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I couldn’t take it anymore and finally tried to sneak out to chase some panfish the other day (🙄 our gamefish season is closed for over another month in MN) and couldn’t get back to my ‘honey hole’ because there was still freakin’ ice covering it.
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It’s not like I was up in northern Manitoba…I was just outside the Brainerd, MN city limits – couldn’t believe we still had that much hanging around in different nooks and crannies. About how much we seemed to have all dang winter lol.
Okay that’s enough panfish talk – let’s get into some walleye-fishing goodness! 👊
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How Minnesotans celebrate spring.
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Spring is done a bit differently in MN…. Aside from select border waters, our walleye season is closed until May 11 this year. So unless you want to chase around a bluegill 🙄 you either roadtrip to spend your money in another state, or hit up the Rainy River on the MN/ON border as soon as enough ice gives way to sneak a boat in and before this early catch-and-release season ends on Apr 14:
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Every spring, zillions of walleyes (and sturgeon) make the annual run from Lake of the Woods into the Rainy River to spawn. This can be some of the best fishing all year…both high-number days and a seriously good shot at sticking giants.
Open water has finally made it all the way through Four Mile Bay, the Lighthouse Gap and about 300 yards into the lake = which means there’s nearly 40 miles of public accesses open for business to big boats along the Rainy River…even more if you’ve got a smaller rig.
I’ve heard the water clarity is still very good and that the bite has absolutely been on fire the last few days!!! It’s been killing me that I haven’t made the 4-ish hour trek to partake in the shenanigans! But plenty of folks have…
Walleye pro Will Pappenfus zipped up to knock the dust off before the Lake Erie NWT, and his bud AJ Pappas kicked-off the day with a 31-incher!
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You see that fish’s scar? I love this comment under the original post. 😅
> Dylan Richards: “Might need this to pull the dent out of that one!”
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Sounds like they ended up with multiple fish breaking the magical 30” mark, which is wild for anywhere in the walleye world. Here’s a few other bruisers, including a 10.18-lber in the bottom-left:
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Fish-head Brent Relopez also made the trip up to Rainy River over the weekend and was rewarded with some thick, pre-spawn waldos:
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Brent also said it was like this episode of SpongeBob lol:
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It’s an incredible fishery and worth the hustle-and-bustle! Feel like I’m getting too old to survive a turn-and-burn day trip, but still young enough to give it a try lol. Hoping to sneak up there 1 day before this early catch-and-release season ends on Apr 14 already.
One of these years I’m going to hit the Rainy on MN’s ‘Fishing Opener’ when the river is still chock full ‘o walleyes and the fishing crowd is then spread out across the other 9,999 11,841 places to catch a walleye starting May 11.
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How to use muddy water to your advantage.
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Talking on Lake Erie (and other Great Lakes) which is a little different than how they play in the mud down south:
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This really interesting write-up with Ross Robertson and John Gillman talks how they use dirty water to their advantage to make big water fish much smaller. Full read here, but a few excerpts below:
> This is one time of year that driving around the lake at 30 mph is very productive as we look for the mud transitions. Muddy water becomes like an invisible fence to help anglers eliminate water without ever wetting a line or even coming off plane. Make a big lake small, and a small lake even smaller.
> …this pattern applies to many inland lakes and nearly all of the Great Lakes, but doesn’t apply to…bodies of water that have year-round muddy water. Fish in those types of environments seem to adapt and break typical walleye behavior.
> Fish too clean of water (real blue) and you are likely to not see, mark or catch much. Fish too dirty (cardboard color)…and all you do is make yourself sick with the number of seemingly uncatchable marks on the fish finder. It’s that in-between color that’s the sweet spot. This water is generally a little green under ideal conditions, to a little chalky.
> …look at the big engine’s cavitation plate to determine clarity before setting up. For me it’s a control, the distance never changes and it serves as a way for other anglers to stay on the same page when discussing water clarity in different areas of the lake.
> One key item to be aware of that will drastically alter clarity is bottom composition. …rock reefs are the first to clean up. A loose mud silt bottom takes more time to clear when compared to a hard compacted mud bottom.
> While water clarity is likely the most important factor, temperature is a close second…has as much to do with bait as anything…. I believe that is the biggest reason walleyes are void in the super clean “blue” areas [often a few degrees colder]. No bait = no walleyes…it’s that simple.
> Gillman typically puts his baits in the top half of the water column, if not the top 10’…many of these fish in the spring time are just post-spawn and “recovering” from the stresses it causes. The other factor is lack of productivity…water down there isn’t nearly as clean as layers closer to the surface.
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Speaking of Lake Erie pigs….
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Cap’n Ross Robertson aka Bigwater Fishing recently stuck a 50+ pound bag on 5 fish while trolling Rapala Down Deep Husky Jerks on Lake Erie and said “it was complete chaos for the entire time we were out there!”
Here’s part 1 of them getting it done:
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Has got to make ya wonder if someone could possibly crack the century mark at the Lake Erie NWT coming up Apr 18-19. 👀 Bringing in 10 walleyes for over 100 lbs would be absolutely insane 😳 but also possible…. 🤷♂ Unless the majority of fish are spawned-out.
Case you’re curious how to tell the difference between pre-spawn vs post-spawn walleyes…tourney pro Joe Okada has your back haha:
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I’ve seen some sketchy fishing spots in my day…
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“TSA didn’t like the Garmins, but the BBT gimbals and mysterious black boxes put them over the top.”
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Apparently they did let him fly with it all “after running the black boxes and transducers back through for a second lap.” Hopefully they still work correctly!
