing) and then we have just 3 hours to put together the pieces to a walleye puzzle against a bunch of local hammers. Always my favorite night of the week. It's a chaotic, stress-filled scramble...but such a blast.
The highlight of this particular evening (and a legit eye-opening bite) starts around the 3:03 mark. We had a number of bigger fish turn down our finesse-y jigs and ‘crawlers...so I picked up a Rapala PXR Deep Mavrik 110 and put our kicker fish in the boat on the very first cast. 🤯
The 27.25-incher was suspended just off the weed edge – about 12’ down over 22’ of water – she came flying up and absolutely SMASHED my jerkbait that was just 5-7’ under the surface. Little preview:
|
|
|
Doesn’t that ^ seem like the type of movement you’d expect out of a pike? Most folks had no idea walleye would act that way until we got to see it with our own eyes on FFS. It’s truly incredible just how aggressive they can be...but then the next 20 fish you see are basically dormant lol.
You might think: “If they’re not going to eat a nightcrawler, leech or minnow...they’re not going to eat anything.”
But sometimes it takes some speed to trigger a reaction bite outta fish that otherwise wouldn’t eat. 💥 That’s a big reason why I’m always preaching the importance of rotating thru different baits to see what gets their attention – or not.
This time of year the starting lineup on the front deck of the boat typically consists of (from left to right):
1️⃣ Finesse: 3/16-oz VMC RedLine Series Tungsten Ned Head Jig paired with a pinched-off ‘crawler
2️⃣ Versatile: Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow (perch or electric shad) rigged on a 1/4-oz VMC RedLine Series Tungsten Swimbait Jig,
3️⃣ Reaction: Rapala PXR Deep Mavrik 110 Jerkbait in the always-fishy “metallic yellow perch” of course!
|
|
|
Of course I always keep a #7 Jigging Rap at the ready, too, for those fish that are relating to bottom and need a little reactionary nudge (sorta like the jerkbait does for suspended fish). 😏
Anywho, hope you enjoy the quick-ish new vid!
|
|
Should professional walleye tournaments ban live bait?
|
|
|
It’s something I’ve been saying for years now...for numerous reasons (more on that below). But that’s just my 2¢. 🤷♂️
So let’s hear the opinion from a traveling walleye tournament pro, Corey Heiser, who was recently chatting about this exact subject in a video shared by The Walleye Files with host Brandon Ruffolo:
> The number one thing that I will fight for – and feel like it's an industry thing that we just absolutely have to do – is get rid of live bait.
> To me, it's never been more prevalent to [consider] that since the induction of forward-facing sonar.
> If we want [bait companies’] support in the tour, we have to be catching fish on artificial baits.
> Sorry to every bait shop owner out there...there's a lot of you that are good friends of mine. Until you dump a bunch of money into the professional tours, it's not helping the sport. I'm sorry.
> How many tournaments in the last two years have been won on a jig and a crawler?
> I feel like we're losing the opportunity to innovate and sell tackle until we get rid of live bait [on the professional tour – not fun fishing].
> And I feel like walleye anglers are their own worst enemy as far as trying to push that through. So that's a big deal.
> I don't think guys realize that trolling baits and stuff like that would become more prevalent because there's guys that just don't want to fish with artificials unless they’re crankbaits. Well, now you're bringing trolling back into the fold a lot more exponentially.
> So I feel like that's just a change that's absolutely got to happen.
Boom.
|
|
|
I'd personally love to see walleye tournaments move to NO LIVE BAIT.
It could help to level the playing field for trollers on certain bodies of water, but even more so, it would force the FFS crowd to reeeeallly dial in their program to trick the fish into biting: Cycling thru multiple presentations and nuances versus dunking a jig/nightcrawler or slip-bobber/leech in front of their face.
There's still plenty of times it can still be super difficult to get bit with live bait – even when ‘scoping – but man artificials would only amplify that. It would make it exponentially more challenging for the “scopers” and I really think we could learn a ton by forcing that crowd to figure out the best possible way to trigger a walleye into biting ‘the fake stuff’ by playing with different weights, colors, speed, cadence, profile, etc.
