By now, you’re probably sick of all the forward-facing sonar drama on the internet – me too!

But I have a few random thoughts and opinions I wanna spew out there.

Things haven’t gotten nearly as heated over here as they have in the bassin’ world. Which honestly I find kind of funny seeing as (imo) FFS has made a much bigger impact on the walleye side of things, with more and bigger walleyes being caught now than ever.

BUT that’s exactly why I can’t see FFS being banned in any big walleye tournaments...because folks are finally catching ‘em lol. We have probably learned more about walleye movements and behavior in the last couple years than we had in the last couple of decades.

For the most part, walleyes simply don’t “jump in the boat” like some other species. When walleyes don’t want to bite, they don’t want to bite! You can cast at 100 different fish and still not get bit. Honestly those are the days you’d probably be better off going ‘old school’ and playing the numbers game...pulling rigs or cranks past enough fish to get some of the dumb or more aggressive ones to bite lol.

Even with all the technology in the world, there’s still tons of walleye derbies where just bringing in a limit (of any size) gets you at the top of the standings. Imagine if we had livestream walleye tournaments.... Would you watch for the full 8 hours if the winning team only caught 2 walleyes in an entire day? Maybe. But probably only because we don’t have major tournament platforms livestreaming tournament days, and anything is definitely better than NOTHING hahahaha.

So instead of talking about banning FFS, I’m going to throw out a different idea....

I'd personally love to see walleye tournaments move to NO LIVE BAIT 👀 would make it super interesting! It would maybe help to level the playing field for trollers, and 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.

Of course there's still plenty of times it can still be super difficult to get bit with live bait even when scoping, but man artificials only would 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:

For those of you willing to bundle-up and get after the fall walleye bite, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl’s got a whole pile of creek chub pulling tricks – you maybe haven’t seen before – for fishing in the rocks. Very cool! Full write-up and video here, some juicy excerpts below:

> Post-turnover – when dissolved oxygen is more evenly dispersed throughout all depths – walleyes can be literally anywhere. A majority of anglers still target steep breaks, sunken islands, points, etc...but MN guide Brian “Bro” Brosdahl is fond of fishing shallower.

> Bro: “A majority of my fall walleye rigging is done in 10′ and less. Especially around rock, from softball- to Volkswagen-sized boulders to jagged shield rock. On rivers, you’re talking submerged rip rap, wingdams, and other soft-to-hard bottom transitions.”

> The problem rigging around rock – or any kind of hard cover – is getting snagged. Conventional weights like egg sinkers and bottom-bouncers are easily wedged. ...ultimately, the system he arrived at shares some likeness to the multiple split-shot rigs used by steelhead anglers.

> ...run a 3-4′ fluorocarbon snell (8-10 lb) with tiny split-shots placed about 8” apart all the way from a quality ball-bearing swivel down to a Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap hook. In areas with vegetation and rock, he uses the same hook with available weedguard.

> “One split-shot won’t do it, but several will. What you’re doing is turning your fluorocarbon leader into a chunk of leadcore...but a series of small split-shots doesn’t spook walleyes in clear water. In fact, on some waters the sound of multiple split-shots tickling rocks can help attract fish.”

> “The nice thing about the system is even if one gets stuck it either pulls down the line or completely off. So, I always carry a bunch of split-shots, which are cheap. Most of the time you’ll feel them tickling the rocks okay. When you’re in round rocks you don’t typically snag because there aren’t many imperfections. Granite and shield rock are the tough ones...they have cracks that your line can thread or grab. Same around wood. But the split-shots typically work through all of it pretty well.”

> ...perhaps the biggest mistake anglers make rigging live chubs or other big minnows is thinking you need to ride the bottom at all times. “Walleyes will move pretty far off bottom to grab a big minnow. If you’re in 5′, you only need your rig 3-4′ feet down...if you’re in 10′, 5′ down is usually plenty.”

> ...depending on the wind and fish location...Bro will deploy the rig on a controlled drift, a slow troll, or Spot-Lock with his bow into the wind, pitching the rig downwind to pods of fish he locates on his electronics. In the case of pitching, he’ll often go down to a shorter, 2′ snell.

Setting the hook

> ...use the first couple bites to determine the best hook-setting procedure. “If you get a bite and you pull on it and the fish is already hooked, you know they’re eating it. Don’t overfeed the fish. There’s no reason to pull their butthole out the mouth. Most of the time. I’m feeding them line 5-10 seconds. The only exception is if I’m using giant chubs – then I’ll give ’em a bit longer.

> “When I feel a hit I’ll feed line, then I’ll check before I set the hook, pulling the chub a little bit – maybe a couple short pulls so the walleye eats it a bit more. I call this the ‘tease.’ Teasing walleyes a little bit really gets them to commit. Big walleyes are like ‘give me my steak back!’ Even in tournament situations when I watch guys feed fish for minutes, all it takes is a little tease.”

> The exception is rigging during extreme high-pressure situations when the tease can turn some walleyes off. “If they don’t eat after the tease, they’re typically small fish. But bug the big fish and they’ll gobble almost every time, even during post-frontal conditions.”

Bait choice and care

> “Fact is, chubs ain’t cheap – and they can dirty water fast. Proper live bait care makes the most of the investment. I always keep my chubs in fresh water with a bubbler.

