1. We lost Len Borgstrom, long-time Abu Garcia president…
…and the grandson of Abu’s founder:
> Borgstom joined ABU Fishing Tackle (as it was originally known) as an international marketer in 1954. He served the company as VP beginning in 1960 until he became president in 1970. In 1978, Borgstrom oversaw the merger between ABU Fishing Tackle and its U.S.-based importer, The Garcia Corp, when the company became formally known as Abu Garcia.
RIP fishing brother.
2. WI: NWT’s hitting Green Bay TOMORROW.
Their first tourney for the 2020 season! Out of Oconto. Here’s what dude’s like Hoyer, Okada and Sprengel were saying prior to prefishing:
> John Hoyer: “By the third week of July, it’s summer peak…they’ve returned to their summer homes. Last year, I won in 8-12’…this year a lot of the fish will be deeper…anywhere from 20-40′. I’m expecting a lot of trolling spinners and a lot of Shiver Minnows.”
> Joe Okada: “It would be fun to find a casting bite again. It’s a stressful, all-consuming way to fish, but it’s so much fun. With more and more people becoming casters, I think the balance might shift back to the trollers. At some point, this all has to come full circle. There are only so many of those certain small areas, and there’s more pressure on those now than ever before. The fish don’t just peg themselves to the rock all the time either. That’s why you can’t take the trolling rods out of the boat. There is still roaming bait that they like to eat.”
> Korey Sprengel: “I typically like to fish north, but I’ve been scared of those southern fish…. There’s a pile of 25″+ fish down south. It’s one incredible year class, and they’re so heathy. The other wildcard is that the water is really high. With a west wind, the east shoreline can be dirty, and that’s now. I’m interested to see come the middle of summer how dark that water gets with algae blooms. That could change everything in terms of where the fish will be and what techniques excel.”
Do you think it’ll be won casting or trolling? Can’t wait to see how it goes down — keep you posted.
3. MT: Record weight shattered at Gov Cup.
Props to Jason Eggebrecht and Ross Lien for tossing up 80.97 lbs over 2 days!
The previous record (70.04 lbs) was set last year by Adam Morehouse and Matt Poole.
4. ID: Another $1K-tagged walleye plucked outta Pend Oreille.
Traveled 27+ miles across the lake since it was tagged-and-released in Feb.
5. ND G&F sets walleye stocking record.
On track to stock a record 180 lakes across the state with nearly 12 mil walleye fingerlings:
> “Just in the first 7 days of this year’s walleye production, haulers traveled more than 8,200 miles and stocked over 150 lakes with 7.6 mil fish.”
728K of those went into Devils Lake, and 553K in Stump Lake.
6. Abu just dropped the lightest spinning reel EVER…
…in part by eliminating “empty spaces commonly found in spinning reels.” Called the Zenon and will be available Mar 2021. Size 20 weighs 4.9 oz — size 30 weighs 5.4 oz:
> “The Zenon sets the bar for future spinning reels in terms of weight, comfort and overall performance in finesse fishing applications. With the smoothness of the drag, you can fish light line with confidence and do so comfortably because the reel is so light and easy to hold. Our reel designers minimized the weight of the reel to a point few thought possible while making sure the reel retains its Abu Garcia durability.
> “…body design is noticeably smaller than the spool and rotor — it features a 1-piece gear box with no sideplate while the frame is integrated with the stem. …shrink the overall footprint and weight of the reel while providing a rigid system for the gears. The magnesium body is contoured to fit comfortably in hands and provides greater weight savings and durability than the advanced plastics commonly used in other spinning reels touted as ‘lightweight.'”
Believe the MSRP is $499.99 so better start pinching those pennies $20 bills now!
7. ON: Greenstone area “fish kill” mostly big walleyes.
Pretty rare to see any walleye in a fish kill:
> Desrochers said all the dead fish he could see were walleye, mostly larger ones. He estimated…at least 50 different dead walleye, mostly stuck in the reeds. “I’ve lived in Longlac for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this….”
> OMNRF’s (regional outreach specialist) Michelle Nowak: “Poor water quality is suspected to have contributed to the fish die-offs. Water temps have been consistently warmer than normal [86°F] and warm water contains low dissolved oxygen which is a stressor to a variety of fish species.”
8. IL: Walleye fingerlings introduced to the Great Lakes Quarry.
9. May new boat sales were highest in a decade.
> “…up 59% [in May] compared to April, and up 9% from pre-pandemic levels on a seasonally-adjusted basis.
> “The last time we saw such strong sales in a single month was back in 2007….”
10. IA: Zeebz found in Lake Manawa.
11. MN fishing-license-sale surge has slowed but…
> …individual angling license sales have stayed at their highest level in more than 20 years and total license sales are up 11% over 2019.
12. DC: Some Senators want fed $ to go to outdoor businesses.
> “The outdoor tourism and recreation industry, which employs 5.2 mil American workers (3.4% of total U.S. employment), accounts for 2.2% of GDP, and generates $778 bil in economic output, has gone from one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy (3.9% annual growth) to experiencing record unemployment.”