Okay, I’m done...for now. Just had to spew some random thoughts all over the keyboard. And remember:
|
|
|
From everything I have heard 🧐 the best “joiner” knot (connecting your braided mainline to a fluorocarbon leader) for longer leaders is called the FG knot, because it has a super slim, streamlined profile. It’s also one of the strongest ones out there.
BUT the first time you take a crack at one you’ll feel like you need to be a rocket scientist to pull it off lol:
|
|
|
Sounds like most folks will tie-up all their FG knots the night before since they’re much more time consuming, but of course fish incredibly well. Practice makes perf- ...pretty okay. 😅
If you’re like me and have given up on learning to tie the FG knot, then might as well try one more time?
Here’s Duane “Dewey” Hjelm making it look simple:
|
|
|
Btw I’m also stubborn enough that if the FG knot doesn’t click for me on the very first go-around (again) then I’m just not even going to mess with it anymore. I can literally tie a double-uni knot in about 30 seconds...in the wind...with my eyes closed.... I swear it! And until I have that baby fail me on the water – I’m sticking with it!
|
|
How 'bout these greenbacks?! 👀
|
|
|
Now this deal was from back earlier in the season, but I found these guys swimming around here on the Manitoba Greenbacks Facebook group...haha get it? Okay. 🫣
|
|
|
Take it easy, Stanley.
Anyways, feast your eyes on these absolute beauts caught by Benny B and friends out at Hecla Island on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. Tons of BIGS with fish up to 31.5”, and they were definitely putting the green in greenbacks!
|
|
|
Here's how Bobby caught 'em:
> Fishing with Linn Creek Outdoors and Big Sky Jigs, we chased giant fish from a fully rigged 2175 Lund [Pro-V] with dual LiveScopes. The 1-oz Hecla Hammer jigs were absolutely dialed in all trip long.
Guess 1-ouncers aren’t just for bass guys punching mats! 🤣
And if seeing those tanks has you mapping out a Manitoba run before you’ve even finished this sentence – same. 😂 Our friends at Hunt Fish Manitoba can help get the where-to-stay/where-to-go part sorted so you can focus on the important stuff – finding one of those freakshow greenbacks.
|
|
Ever wonder what walleye are eating down there?
|
|
|
My only advice for Dr. Jason Halfen over at the Technological Angler – I LOVE the content but you might wanna move spots because that ball of bait doesn't look too scared of any predators around! 😅
|
|
|
Minn Kota's Jeff Kolodzinski is again doing 24 straight hours of fishing in an attempt to break his own catch record + raise a bunch of funds for charity. Fun and brutal!
Just kicked off at 5pm and runs through 5pm Saturday. Taking place at Camp Dallas in Spring Bay, IL. Goal is to catch 2,500 fish in 24 hours while raising funds and awareness for Camp Dallas.
Stream it here. Donate here. If you get a sec, maybe encourage our fishing brother and brother in Christ – keep him going!
2. MN: Champions Tour walleye event coming to Gull Lake, MN!
The Classic Bass Champions Tour will be running a catch-weigh-release format WALLEYE tournament on Gull Lake (in the Brainerd Lakes Area) on Tues, Sept 22.
This tournament is a catch-weigh-release format where every fish over 2 lbs counts towards the total weight, and all fish are recorded by a boat marshal via their Reel LiveWell App. The top-finishing individual will take home $15K!
The field will be capped at 50 boats. Registration is open right here, and you can snoop thru the walleye rules towards the bottom of this page.
It was super fun following along on their live leaderboard during their first test-run event on Mille Lacs, and gotta say the Classic Bass crew did a killer job of kicking out photos and videos on their FB page throughout the day. 💯 Have even seen them run live cameras in pro’s boats....
Allan Nistler won the inaugural ‘Champions Tour’ walleye derby on Mille Lacs with 70 lbs 9 oz during an extremely stingy bite in heavy winds – huge congrats again, man!
|
|
|
Such a cool format. REALLY hope to see them host many more walleye derbies in the future 🤞 which is exactly why I'm all about supporting this next one any way that I can...including signing up to fish it lol. Can't wait!
