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Heads up: I’m on the road, headed to a super secret fishing media event down in TX. 👀🤐 More on that when I’m able to…but if I go missing, please have authorities question the folks from a certain company that rhymes with “Smirkley” lol. This might be the only Target Walleye this week, but fingers crossed I can get another quick one out on Friday…. Okay, here we go!
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If someone would have bet me $1,000,000 that they could…
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…legally use this rig in MN, I probably would have said “yeah right, I wish!” and taken that bet. 😳
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* Illustration by Peter Sucheski
That graphic is from an awesome Scott Mackenthun write-up in Game & Fish called
Under the Ice: Drop-Shot Rigging for Pressured Panfish.
It’s not that I don’t trust Scott (he’s a GREAT and incredibly knowledgeable dude) but you just obviously can’t believe everything you read on the internet…whether folks are purposely being deceitful or they’re just flat-out uninformed.
To be safe, I did a little digging thru the current Minnesota Fishing Regulations (92-page PDF) and sure enough I found this listed on page 29:
> MN DNR: “You may use up to three artificial flies on one fishing line when you are fishing for bass, crappie, rock bass, sunfish, or trout. There are no restrictions on distance between the flies.”
Well I’ll be danged! 🫠 Learn something new every day!
Few excerpts from the Game & Fish write-up below:
> While most ice-anglers aggressively fish baited jigs beneath flashers, a drop-shot’s subtle presentation can trigger bites from wary panfish. Lindy pro-staffer Bob Bohland realized this roughly 15 yrs ago at a North American Ice Fishing Circuit event at Chisago Lakes in MN. He and his fishing partner had noticed that many of the bigger bluegills and green sunfish were glued to shallow weeds and becoming really picky. Fish were quite spooky, too – the result of anglers running and gunning all over the place. They were also keying on small forage – refusing anything larger than a size-16 fly – however, these dainty offerings were taking too long to reach the proper depth.
> It was then that Bohland began piecing together a solution. Could he simply tie up a few Palomar knots, add a drop-shot weight and a few small flies, drop the rig down and coax these fish out of the weeds? It took a little research on the legality of such a technique, but he eventually got clarity – Minnesota allows the use of up to three flies on a fly rig, including those fished through the ice. Bohland took it a step further and tipped the flies with plastics and live bait. His newfound technique produced phenomenal results.
> “As we found out, we could sit in one hole and watch these fish, give subtle motions to our flies we were putting down there and make the fish commit. It really was eye-opening.”
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Ice fishing: If it ain’t broken don’t fix 👀 it WILL break.
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Cold temps and nasty travel conditions sure do put our gear to the test. Shoot, even polar bears can break from being in that -30°F stuff hahaha.
This relatable Top Item was inspired by a FB post from Jason Mitchell that said:
> “We always joke that if we run out of gas or break down, we just hope to be on a decent fishing spot. We’ll worry about everything else later!”
> “Every day is a gift but some days are better than others. Here’s to being broken down and beat down but no matter what…you can always smile.”
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Not sure how big (Ah) of lithium battery you need? 🔋
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Came across this AWESOME graphic on Amped Outdoors site that’ll give you expected hours of operation based on the unit you have – love stuff like this: |
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I ran their 30Ah LiFePO4 Wide in my LiveScope bundle for 4 seasons – both open water and ice – and the thing has worked flawlessly! Literally could not have been happier with it. It’s still kicking out juice in my older, backup FFS ice bundle (had to upgrade to a different unit that had internal recording capabilities for making YouTube videos – more on that later).
So when I was putting together a new ice unit and saw that Amped had a newer 32Ah 14.8V NMC Lithium Ion Battery that’s nearly 2 lbs lighter and designed for big-screen units 👀 I just had to treat myself.
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Their site says it’s “the highest capacity and longest lasting battery designed specifically for our advanced fishing electronics of today.”
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Little more info on what makes ‘em different:
> “Why 14.8V NMC Lithium Ion? Since most of our fishing electronics today are made to operate up to 17+ volts, this battery has a working voltage of 16.8V when fully charged and 12V when fully depleted. That means you have the most usable capacity and zero worries of low voltage poor returns/images from your electronics.
> “Unlike…similar NMC batteries (Usually 11.1V), our batteries use only the best NMC Lithium from Japan. Instead of getting 300-400 charge cycles with NMC from others, Amped Outdoors NMC will give you 800-1000 Charge cycles and a longer life expectancy.”
They even have a big-boy 48Ah version that fits inside of LiveScope ice bundles. 😳 Funny enough it would power a Vexilar for about 10 days straight lol. You can check their full lineup of ice-fishing batteries here.
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Do you like your pike pickled or peppered?
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We’ve all seen fish with those little-black spots on ’em, but Ashley Scanlon’s ultra-freckled pike caught our eye:
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It’s called “neascus” or the super-original name of “black spot disease.” You can learn a lot about it, and other science-y stuff, in this throwback write-up from Gord Pyzer:
> “The black spots are small cysts in the fish’s skin. In a heavily-infected fish you’ll find them sprinkled in the flesh as well. If you inadvertently happen to eat one, they’re crunchy – like a speck of sand or a piece of pepper corn. [We’ll take your word for it!]
> “A fish-eating bird (eagle, osprey, great blue heron, kingfisher, gull or cormorant) consumes an infected fish and the black spots – which are tiny-encapsulated worms called trematodes – mature inside the bird’s digestive system.
> “Once they mature, the worms lay eggs which the bird passes into the water in its droppings. The eggs then hatch into microscopic organisms called miracidia that have about 24 hours to find their next host – typically a snail.”
