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This walleye is my spirit animal….
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Came across this Instagram post by @pro_crush_angling of an outrageously “husky” walleye his buddy Jaron Parenteau snatched outta Last Mountain Lake, SK. Fish measured just 20″ long yet weighed 6 [!!] freakin’ lbs! Ridiculous:
Not sure what he caught it on, but do see a spread of different glide baits laying in the background [chin-scratch emoji]. Though they wouldn’t really do a good job of matching this kind of hatch:
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Tony Roach deadsticks with a dropshot rig.
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Tony says he likes the extra range of motion it gives the minnow, and that dropshots don’t get tangled up on the drop as often…something that happens when using bigger split-shots.
Haven’t personally tried dropshots on ice, but gotta say: I like the idea of always knowing exactly how far the bait is sitting off bottom — without using a flasher or depth bomb — while resetting the line after a fish catch…or miss. 😉
Check the video here:
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So…must not be any fish limits in Siberia??
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That’s not firewood:
Looks like some type of pike? Glad I don’t have to remove all those Y bones!
First thing that came to mind:
That’s sorta how bison were “managed” back in the 1870s…. #TheWildWest
Second thing that came to mind:
I know a handful of lakes in north-central MN that could probably use a cleaning out like that (lol). #Snakes #HammerHandles #ByeByeFavoriteRapala
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Bird makes nest inside a pike’s mouth?!?
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The caption on this Everything Wild post said:
> “A pike jumped out of the water likely chasing prey and got stuck in a branch and died. Now, a bird has made a nest in its mouth. One of the most interesting things I’ve seen.”
Not real sure that’s actually how that freshwater gator wound up limb-locked…but pretty dang cool shot regardless. #CircleOfLife
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How they lift weights in Manitoba…
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That’s @giannibalboa puttin’ in the work on Lake Winnipeg aka “Big Windy.” And this last shot might just be the best inside-the-shack photo I’ve seen yet:
Wowza — keep killin’ it, man!
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News
1. Uncut Angling’s “39 Hours” is back.
If you haven’t heard of “39 Hours” yet (where ya been?!) it’s when you cross competitive fishing, reality TV and a whole bunch of caffeine:
> 4 teams spread over North America are competing to catch the biggest fish of as many different species as they can. 1 point is available for the longest legal fish of any species over 10″.
> The team with the most points at the end of the 39 hours [of fishing] will be awarded $10K donated to a charity of their choice courtesy of Alumacraft Boats.
The loooong anticipated (4 years later!) Season TWO just kicked off Jan 8 — episode 1 and episode 2 are already out — they’ll be dropping a new video each Wed at 7:30pm CST.
Check out the entire Season ONE playlist here if you’re looking to kill a bunch o’ time, all in the name of big fish.
2. MN: Walleye-limit talk headed to the capital.
State lawmakers will be hearing out a proposal to lower the statewide walleye bag limit from 6 to 4.
Write-up also said that “opening state waters to 2-line fishing…is likely to be part of the agenda” too.
8. AR: Game and Fish stocked 338,354 walleye in 2019.
Yup, that’s in a bassin’ state that butts up to OK, TX, LA, MS, TN.
The current AR state-record walleye is a 22 lb 11oz mammoth plucked from Greers Ferry Lake in 1982 by Michael Curtis. It’s of course the 12-lb line-class world record, too. Can’t see that being beat!
9. MN: New Pine River dam comin’ this year.
The current half-century old rock dam has been needing $15-20K worth of patchwork every few years. Now they’ll be putting in a “permanent solution for not only keeping the water in the lake but also allowing fish passage.”
Supposed to open up access to a bunch of good walleye spawning habitat upstream, closer to the Crosslake Dam.
10. Have a look at the new MotorGuide Katana prop.
Vid (click the pic below) says they added a hydrofoil to the blade shape — based on NASA technology:
11. Pelican has new ‘CARGO Cases’ for trucks and SUVs.
12. Now GM’s comin’ out with an electric Hummer?
Move over Tesla…. Rumor has it they’ll be announcing the e-Hum (no idea of the actual name) during the Super Bowl. Will have LeBron James help marketing it, who does a ton of hunting, fishing, and exploring the outdoors…. Lol okay pretty sure he just plays basketball.
I’m completely sold on electric ice augers, but trucks??? Not so much…yet.
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TargetWalleye.com Highlights
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Tip of the Day
Before you get all worked up with that ^ title…he’s talkin’ how he fishes jigging spoons for crappies without live bait. Make more sense now? Lol.
Few snippets from MN fishing guide Nate Berg’s FB post:
> It’s pretty fun to see the lost art of fishing jigging spoons with no bait re-emerge. I’m a pretty big fan of the Clam Pinhead Jigging Mino. They come in some awesome colors and the 1/16-oz is the perfect size for crappies and ‘gills.
> When I was 5, I ‘graduated’ from watching a crappie minnow below a bobber to chasing them with a spoon. Being a 35+ year veteran of this technique there are a few things you can do to increase your catches….
> … use a ‘snap’ to attach your bait to your lure — I personally use No-Knot Fas-Snaps. It’s easier on your fingers changing lures and…allows the spoon to move a little more freely = increases the action…. Allows you to be even tighter with your jigs and get the needed movement out of the hook/flipper without huge movements, so you’re almost finessing a jigging spoon.
> …put a BB-sized split-shot a 12-18″ above your spoon. It will keep you more in direct contact with your lure and keep the spoon from going all over the board…allowing you to finesse the spoon.
> My go-to is 3-lb mono. I’ve used super lines and fluoro, but the fact that they don’t stretch really decreases your hookup rates. With the paper mouths it’s easy to rip the hooks out of their mouths. 3-lb has good stretch and is strong enough to handle bigger fish. 4-lb seems to be a little too stiff for deeper water and with 2-lb I tend to break-off fish on hooksets….
> Don’t get bogged down in one hole. A jigging spoon is a search-and-destroy bait. Catch the active fish and move on. Crappies are spooky by nature so if you pop 2-5 out of a hole, don’t be surprised if your bite slows drastically, despite still having fish under you. Move to a new hole and revisit it in a few minutes. Most of the time the biggest fish are the most active yet the first to spook…so be very mobile and your catches will increase.
> …when you get on a school, start fishing higher in the water column than you ever have. I’ve literally had crappies come up 15′ to hit a bait. The crappie in the photo hit 2′ under the ice and came up out of the school 6′. Crappies are predators — they look up for their food, especially when they’re in basin areas and/or suspended.
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Quote of the Day
“When it’s my time, take me in my fishing boat.”
– That was how 37-yr-old Nathaniel Frey wanted to go out, and his loved ones made it happen. Nathaniel’s funeral was a celebration of his life and passion for fishing:
RIP fishin’ brother and prayers to his wife and kids.
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Today’s ‘Eye Candy
Get you some of that this weekend!
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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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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
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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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