3. 2027 MWC schedule is out
With 6 qualifying events leading up to the World Walleye Championship:
- Mar 19-20: Illinois River – Spring Valley, IL
- April 16-17: Lake Erie – Sandusky, OH
- May 21-22: Big Stone Lake – Ortonville, MN
- June 18-19: Bay de Noc – Escanaba, MI
- August 5-6: Lake Oahe – Mobridge, SD
- Sept 17-18: Cass Lake – Cass Lake, MN
- Oct 14-16: The 44th World Walleye Championship, Lake Winnebago – Oshkosh, WI
4. MN: John Barnard wins 'walleye stamp' contest
His oil painting will be featured on next year’s walleye stamp:
|
|
|
In case you didn’t know: Buying a $5 optional walleye stamp helps raise money to supplement the state’s walleye stocking efforts – those dollars flow into a dedicated account for walleye stocking.
> “We sell about 34,000 stamps a year, so it brings in about $165K to $175K a year,” said Shannon Fisher, DNR Fisheries Populations Monitoring and Regulations manager.
> Some walleye populations have struggled with changing lake conditions. Fisher said the popular game fish responds poorly to rising lake temperatures and increasing aquatic invasive species, such as zebra mussels.
> The revenue from the walleye stamps is used to purchase Minnesota-sourced walleye to restock local populations of the fish.
> “We try to maintain a walleye fishery in many of our lakes by introducing either fry, when they’re very small, or fingerlings, when they’re larger, to try to make sure we still have some walleye in lakes that historically had the species....”
5. Inside Minnesota’s biggest walleye tournament 🎥
Great video from Larry Smith Outdoors up at Lake of the Woods for the 11th Annual David A. Andersen Memorial Walleye Shootout.
6. Nick Lindner got himself a B-E-A-Utiful new rig (video)
Here he is walking through his new 2027 Vexus DVX22s paired with a Suzuki DF350. 😮💨 Sheesh!
|
|
|
7. TJ Erickson hopped on Past The Barb podcast
> TJ just left his full time teaching job to pursue being Full Time on YouTube. TJ is one of the best educators on YouTube right now, especially when it comes to walleyes. We learn about his story, what he's excited for on his new venture, and chat about a bunch of other shenanigans.
8. Joe Bricko hopped on Whiskey n' Walleye podcast 🎙️
> Joe has spent more than 20 years competing in walleye tournaments while also building JT Outdoor Products into one of the most respected names in technique-specific fishing rods. As co-founder, owner, and master rod designer, Joe has taken what he’s learned on the water and turned it into rods built specifically for serious anglers, including the Snare Series and JTX lineup.
> He will join Dave to talk about the story behind JT Outdoor Products, designing rods for specific techniques, what tournament fishing has taught him, the evolution of walleye fishing, and plenty more.
9. MI's Four Lakes showing signs of recovery...
...6 years after catastrophic flooding disrupted the system.
10. ME: Lead jigs and jigheads less than 1 oz now banned 😳
New reg effective Sept 1 – said it was to protect loons.
11. IL: Giant federal-state carp project back on
12. ASA appointed Kelly Long as the new Executive VP
> Currently serving as North American Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communications for Rather Outdoors, Long has led initiatives spanning business development partnerships, legal and compliance strategy, governance reporting, intellectual property management, and external affairs. He also oversaw brand management for Martin Reel Company, directing product development, supply chain strategy, national account engagement, pricing negotiations, and commercialization efforts.
13. Sportsman's Warehouse had a flat Q2
Overall, here's the fishing info:
> Sales in the fishing department, which has been a leader for the retailer for the past few quarters, decreased roughly 2% in Q2, but was still up nearly double digits on a 2-year comp stack.
> ...drought conditions negatively impacted the Fishing business in key western states. "...our western stores were down mid-single digits, while our eastern stores were up mid-single digits in the quarter."
|
|
|
Fall is in the air! Here's a little something to pay attention to as those water temps finally drop...
If you’re trying to figure out what the boat next to you is doing differently to be catching so many dang fish...the “sky rats” are always a dead giveaway lol:
|
|
|
Killer shot from my buddy Nick Lindner of a gorgeous 29-incher. Give it a little zoomskie and look at the unique, snowflake-like markings around its eye. 👀 Mother nature, you crazy!
|
|
|
Have a great + safe Labor Day weekend! 🤞 Catch some fish too!!
|
|
|
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.)
|
|
|
FRIENDS OF TARGET WALLEYE
|
|
|
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!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
