Today’s Top 5
Rock donkeys of the week!
Cobi Pellerito and Keegan Russell caught this pair o’ beauties fishing current breaks — created by boulder piles — with split-shot rigs.
> Cobi said: “Dodging freighters, coast-guard visits, and never ending rain.”
#WorthIt
Layne Maier picked up this chub chaser ripping a Rapala Flat Jig in 25′. Says he watched her chase it on his Humminbird Helix for 30 seconds before slowing down his presentation to trigger the bite:
Josh Truesdell cracked his new PB using a Storm Hot ‘N Tot on a Lake Nipigon, ON. She measured 29.75″ and was caught fishing with Pasha Lake Camp owner Chad Thompson:
Corey Randell was knocking his Rapala Jigging Rap into the bottom when he hooked up with this golden rock melon:
Father-son team win Lake of the Woods championship.
Dan and Rod Pfeifer put together a 2-day total of 59.81 lbs to win AIM’s MN division championship:
Their day 1 bag weighed a ridiculous 37.18 lbs. Even better is they caught 25 lbs of that in a 20 minute window:
> “Huge arcs were showing up on the Humminbird — they were 27′ down over 32′. We swung out to 34′ to go back through them and the outside rod fired. The bait had to be going 3 mph. After a long fight I slipped the net under our 29.75″ fish.
Dan said their keys to success were:
> “Big baits for big walleyes! We trolled Rapala Deep Tail Dancers on 832 Sufix Advanced Lead Core and braid. We didn’t lose any fish in 2 days, but we heard of many other anglers that did.
Open water Slab Rappin’.
The new Rapala Slab Rap isn’t just for ice fishing, it’s also one heck of an open-water bait. Here’s when Tony “catch ’em all” Roach likes to throw it:
> “I like to throw them in situations where you’ve got structure on the bottom: whether it’s sand grass, moss, zebra mussels, or even pitching it in cabbage. Really anytime I don’t want a bait to fall all the way to the bottom.
> “I also prefer the slower fall rate when there’s cooler water temps, a cold front or earlier in the morning when fish are not as aggressive.”
Here’s a vid of what it looks like underwater — you know you’d eat it:
Skinniest walleye ever caught:
Knowing Doctor Sonar he probably marked it on his Humminbird side imaging, then went back and caught it — guy’s dialed in. If you zoom in on the bait he’s using, you’ll see it’s one of those new Skelly-Get-In-My-Belly’s…. They’re super tough to find locally:
Burping a lake trout.
Ever heard of “burping” a fish?? We’re not just talking about those cute little clucks when you gently pat a baby’s back…but a full-on belching contest:
Bret “T Bone” Amundson of Northland Outdoors explains what went down:
> “When you bring a fish up from that deep of water [100′] it can cause barotrauma and the fish’s swim bladder can expand with gas. Lake trout and salmon have swim bladders connected to their esophagus [walleyes do not], so they can burp their way up to the surface.
It’s incredible she was still hungry after lunch-boxing that 20″ laker sammy. Thanks for sharing your story guys!
News
1. Jacob Wheeler turned walleye?
Bass pro Jacob Wheeler has broke the $1,000,000 mark in career earnings fishing various bass’n tourney trails, but he still doesn’t mind sticking the occasional gravel lizard:
Don’t think we’ll be able to convert him over to the walleye world until we can get him on a hot frog bite for walleyes lol.
2. MN: Starry Stonewort found in 3 new lakes.
Winnibigoshish, Rice and Moose Lakes.
> “A grass-like macro algae that may produce dense mats, which could interfere with use of the lake and choke out native plants.”
3. MN: Mississippi River residents support drawdown…
…on the Sartell Pool and Little Rock Lake. Would potentially improve water clarity, stabilize shorelines and improve fish/wildlife habitat.
4. MI: Rivers still asian carp-less.
5. PA: Regs lifted on Somerset.
No season, creel or size limits. They’re draining the lake in order to repair/replace the dam. #NoFishLeftBehind
6. Bottom-bouncer line-angle tip (video).
Catch more, snag less.
Lund pro Kyle Agre talks about the importance of rockin’ the vest!! And how you’ll forget that you’re even wearing the new infla-style PFDs from Onyx:
#LifeSaver
8. Rapala Flat Jigs for fat pigs (video).
9. Why you NEED to be using planer boards (video).
10. Installing the Smooth Moves Ultra seat.
Surprised that local chiropractors aren’t pooling together to buy-out the company…these puppies are a serious back-saver!!
Fishing Reports
> “Good limits of eater-size walleyes are the norm with a number of larger walleyes being released. Spinners and bouncers with crawlers or gulp and trolling crankbaits have been the best two games in town. This week a couple of cold fronts slowed the bite a bit, but even then the bite continued.
Tip of the Day
Fishing the thermocline for walleyes.
Tommy Kemos on The Next Bite TV talks about how a solid thermocline will actually eliminate a bunch of water on the lake, since the walleyes will almost always be at or above it due to the temp change:
Quote of the Day
If any responsible citizen on a creek or a river were to have done this, those people would be incarcerated and fined severely.
– That’s Ronald Gray’s reaction after launching his boat on the Manistee River, MI and seeing hundreds of dead fish lying belly-up on the bottom.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services is treating the Manistee River for sea lampreys by releasing a “cocktail of chemicals into the water,” and those chemicals aren’t just killing the lampreys, but also walleye, salmon, burbot, etc….
Today’s ‘Eye Candy
Blue-finned gravel lizzie from Thunder Bay, ON:
We want.
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