If you’re lucky enough to be up at the Rainy River for this last weekend of the early season – I’m jealous! But also pumped for you lol. I was fortunate enough to sneak in a quick ‘day trip’ mid-week and holy smokes is that system on fire. 🔥

More on that coming… 👊 Let’s go!

I came across this post from Lydia Doerr (a research technician at the MI DNR) who said they netted (and released) this “one in a million walleye” in northern Green Bay on Wednesday.

Lydia also said under the original post:

> “That walleye had a genetic mutation that affects the pigment of the lighter colored skin cell.”

Here’s one more unedited picture of that outstanding creature:

I’ve only ever seen – or been sent – a small handful of “golden walleyes” EVER after yeeeeaaaars of scouring the interwebz. I plopped every single one of them in this quick TargetWalleye.com post:

When its belly ‘dun laps’ over its belt! 🤯

That outrageous specimen went 30” long with a 22” girth [!!!] and was caught earlier this week by Mike Moechnig on Pool 4 of the Mississippi River while fishing with Muddy Waters Guide Service. They said she smoked a 1/2-oz Do-It Molds blade bait (nickel plated) and was released to get even more bigger-er. 🙌

Can you even imagine?! Because I can’t 😳 sheeeeesh.

I was snooping thru the post and found a little more insight in the comments section:

> Comment by Kenny Fleming: “Kudo’s to guide Josh! He’s no joke! Dude puts people on big fish and targets them. When everyone is catching eaters in the channel this cat is pummeling the shorelines like a fricken otter! Watched him whack a pair of monsters in front of me with clients one day. I felt like a cheerleader.”

> Reply from Muddy Waters Guide Service: “If you want big fish you have to sacrifice bites and not focus on filling the freezer. But we could limit out each day most of the time looking for big fish anyway. Not only big fish live in shallow water. 😉”

Can’t be afraid to lose some baits – give that snaggy, shallow water a try!

This was my first time seeing this awesome throwback FB post from Nitti’s Hunters Point Resort on Mille Lacs – some of these eggs are probably fat, healthy, mid-20” right now!

If the post had been from this April there would probably be caution tape around it. 💀😂

…that after fishing for 12 hours straight on the Rainy River, my Amped Outdoors trolling motor batteries (two 36V 50Ah LiFePO4 batteries in parallel) still had 92% and 86% juice left in ‘em! 🤯

Yeah I know this year is about as little of current as you’ll ever see on the river, but the trolling motor was still working ALL dang day. I’m legit blown away by the performance. They also shaved over 140 pounds off my rig and freed up the third battery slot – seriously amazing.

Yeah, they’re spendy…but the prices have come down. It’s now $1,999.99 for the pair and that includes the Amped Outdoors 36v 10A on board waterproof charger. And a 10-yr warranty!

Running Amped Outdoors lithiums is by far the best upgrade I have ever done to any boat. 💯

1. OH: Lake Erie NWT coming up Apr 18-19.

Here’s what the defending AOY champ John Hoyer’s thoughts on it:

> “As the giant year classes have grown up, we will be looking for those 27-inchers that will weigh anywhere from 7 to 8.5 lbs…if an angler can find the pre-spawners that will likely yield bigger weights and a lot of success at the scales.

> “The tourney will be won trolling crankbaits and basically anything big is in play…. I plan on bringing my entire arsenal this trip. This tournament will really come down finding the right fish in practice. There will only be a percentage of pre-spawners left in the system come tourney time, these will be the fish that separate the top ten from the rest of the field.”

2. WI: Walleyes in Green Bay ‘tribs’ getting clobbered by poachers.

> “The WI DNR and Conservation Congress may soon hear calls from fishermen to either close Green Bay tributaries to fishing during the spawning run, or allow only catch-and-release fishing during that time. That’s because law-abiding anglers are sick and tired of watching a growing number of river raiders breaking bag limit, snagging, and night fishing laws with impunity as they run to their vehicles with arms full of big walleyes.”

