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Reminder: If your email program cuts off the bottom of this email, click “View this email in your browser” up top to see the whole thing. Sorry about that – email programs keep changing stuff.
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Egg-baskets of the week! 😳
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1. Sure doesn’t feel like spring yet, but Easter is here…and you have got to check out this ‘egg-basket’ that Brian Larsen caught while fishing with Muddy Waters Guide Service on the Mississippi River. She went 29″ long x WOW” girth – looks ready to pop!
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Released so she could go drop the kids off at daycare. 👊♻️
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2. Big baits for big fish? Sometimes! David Dykowski’s longest walleye of the season was a 32.25″ long x 18″ girth behemoth he caught while soaking an 8″ sucker minnow [!!!] in about 8′ of water. He said he targets pike (U.P. of Michigan) but “giant walleyes are the by-catch.” 😮💨 What a flawless specimen!
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I’ve had a number of folks recommend…
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…that I check out Ed The Diver on YouTube, and it did NOT disappoint! I cannot believe I haven’t come across his stuff before.
He scuba dives in popular WI fishing spots (Fox River, Menominee River, etc) and strikes gold scooping up snagged baits lol. Of course he also picks up trash and overall leaves the water better than 1,000 of us combined ever could – which is equally as amazing.
I’ll get you started with one of his videos from the Fox River if you want a taste:
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I also just followed him over on Instagram and one of the first short vids I watched, he was showing what he all got after just a 1 hour dive…would have been $864.24 retail for the loot if bought new LOL. Including 50 Rippin’ Raps among other schtuff! 🤣🤯 Click the pic below if you wanna snoop his page: |
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I cannot wait to binge creep more of his stuff. 😅🍿
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How our lakes are changing. 👀
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This super interesting Eric Morken write-up in the Echo Press is from last spring, but it’s loaded with a ton of great info in a Q&A format with a MN DNR area fisheries supervisor. Definitely recommend you get the full scoop here, but I dropped a few excerpts below:
A little background info on who the info is coming from:
> Alex Letvin got an environmental science degree with a specialization in fisheries from the U of MI before going to SDSU to earn a fisheries science master’s degree. He’s now the Glenwood Area Fisheries Supervisor for the MN DNR.
First what stands out to him at a broad level in MN:
> Alex: “(The lakes) are changing. They’re going through a transition process. That’s not something specific to the Glenwood area. It’s happening across MN and the upper Midwest, but we really are noticing it here. Some people are welcoming those changes, and other people are kind of dreading them.
> “What you’re fishing for might be changing. Lakes that have historically in this area been ‘walleye factories,’ some of them just appear to be losing their ability to support walleye and are really becoming clearer, more vegetated, more dominated by bass and whatnot.
> “Pike overabundance is really becoming a problem in a lot of our lakes and how we’re going to manage that. Lakes are becoming warmer and clearer in general, more dominated by vegetation.”
Now talking zeebz:
> Alex: “With the expansion of zebra mussels, that’s kind of the big thing that we believe has been essentially hurting the walleye populations. They’ve been clearing up the water. They’ve been reducing the amount of chlorophyll in the water. Chlorophyll is kind of the basis of the food chain in these lakes. Zooplankton feed on the chlorophyll, which is essentially phytoplankton.”
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Just kidding 🤣 I dig this stuff and it’s important. Back to it:
> “If you lose that food source at the base of the food web, you have this effect that goes throughout the food web that you can’t necessarily support the fisheries you used to. With the expansion of zebra mussels, we have been seeing a decline in some of these lakes.
> “It’s really too early to say this, but Chris Uphoff, one of the specialists who works in our office, he’s been looking at some data, and it looks like we might be getting over the hump in that we’re kind of getting passed the initial phase of zebra mussel invasion.
> “It does seem like chlorophyll levels are starting to increase on some of these lakes. With the increased chlorophyll, we have been seeing some increases in juvenile walleye abundances. We’re hoping we’re actually reaching a turning point, and it has been shown that lakes that get invaded by zebra mussels, for the first 7-10 years or so, the water clarity goes up and up and the zebra mussels expand, expand, expand. And at a certain point, it seems like they reach a carrying capacity and their numbers start to decrease.”