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1. WI: Folks pushing for lighting upgrades in Bay of Green Bay…
…after a scary boating incident last month:
> On March 15, a boat was returning to Green Bay Metro Marina when it clipped part of Grassy Island. One person was seriously injured.
I heard that it was a father/daughter, and that the daughter was seriously injured but thank God will be okay. 🙏 Our prayers for continued healing.
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> Jeff Tilkens (owns Smokey’s on the Bay)…is very familiar with the Bay of Green Bay and its shipping channel, and after the incident last month, he said something needs to change.
> “It’s a danger out there. Before Kidney Island used to have a lot of vegetation, a lot of trees, the island was easier to spot. But when you’re going at night, the way the water is, and if it’s a little rough, that rocky structure almost looks like waves.”
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> While there are navigational markers in the bay which help to identify the boating channel, Tilkens believes more needs to be done. He’s pushing to have permanent warning lights installed on the north and south end of the island, making it more visible to boaters – and safer too.
> Tilkens said, “It’s not a matter of the cost. It’s a matter of getting it done because someone else is going to get hurt. You see, our fishery is so good, people from all over the United States come here for our walleyes, and they don’t know the waterways and something really bad could happen out there.”
2. MN: 16th-annual Minnesota Fishing Challenge set for Jun 1.
> The event has raised nearly $5 mil for Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge campuses [drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs to help people find freedom from addiction] across the state. It is now the largest fundraising fishing tournament in North America, and it takes place on the Gull Lake chain of lakes each year.
> Al Lindner, Honorary Host of the event since the beginning, echoes those sentiments, “I’ve been in the fishing industry my entire life…over the years I’ve been involved in many programs that have had a positive impact on people’s lives,” he says. The Minnesota Fishing Challenge is at the top of the list. I want to encourage you to come join us at this year’s event, I promise you will never be the same, God has truly blessed this event and everyone involved. I sure hope to see you there.”
Shout-out to all the folks raising $$$ for such a great cause! Which btw I saw that Premier Pontoons graciously threw $5,000 into the pot – SUPER amazing of those folks!
There’s still time to donate to a team…. One team I’d specifically like to call out is Target Walleye’s own Chris Philen:
> Chris: “I am sharing how the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge program helped save my life. It wasn’t a magic wand, new technology, or anything medical. They simply put me on the path to Jesus. Jesus is real and is the ONLY way to true freedom! Please help Al and me support this amazing ministry.”
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More info here on their technologies, including the magical eVent which is the first rain suit technology I’ve ever heard of where frequent washing makes it better – good news if you catch a lot of fish lol!
> Engineered with billions of microscopic pores that work instantly to vent sweat from the inside while keeping larger molecules out, our Direct Venting membrane delivers 100% protection in even the nastiest conditions.
> Unlike other technologies, it doesn’t need to get wet to work. It’s a one-of-a-kind “dry system” made to keep you comfortable in the widest range of temperatures and conditions imaginable. So you can leave the wet, clammy feeling out of your rainsuit and in the only place it belongs – your overflowing livewell.
7. MN: Nice read on 4 Brainerd-area fishing guides.
Royal Karels, Mandy Uhrich, Nate Blasing and John Stolski. The write-up has some great background info on what lit their fishing fires, how they broke into the biz, and what they’re up to today.
8. No more dock rash for this dude. 💡
This idea seems even better on a low-water year:
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Finding the ‘biters’ is a big part of catching fish.
Quick (but valuable) tip from Bob Jensen talking how finding the fish isn’t always enough – you’ve got to find the fish that are actually willing to bite:
> “Some sonar work might reveal a bunch of walleyes hovering off the edge of a deep-water structure, and just a few walleyes on the top of that same structure. While it’s tempting to work the big school of fish that are on the edge, it might be more productive to work the smaller group that’s on top of the structure.
> “Walleyes that are shallow or on top of a structure are often looking for something to eat. Walleyes that are near structure but that have pulled off to the side of the structure are fish that have probably recently eaten and are now just hanging around. They probably aren’t very interested in eating. When they do get ready to eat, they’ll swim back to the structure and find a meal.”
Have noticed this more and more the last few seasons, on multiple different lakes and completely different conditions.
One example: Going back to a few springs ago when Nick Miltimore put ALL of our fish in the boat during Walleye Alliance’s Spring Walleye Classic on Gull Lake.
I was repeatedly casting (over and over and over again!) at a school of fish that was sitting in about 10′ right on the lip where a sand flat breaks off into deep water. Occasionally I would get 1 to bite, but they would either pop off half way back to the boat or short-nip the back half of my bait. Clearly they weren’t committing.
Soooo what’s professional jig-pitcher 😏 Nick do? He’s straight-up hawking the graph…glued to the Side Imaging. Every time he’d see a shadow come across the screen out to the left of the boat (up shallow in probably just 5-6′ sand) he’d fire a cast in there and BOOM = it’s on. Those fish were in a completely different mood. They engulfed the bait. And literally coughed up small perch and shiners the whole way in. Those shallower fish were probably just 70-100′ away from the huge school I was non-stop pitching at, but it made all the difference.
One of those days that I just can’t shake, but still has me trying to be better at making real-time adjustments on the water and NOT always fishing memories…whether those memories are from 4 yrs ago or maybe even just a couple hours prior. I needed this reminder and maybe you do too…. 😎
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Little something to keep in mind if you’re boat shopping this spring:
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What’s cooler: This sauger’s camo pattern or the fact that it’s a real-life unicorn? Awesome catch from walleye pro @isaaclakichfishing:
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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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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!
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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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