Target Walleye/Ice email

Power-bobbering 101, What fish are spitting up, Attack of the Raptor

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Today’s Top 4

Reaction bites with slip-bobbers? Yup!

Sorta sounds like an oxymoron…but power bobbering, speed corking, kerplunking — whatever you wanna call it — is a crazy-good way to put fish in the boat that won’t touch other presentations.

I shot this video with Brad Hawthorne a couple years back on Lake of the Woods, but the info is still spot-on and catching fish right now. Here’s Brad breaking it all down:

 

Btw — I was sitting at home re-watching that ^ video, and got to thinking about how much I hate bobber stops. Always seem to (eventually) slide and end up havin’ to retie the whole rig.

Called Brad to pick his brain on it and see if he had any “fixes”…of course he did lol! Couple things he does…

Quick bobber-stop hacks:

> Brad takes a thumbnail full of Chapstick on his pointer finger and mushes it all up in the knot before he tightens it down…keeps it semi-waterproof.

> Leaves about 1/8″ tag on each side so there’s just enough to re-tighten if need be, but slightly burns the ends with a lighter so they don’t fray. Can use the same stop for a full season.

I was like, “Why didn’t you say something when we were filming?!” He was all like:

Minn Kota outs new “Raptor” shallow-water anchors.

 

The all-new hydraulic Minn Kota Raptor is gonna come in 8′ and 10′ models, with a whole lot of smart going on inside. Couple details about it below, video here:

> Control Raptor from anywhere on your boat at the push of a button — whether it’s the included wireless remote, optional wireless foot switch, your smartphone, your Humminbird fishfinder, or i-Pilot or i-Pilot Link system.

> Select Raptor models feature Active Anchoring, This revolutionary anchoring technology continuously monitors anchoring force and adjusts to keep you pinned to the bottom.

I’m a big Minn Kota Talon guy — spendy stuff, but after having one I honestly can’t imagine running a boat without one. Gonna do some digging on Raptor to see the pros/cons of running one vs the other — keep you posted.

Don’t see that every day….
1. Look at the heart shape on this walleye’s back — caught by @johnschelling. Guess love really is in the air water:

 

2. Had to do a triple-take at this Corey Schwanke post in the Lund Boat Owner’s Facebook group:

> Corey: “Prince William Sound, AK. 150 miles of running over 4 days in an 18′ Lund. Iceberg is from Columbia Glacier. No need to bring ice to keep beer and halibut cool, you just pull up to one of hundreds of ice bergs and chip away.”

Wow…just WOW:

 

3. The “fish flop” is real on Lake of the Woods:

 

4. Loved Jason Mitchell’s caption on this FB post:

> “I’ve seen people with no brains, bucks with no racks, pheasants with no tails…but not sure I’ve ever seen anything like this walleye we caught on Devils Lake.”

Now try not to chuckle at some of these comments under the original post:

> Kind of like the kid in school that had to wear husky pants.

> It’s got “kankles” for walleyes.

> They’re actually very common…seen thousands of them on every fishing trip…people with no brains that is.

Lol!

Ever wonder how…

…walleyes are able to “throw” Rapala Jigging Raps and other hard-bodied jigging baits? This one gave the Wired2Fish crew a first-hand look above water:

 

That’s why it’s so important to keep steady pressure on ’em, and guys like Al Lindner recommend running mono to absorb the shock.

News

1. SD: Father/son duo wins Lake Oahe MWC.

Monte and Josh Olson grinded out 41-09 over 2 days to take home $11,550 in cash + prizes. Congrats fellas!

 

2. If you ice fish…

…you’ve probably got a Buddy Heater sitting in the garage — those things have been an ice-fishing “essential” for going on 20 years.

Now Mr Heater just dropped a few details on their new Buddy FLEX:

> “The 11,000 BTU omni-directional burner provides heat in 180 degrees to maximize output. With integrated propane powered accessory controls and quick connect rail system….

> “Updated design featuring optimized wind barrier and pilot shield for maximum protection when using outdoors. Left and right side accessory doors feature battery compartment and propane accessory quick connect port. Opposite door includes multi-purpose storage for gloves, documents, power cords, or fishing tackle box.”

Also mentioned something in their Facebook post about FLEX accessories, and saw a “heater-to-cooker connection” on their website…definitely has me curious to see what they’ve all got coming out this ice season:

3. MT wants to ban drones for fishing.Good luck ever getting Uncut Angling to visit (lol)….

4. MN: It’s day 1 of the Mille Lacs walleye closure.

So what’s a guy/gal to do? Well, you could:

a) Fish one of MN’s other 11,841 lakes, or
b) Go out and catch the biggest Mille Lacs smallmouth of your life.

My wife, Amanda, chose option B and cracked her new PB smallie to the tune of 6.2 lbs! Caught throwing a Z-Man TRD Crawz on a 1/4-oz VMC Finesse Half Moon Jig. So proud of you — and maybe just a tinyyyy bit jealous:

 

Big shout-out to Mille Lacs guide Brad Hawthorne for putting her on the fish of a lifetime…in the first 5 minutes of the day! Wow.

5. “Gussy” was quarantined for 14 days.

> I was told by the Canada Customs officer at the border that I would have to do a 14-day quarantine at my home because of Covid-19 concerns.

And you thought his fishing tackle/gear was organized before….

6. Suzuki’s rolling out new 115/140 hp outboards.

Says it’s the first in this horsepower class with drive-by-wire throttle and shift.

Same state that didn’t just close public accesses, they banned all recreational fishing statewide….

8. DC: FCC frequency decision might mess ups GPS?

> BoatUS believes that as the Ligado network is rolled out, instances of signal interference will increase. This will give current GPS users no choice but to either purchase new GPS units or potentially suffer continued interference. The loss of a GPS signal at a critical moment is a significant safety concern….

9. Got a new product?

We’re getting ready for Target Walleye’s ICAST “show” of all the new and cool stuff coming to the walleye and ice markets! If you have one but you’re not a Target Walleye sponsor, no problem — we want to hear from you! Please send us a photo, video link, and SHORT description of what it is and why it’s all that, and we MIGHT include it! Just respond to this email with the details, thank you!

Tip of the Day

Pay attention to what’s in your livewell.

Not talkin’ fish but what they’re “spitting up” to get an idea of exactly what they’re feeding on. Great way to dial-in your bait size, profile and the specific color you should be tying on next:

 

Btw — today’s Target Walleye wasn’t meant to be a Special Brad Hawthorne Edition email…but dude’s been kicking out a lot of great stuff. For sure worth a follow.

Quote of the Day

“When you forget to bring silverware but you like to deep crank!”

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

Today’s ‘Eye Candy

Jake Billings (@jthooker.outdoors) is dialed. Dude has a Garmin Panoptix unit rigged on his ‘yak [!] and has been whacking the SD ‘eyes all season long —  throwing 1/4-oz “firetiger” Berkley PowerBait Swim Shads. GREAT shot, man!

Sign up another fish-head!

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Check this stuff out!

Friends of Target Walleye
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-nuts like you! #fishheads
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 
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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