Another great Q that Eric Morken asked, and something I’ve always wondered:
> Eric: “With your standard lake surveys, I know nets are placed in the same locations within a lake when they are sampled so you can see trends in fish populations over many years. With the changes to many of the lakes – clearer water maybe leading to fish avoiding nets better, changing habitats potentially driving fish deeper – do you worry you are not getting an accurate picture of the populations due to some of those changes?”
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Sorry (again) I had to lol.
> Alex: “That’s a fair question. I would say that if we didn’t trap fish at varying depths, I’d be more worried about it. In our standard lake surveys, we have two kinds of nets that we use. Trap nets which are set in shallower water, but they can go out pretty deep. Then we also set gill nets in deeper water too. If fish are moving deeper, we may see fewer of them in the trap nets, but then we’d be seeing more of them in the gill nets.
> “And our nets, we do set them in the same locations every year, but they’re set all around the lakes. One location might be a net that is in an area that historically did not see a lot of fish, but we still would set the net there every year. Now if fish are moving to different parts of the basin, maybe those nets are actually getting more fish in them now. We space the nets out across the basin, so I feel like spatially we are covering a pretty representative part of the basin. I don’t really believe that fish are going so deep that they’re evading our nets completely. It is a valid concern, but I do still feel our methods are accurately sampling the fish populations.”
Fascinating stuff! And there’s a whole bunch more in the full Q&A, including: Bait fish populations, panfish growth, some key things Alex would like to see get done in the next couple of years, changing vegetation and the bassin’ explosion:
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Okay, okay, I’m done. Promise no more Billy Madison…for today…. Hahaha!
Keep reading Eric Morken’s full write-up here. 🔥 Thx much, fellas!
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Things you wouldn’t expect to see on the Rainy River….
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Ironically both of those posts were shared on April Fools Day…so I instantly wrote them off and barely slowed my scroll – but apparently they were legit!
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Dylan Nussbaum’s new “bassy” walleye technique. 🤫
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Spoiler alert: Z-Man’s “tooth proof” ElaZtech isn’t just for bassin’…. |
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I think you’re going to be hearing a lot more about Z-Man in the walleye world this season. Their stuff had already been crossing over big time from the bass world – ElaZtech softbaits have been catching walleyes for years – and now they’ve been adding quite a bit of stuff that looks killer for walleye: |
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Another “bassy” technique that had been catching a bunch of incidental walleyes = throwing ChatterBait bladed jigs. But now you’ve got folks saying enough is enough, why am I not throwing them for walleye on purpose?! Lol. Sorta like how Ned rigs became a thing for walleyes….
One of those ChatterBait slingers is NWT pro Dylan Nussbaum. Few interesting snippets from him:
> “The concept of a bladed jig makes total sense for walleyes – a fish known to track the flash and vibration of its prey.
> “Slowly dragging the ChatterBait WillowVibe with a Slim SwimZ or MinnowZ along bottom – pumping the rod to activate the blade and detecting its vibrations – is becoming a cool new way to trigger walleye strikes.
> “I’ve been working the 3/8-oz version in 5-10′, sometimes just straight-retrieving it fast enough to keep the blade humming along. Can’t wait to throw this combo in the Missouri River and other stained water environments….”
Looking goooood:
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> In natural lake and reservoir settings, Nussbaum has also been aggressively retrieving standard bladed jigs, like the Eye Strike ChatterBait, dressed with a 4″ or 5″ Scented PaddlerZ.
> “Throw this combo in classic paddletail swimbait situations – vegetation and weedlines, along shallow rock spines or in river current – and you’re going to be pleasantly surprised. Most veteran walleye anglers know how important flash and vibration can be, and at times, a ChatterBait really hits the right notes for big ‘eyes.”