> “In tournament situations I’ll also add some G-Juice, which prevents ammonia build up. It also contains electrolytes, which is like Gatorade for bait. When transporting back and forth with well water, I’ll actually feed the chubs small hunks of ‘crawlers to keep ’em full of fighting energy.”

The full write-up has a bunch more info, including how to catch your own creek chubs/redtails and some alternatives if you can’t find any....

Tourney-nut Will Pappenfus figured out the ultimate hack (lol) and said he’s selling them for just $20.99 per dozen. 🤣🤣🤣

In case you don’t have redtails around you, or don’t know much about them...that ^ is actually a sucker minnow that Will is pretending to mock-up. He might wanna add a little dash of red to its cheek too:

Folks legit go bonkers for redtails in the fall, and they can be insanely difficult to find. I’ve heard of people paying $100 for a dozen the night before a fishing tournament. Seriously.

Why creek chubs and redtails? Because they’re hardy minnows that will often swim right along with the boat. There’s times you’ll actually feel them ‘getting excited’ down there the moment before a walleye smacks them.

Sure you can catch the occasional fish on a sucker minnow, but they’re usually too lethargic for this technique and will end up being drug behind the boat (versus lively darting from side to side) and a lot of times when you slow down, or try to hover over fish, sucker minnows will just collapse down to bottom. ☠️

Obviously there’s plenty of other ways to catch those fish too...but it’s tough to compete with creek chubs and redtails when that bite is ON. Spendy critters, but there’s a lot of folks who make a ton of dough in fall tourneys by getting their hands on chubs and babysitting them in make-shift tanks in their garage all fall. Seems like anytime I try to squat on good bait it ends up being a Jigging Rap bite on tourney day anyway 😂 so I guess choose your battles.

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:

Although you can’t believe everything you see.... There are some shysters out there, like Lake Erie guide Ross Robertson 🧙‍♂️ who fashion up a marker buoy using a landfill chicken (seagull decoy) and an old-fashioned “Schooley” ice reel. Said it helps him to catch more fish, and a lot less fishermen – love the #ingenuity:

Just watched this killer new video from TJ Erickson last night 🎯 breaking down exactly where and how he’s targeting big fall walleyes. Super informative – love all the map and sonar examples!

1. MN: “Fishing To End Hunger” charity derby is SATURDAY

On Gull Lake. This derby has BIG-time payouts for around here, and also supports a great cause by raising funds for The Outreach Program of Brainerd Lakes to help this awesome organization fulfill their mission: Feeding Families in Need. 🙌

There’s a 1st-place payday of $15K headed someone’s way! And this year instead of doing the big “Happy Gilmore checks,” they have custom metal art for the winners:

2. 2025 AIM schedules released

But locations and dates could change until all permits are received.

3. SD: Dakota Angler Ice Institute, Nov 8-10

At the Sioux Falls Arena & Convention Center. Awesome show!

Btw James Holst will be on hand Friday evening and Saturday morning to conduct a lithium battery seminar. 🔋

Looks like Brian ‘Bro’ Brosdahl, Matt Johnson, Adam Bartusek + Adam Griffith from the Crappie Chronicles (and more) will all be speaking at the show, too – I'll keep you posted.

4. MN: 2025 Grand Rapids Walleye Shootout, Jun 28

Early-bird registration opens Jan 1.

5. Dylan Nussbaum 🤝 Walleye Nation Creations

That dude will be scary with a WNC Death Jig in his hands!

6. MN: Capra's Sporting Goods being liquidated

7. Pilot program to make borrowing life jackets easier

> The nonprofit BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water and the National Safe Boating Council...have teamed up with boating app provider DECKEE to make it easier to find and borrow child- or adult-sized life jackets for temporary use, such as for a day or weekend, with the goal of increasing life jacket wear and boating safety.

> This pilot program has integrated the BoatUS Foundation’s more than 600 life jacket loaner sites across the nation into the simple-to-use DECKEE app, allowing boaters to find their closest BoatUS Foundation loaner site on a map – highlighted by the BoatUS logo – or be notified when they are near a BoatUS Foundation Life Jacket Loaner location.

8. GSM Outdoors acquires Roboworm

9. OWAA names ‘Excellence In Craft Contest’ winners

OWAA = Outdoor Writers Association of America.

10. Mustad seeks marketing manager for EMEA Region

> Aiming to grow competencies in the European, Middle Eastern, and African markets this member of the organization will be responsible for creating and executing marketing tactics for the sport segment of the business.

> This role is fully remote and the ideal candidate will reside in central Europe or the Mediterranean. Some travel, primarily in the European region, will be required.

11. MN: Divers clean up Mille Lacs trash.

> The results of the 2-week study were surprising, but positive: The team found less trash than they anticipated.

12. Humminbird has rebates on ice units 🥶

Get up to $100 back on ICE HELIX units if you purchase by Dec 31.

13. OH reintroduced lake sturgeon into the Cuyahoga River

14. TX: 71-lb smallmouth buffalo caught in Lady Bird Lake

The new state record was caught by Austin Anderson:

This dude consistently catches big everything! His FB was a super fun scroll.

"...it looks to have eaten his nephew a few hours ago...."

- That’s Ross Robertson talking about a greedy Lake Erie walleye that took down his Rapala Jigging Rap despite already gorging on a hefty hors d'oeuvre:

Great snap of a big waldo that ate a snack-sized Rapala CrushCity ‘The Mayor’ swimbait! 💥

Thanks SO much for reading! 👊 Hope you have a fishy weekend.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026