1. TN: Teen saved dude who swam to his bass boat.
Really incredible story on how 18-yr-old Braylon Beason leaped into 50°F water to save a guy. Guess the guy’s boat had drifted away from the dock…tried to swim out to get it, but was too exhausted to get in it.
2. Lake Erie study shows walleye hugging shore.
Interesting study on the changing movements/migrations of some Lake Erie fish that might change where and how you fish ’em.
> “These fish? They shouldn’t be here. We thought they were there, but couldn’t prove it.
> “Of the walleye that spawn here in the eastern basin, 27% stay here. They’re permanent residents, never moving far.
> “You’ve driven over tons of [walleye] getting to the fish that you wanted to catch….”
> Conventional wisdom says when the water warms up, fish deeper. Late-summer anglers follow walleye to 70′, 90′ and deeper. But PA’s near-shore residents never go there.
> “The best place to start is where the thermocline hits the bottom. That’s where the most food will be. Turn up the gain on your depthfinder. It will show the thermocline density. That’s where the forage fish will be. The walleye will follow.”
3. OH: Authorities patrol Maumee River to enforce social distancing.
Hard to imagine folks fishing any closer than this as it is — sheesh:
4. MN: Lake Vermilion walleye population still up.
And the DNR expects the cancellation of fish egg collection operations across the state to have “little to no impact on Vermilion walleye fishing or the success of walleye reproduction.
> “We have a higher level of 19-26″ spawners…than we’ve had for 20 years. There’s enough walleye to create a great spawn.”
5. Merc gets “Energy Efficiency Excellence Award.”
Props! You’d never expect it when ya hear one of those new Pro XS fire up lol. Gives me chills — in a reeeeally good way — every time.
6. This dude found Nemo…
Or I guess “purple Nemo” that is…. A custom-painted Phantom Boogey BG-13 perfected by Matthew Fairbank of @verticaljigs:
Matt’s a straight-up walleye artist, and his Instagram page is for sure worth a loooong scroll — I’ll apologize to your bank account in advance:
7. WI: National Team Championship rescheduled to Sept.
8. VT seeing “unprecedented” rise in license sales.
45% jump in license sales compared to last year at this time. My guess is folks are “social distancing” by about the length of a fishing rod.
Said they’ve noticed surges in fishing licence sales during economic downturns in the past, “such as the stock market crash of 1987 or the Great Recession of the late 2000s….”
9. MN: Gov approves resorts to reopen…
…long as they “operate with sanitary and social distancing practices in place.”
But fishing guides, charters and launches are still shut down. Really feelin’ for guides…super tough just not knowing in a biz where you’ve gotta book/plan months in advance.
10. Yetti’s got a 24′ fish house now.
Go big or go home, and Yetti’s not going home! Sleeps 7-9 peoples:
11. IA: COVID messed-up the 38th annual Walleye Weekend.
Main portion’s been cancelled, but the IA Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce set up an “Extended Contest” that’ll run from May 4 – Aug 31:
> “10 tagged walleye will be released into the chain of the IA Great Lakes. The first 3 tagged walleye caught during this contest will receive a percentage of the entry fees. The fisherman who catches the first tagged walleye will receive 20%, the 2nd will receive 15% and the 3rd will receive 10%.”
12. How dry is Seth Feider’s sense of humor?
It fills up an entire large Simms Dry Creek Duffel Bag:
Lol kiddin’ man…sorta…. Now someone zip that thing up before Seth drinks MN dry of Mtn Dew.
13. ON: Dryden Walleye Masters cancelled.
14. WI DNR’s looking for conservation officers.
Good of time as any for a career change.
15. Some new Shiver Minnow colors comin’.
Moonshine Lures dropped 5 new holographic colors and 2 new glow colors in their Shiver Minnows. Here’s “Kemos kraw” (left) and “melon shad” (right):
Will let you know when I see ’em on FishUSA.
16. Several factors in record-high Erie levels.
> “If you’ve got high levels of precipitation and runoff, and those levels exceed the amount of water leaving by evaporation, then you’re going to see an increase in water level. Right now, water levels are at a record high, as we’re coming off of last spring’s record-high precipitation levels and really high runoff. That was related to the same precipitation events that caused all the flooding through the Midwest last year. That added just a ton of freshwater to the system, way more than was leaving from the evaporation.”
17. Chip Leer’s got a new fishing podcast.
Called the Wildside Podcast, and episode #1 with John “Only Catches Bigguns” Hoyer is out now:
18. AR: Tagged crappie “wandered” 32 miles.
Why they — and other fish — are here today, gone tomorrow. Guess I’ve wandered pretty far out of my way for food too.