I’m digging it. Seems like every time I throw a chatterbait for bass, I pick up a walleye or 3…even on lakes that just don’t have many in ’em. Have also noticed that they’re usually better fish when you do catch one on it – either fat 19″ unders or else bigger 23-27″ fish. 👀 Time to start playing around with ’em more….
What’s scary (in a really good way) is Z-Man says they “feel like we’re just getting warmed up and have a lot of great stuff in the works for our anglers.” Ohhhh baby!
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2. What dramatic year-to-year swings in ice-off dates…
…mean for lake ecosystems and walleye spawning:
> We are seeing within the last 10 yrs, that year-to-year variation in ice off date is almost 5x higher than it’s been in the last century.
> “The idea is if you think about a 30-day change for something like algae or the little plankton in the water, they often will have a whole generation in a day or 3. When you contrast that with something like a long-lived fish, they’re going to be feeding on those plankton and depending on those resources for their life cycles and for their growth. What can happen is what’s called a trophic mismatch where you have things that are feeding on other things and the timing of those peaks and needs becomes offset.”
> …can ultimately lead to unhealthy aquatic populations and slower growth and reproductive rates.
> One recent study showed walleye were less successful spawning in years with both really early and really late ice-offs. “The walleye are spawning and succeeding into the next generation much better if you have an average ice off year.”
3. MN: Effects of winterkill showing on some southern MN lakes.
> “Shallow lakes like we have in southern MN are most susceptible. Winterkill happens because the amount of dissolved oxygen available to fish becomes too low.”
> Low oxygen environments are created when sunlight is no longer able to penetrate the ice, causing oxygen-producing plants to die and generate higher levels of carbon dioxide as they decompose. Winterkill can actually benefit a lake, according to Soupir.
> “In lakes with high numbers of common carp, for example, periodic winterkill can thin out their numbers and allow desirable fish species to fill the void. It can also improve water clarity and increase aquatic vegetation.”
> …populations of game fish can sometimes rebound quite dramatically in years following winterkill. Improved survival of young fish and increased growth rates for both young and adult fish can combine to create significantly improved angling opportunities.
4. Did you know Berkley Fusion19 Bucktail jigs…
…have a double line tie? One off the nose for casting, and another on top for more-vertical presentations. They’re also designed to pair perfectly with Berkley Gulp!
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5. Rapala VMC Corp. has a new CEO.
> …Lars Ollberg as the new president and CEO of Rapala VMC Corp. He will start…May 1st…. Lars Ollberg was until June 2022 COO and global management team member of Rapala VMC.
Also Cyrille Viellard is the new deputy CEO, and Jean-Philippe Nicolle is the new CFO.
6. Tom Huynh hopped on the JMO Podcast to chat river walleyes.
One of those guys who just flat-out fascinates me. Could listen to him talk about anything and everything fishing related.
Can listen to this Jason Mitchell podcast at any of the following spots: Spotify, PodBean, or Apple Podcasts if that’s your jam.
7. Have you seen the Acme V-Rod blade bait? 😍
> The V-Rod features an all steel frame with lead injection molding body to create the ultimate baitfish presentation. Finished off with ABS plastic covering for the ultimate durability + hyper realistic + sharp paint finishes. Cast it, retrieve it, vertical jig it, you name it. The V-Rod will catch you fish, period.
Now comes in 4 sizes (1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4 oz) and I believe 13 colors. Clockwise from the top left = dead meat, maverick, big muddy and party boy:
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The LiveScope Giveaway Winner was…🥁…🥁…🥁…
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Marlin W. from Oshkosh, WI! 🥳 Thanks to all who entered – we should have another new giveaway fired-up in the next couple of weeks….
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He’s definitely never been fishing…. 😂
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Great shot coming from John “catch ’em all” Hoyer while field testing the new Berkley Deep Hit Sticks on Lake Erie – he said:
> “…almost every fish either had the bait fully choked, or hit the bait right in the head and had the 2 front Fusion19 hooks buried in their jaw.”
Good problem to have!
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Thanks SO much for reading! Have a great + safe weekend!!
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Friends of Target Walleye
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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 Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Jay Kumar, 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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