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> “There the parasite develops into its next life form, emerging from the snail as a tiny creature called a cercariae. When this parasite burrows into a fish, the fish reacts by encrusting the little bugger in a cyst with black-pigmented melanin.
> “The black spot can survive in the fish’s flesh and skin for many years, while it waits for the fish to be eaten by a bird, so that the process can repeat itself once again.
> “Literature suggests that the parasites neither affect the fish, nor humans that may eat them. I’m betting that like me, you’ll pass on eating either of these pike for dinner.”
Think you can you remember all that next time your buddy asks?
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Crazy diesel-heater build for flip-over fish houses. 🤔
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The use of diesel heaters in portable ice-fishing houses (typically hub houses) seems to be quite the trending topic these last few months. I’ve seen a lot of wild designs in the random FB groups I’m following, but this one posted by Nick Baumann has to be one of the absolute cleanest setups I’ve seen, and one of the few I’ve seen designed for flip-over style shacks:
> Nick Baumann: “Wanted a built-in direct vent heater…came with too many cons so I put together a portable diesel heater with a direct vent option.”
Pretty dang incredible design!
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He said it cost him “$300 something? [and took about] 35 hours in the shed with a dremel…. I lost track.” And he figured it “should last 24 hours according to [his] math” and is “about 17k BTUs.”
Now just add one of these to the get-up and I’m guaranteed napping on the job. 😅
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1. MN: Mille Lacs walleye sculpture got a makeover.
> This year, the Garrison Commercial Club decided it was time to redo the famous statue. The 19’-long and 14’-high fish was trucked to Hickory Lake Auto up the road on Highway 169 for a complete redo.
Bonus random factoid: The eyeballs are actually the headlight centers out of a Chevrolet pickup!
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7. Suzuki Marine has a new marketing manager.
> [Kate Donadio] brings with her 7 yrs of professional marketing and consulting experience across a range of industries, most recently using her talents to build the brand for a yacht manufacturing, importing and distribution company. Through her business consulting and marketing firm Dolomites Consulting Group, Donadio has worked with multiple marine companies and gained valuable experience and insight into the boating business and what makes it “tick.”
8. Richard Straka is the new GM for Mercury Canada.
Internal hire who joined Mercury in 2021 as “category director and most recently served as director of supply chain and operations strategy. He previously held positions at GE Capital and Wells Fargo.”
9. Rapala has new CrushCity apparel.
10. AL: Police arrest naked man who ‘cannonball’ jumped…
…into an aquarium at Bass Pro Shops. 🤦♂️ Can’t make this stuff up:
> A man crashed his car outside a Bass Pro Shop in Alabama, stripped down to his birthday suit and plunged into the giant aquarium inside the store….
> The 42-year-old Alabama man did a “cannonball” leap into the aquarium and then stood under a waterfall. …was in the water for about 5 minutes before officers arrived. He left the water to yell at two officers, then dove back into the aquarium….
> The man eventually climbed over the side of the aquarium and fell to the concrete floor below [knocked himself unconscious]. Police then apprehended him….
> He was taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation and then booked into the St. Clair County Jail.
> Jail records show…charged with public lewdness, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief and two counts of reckless endangerment.
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Yup, this is real life! 🤯 Here’s your chance to win a free StrikeMaster Lithium 24v Ice Auger! I’ve been running the snot outta mine the last few seasons and have been super impressed!
Think of it as a lightweight (6” weighs 13.3 lbs, and the 8” weighs 14.3 lbs) run-and-gun version of the ’benchmark’ StrikeMaster Lithium 40v. And what a perfect ice-fishing season to add this compact unit to your arsenal!
The Rapala fam was also nice enough (thank you!) to throw in a StrikeMaster Battery Bag full of VMC spoons and jigs, including the hot new VMC Rattling Roach Spoons! 🤑 Little more info on those legit fish-catchers:
> ”…VMC connected with Tony Roach to work on the Rattling Roach Spoon. VMC leaned on Roach’s experience as a heavily booked, multi-species, all-season guide on MN’s Mille Lacs Lake to develop its new killer bait.
> “Its intense fluttering action combined with an exposed rattle chamber delivers maximum sound vibrations, grabbing the attention of nearby fish like no other spoon. We’ve dressed the spoon with a marabou teaser tail, which conceals a super sharp VMC treble hook. Holographic eye and a variety of UV, holographic attractor and live baitfish patterns. Ultra Glow colors last up to 15 minutes.”
Takes just 10 seconds to enter by clicking here or on the picture below and can share the link you get for bonus entries. Good luck!
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Wanna learn how to fillet a northern pike?
This is embarrassing to admit…but if you handed me a fillet knife and a northern pike 👀I wouldn’t know where to start how to come out of it with bone-free fillets. Last time I took a crack at cleaning one (literally probably 2 decades ago) it was a disaster lol – ever since then I have just let ‘em go. 🤷♂️ #Don’tJudgeMe
BUT, I was at a local restaurant not long ago and had some “pike cakes” for an appetizer and they were outstanding! Got me wondering why I don’t keep a snake every once in a while? Except I know the answer: Cleaning one sounds intimidating without someone who knows the ropes walking you thru it.
So long story short, here’s an easy-to-follow video from AnglingBuzz’s Jake Wallace showing his step-by-step process for filleting northern pike:
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Every. Single. Time. 🙋♂️
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That or I’m scramble packing….
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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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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, Jay Kumar, Chris Philen, 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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422 Laurel Street
P.O. BOX 541
Brainerd, MN 56401
(218) 824 5026
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