3. WI: Study says early ice-off hurts walleye spawn success.

4. Another WI study says walleyes can get coronavirus.

5. WI: Minocqua Chain could resume walleye harvest 1 yr early.

> The WI DNR is considering an emergency rule to allow walleye harvest on the Minocqua Chain this year. …has been catch and release only for nearly a decade and was meant to re-open to harvest in 2025.

> The Lac du Flambeau Tribe has declared its intent to harvest during the spear fishing season this spring…. If that harvest occurs, the DNR wants to open the chain to the public for walleye harvest a year early. …will promote fair and equitable use of the walleye resource during the 2024 fishing season.”

6. MN: Lake Vermilion walleye population on the rise. 📈

7. MN: Mille Lacs walleye catch rates off the chart this winter…

…even taking into consideration that the angling hours was possibly the lowest all time in history on the big lake (due to poor ice conditions most of the winter).

> Mille Lacs Lake Area Assistant Fisheries Supervisor John Kempe said of the winter catch at the fisheries advisory meeting in Feb. “The catch rate is through the roof from anything we’ve ever seen before” and added “the fishing has just been phenomenal and people are taking advantage of harvesting fish.”

> According to the DNR [from Dec 9 thru Feb. 25] there were 289,737 angling hours, down significantly from 1,226,681 the previous year. The harvest during that time frame was of 3,277 fish (88.4 angling hours per keeper) for a total of 11,372 lbs and an average weight of 3.5 lbs. The hooking mortality (fish that die after release) totaled 93 fish for a weight of 192 lbs and an average of 2.1 lbs per fish.

> For that period last year there were a total of 1,070 fish (1,146 angling hours per keeper) harvested for a weight of 3,979 lbs and averaged 3.7 lbs. The slot size was the same. The post mortality was 59 fish that weighed 55 lbs and averaged just 0.9 lbs each.

> With that said, that is 11,564 lbs toward the new allocation of 91,550 lbs for state anglers. The total for this time frame last year was 4,034 lbs. This shows how fast the bite was this past winter with almost triple the take as last season – and only 24% of the angling hours.

8. Cheating walleye fishermen featured on TV show…

…called True Crime: Smugshot.

> Adding insult to injury, these individuals have now found themselves in the spotlight once again as stars of a documentary-style TV show called “Smugshot.” You can find the documentary on Sundance Now through Amazon Prime….

> It is interesting to watch and learn new things about these guys from other tournament anglers’ perspectives after all this time, and the show definitely doesn’t make you like the duo at all.

9. MI DNR developing walleye, yellow perch plan for Saginaw Bay.

They’re seeking public input – have until Jun 1 to submit written comments.

10. Mark Weeks now COO at Outdoor America.

Internal promotion after serving as Outdoor America’s Senior Vice President of Business Development.

11. In-Fisherman started a weekly podcast.

> “But why do a podcast in a world of too many podcasts? Because we have a treasure chest of archived tv shows and radio shows going all the way back to the early 80s and beyond.”

12. Vexilars NEVER go on sale…

…until now! Saw ‘em post an end of season sale on their FB page after this “unusual winter” and they have several models ranging from 35% to 39% off for a limited time only.

It’s hard to think about buying ice-fishing gear this time of year…but man if there’s ever a time to get a good deal on some big ticket ice-fishing items (electronics, hub houses, ice suits, etc) it’s now. And a great way to help support the companies that cater to us crazy ice-heads.

Jason Mitchell’s 6 must-know spring river walleye tips.

River systems offer some of the earliest walleye fishing opportunities across the Midwest each spring, so here’s some golden nuggets from Jason Mitchell’s full Virtual Angling write-up, quickie “Table of Contents” below:

1. Avoid muddy water
2. Try backwater
3. Use heavier jigs
4. Use oversized plastics
5. Hang jigs
6. Avoid debris

Some solid quick-hitters in Jason’s 5-ish minute read.

Take a deep breath…most walleye seasons will finally open back up within a month-ish 😮‍💨!

Cheers to the weekend! 🙌 Courtesy of a quick day trip to the Rainy River just outside of Baudette, MN.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026