Korey Sprengel’s complete jerkbait setup. 💯
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Last spring I was finally able to knock a little something off of my fishing bucket-list ✅ and spend some time in the boat with walleye hammer Korey Sprengel. Man, is that guy ever dialed!! Every single thing he does or uses has a reason behind it – literally down to the smallest detail. It was fascinating and I can’t begin to describe how straight-up fishing talented he is.
No joke, I think Korey put 3 fish in the boat in about 90 seconds…all while I was still switching my reel over from lefty to righty LOL. But he kept that same pace up even after I was fishing too. I felt like a clueless little kid while dad was crushing! 😅
I couldn’t get them to touch a swimbait, Ned rig, you name it. And he was absolutely whacking walleyes on a Berkley Stunna 112 – good ones too!
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I’ve chucked a jerkbait plenty before, but I usually end up putting it down if I don’t get bit in the first few casts because hot dang it’s a lot of work LOL. After watching Korey put on a freakin’ clinic, I figured I had better take some dang notes! 📝 Here’s why he started with it:
> Dark, gloomy days with some wind are always good. If it’s sunny and windy, you’re good. I may do a few casts when it’s sunny and calmer, but usually that’s when you want to grab the swimbait instead.
> If the water is clean with 3’+ visibility…some wind blowing…it’s a great reaction bait. It moves fast and you can cover water to find out if something is around. Don’t need to worry about boat control or the wind blowing your line.
> When the water is clear, they’re used to going after something…they’re trying to get away from it. Jerkbait isn’t in the weeds as much as it is over the top of weeds.
Here’s his scoop on the Berkley Stunna 112:
> The Berkley Stunna 112 runs very shallow…about 2-3’ (with the stock hooks). l throw it in 6’ or less.
> Comes standard with the Fusion19 Medium Shank EWG Treble. Swapping out with round-bend Fusion19 Treble 1x Hooks gets it down to 4-5’. Just a heavier gauge hook…more weight. It’s a slight difference, but you’re adding 3 of them that are heavier. The Stunna slowly sinks, so longer pauses during the retrieve help get it down there….
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> The strike zone for a jerkbait depends on the water clarity you have. In clear water, it’s nothing for a fish to come up 5’ for a bait if you’re fishing in 10’. They don’t know if they can catch up to it, then all of a sudden it stops and they smack it.
> I also like the open round-bend hooks because fish are swatting at the jerkbait most of the time. And some days that more open bend can help with hookups.
How he works the Stunna:
> Initial cast I’m trying to get the bait down. Longer jerks pulling the bait down 5-6 times with a longer pause (the Stunna slowly sinks) at the end to get it down. Then I will start to speed up with 3-4 quick snaps and pause.
And he SNAPS those puppies. Tough to tell from this little cadence preview, but my arms are sore just looking at it again hahaha:
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> Pause time depends on water temp. The colder the water the longer the pause. I’ll do 5-second pauses once or twice in a cast in 50 degree water or less. As the water warms up, pick the speed up…they’re feeding and their metabolism is up.
> Have to experiment to see what they want that day. Sometimes you’ll stop and be talking to someone for 5 seconds and they’ll come up and smack it.
Like I said before…everything Korey uses, he uses for a specific reason. So here’s a rundown on his complete jerkbait setup including the WHY and not just the WHAT. Did the best I could, he talks fast lol.
Rod:
Korey was using a Fenwick Elite 7’4” medium, moderate fast at the time – part of Fenwick’s completely revamped lineup of rods that were released at ICAST.
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And here’s why he was slinging that specific model:
> I like a longer rod, this one is a 7’4” medium mod-fast. Long enough to really bomb the bait out there. Long casts helps to be more efficient…more time to get your bait to depth. Also need to be away from the boat in clear water…a lot of times that last 30’ is useless.
> The action part of the rod is the most important (moderate fast). I’m implying action with the rod: If it’s too wimpy, too moderate…you’re going to have to work harder to make that bait move and dart…you don’t get that snappiness. That slack line snap is what gives the bait its darting actions.
> Longer rods have a little more forgiveness. Need the crispness for working the bait, but the forgiveness for fighting a fish. That combination with a smooth drag…everything works together.
Reel:
Korey likes using the size-30 Abu Garcia Revo Rocket, which is a high-speed spinning reel with a 7.6:1 gear ratio = brings in 43″ line per crank!
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> I’m implying the action with the rod. The reel is picking up the slack. The less I have to do, the better.
He doesn’t use baitcasters for jerkbaits because he says he can cast farther and “the drag on spinning reels is so much better and smoother.”
> I have my drag backed off so it clicks on a hard rip of the bait. Need some give to not bend hooks or tear them out – you don’t know how you’re going to have them hooked when they’re swatting at the bait.
Line:
Korey runs 10-lb FireLine (8-strand fused) with a 15-lb Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader that’s 3-4’.
> Braid because fluorocarbon deadens the action. They’re just pulling that bait, not snapping it…not getting that bait to turn sideways. Getting the bait to turn sideways is a big deal…it flashes so much when it turns 90 degrees.
And he runs a 15-lb fluoro leader for most everything (way heavier than “normal”) because then he doesn’t have to worry about breaking off fish, having zebra mussels slice it, or waste time constantly re-tying.
I know what you’re thinking, and he said he hasn’t seen any difference in the # of bites or walleye he catches since experimenting with heavier leaders. And he runs a short 3-4′ fluoro leader because he doesn’t want the knot to go through his guides.
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So much info in so little time! Really hope to get back on the water with him again some day.
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PA state-record perch caught…but doesn’t count?
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Get this: The fish officially weighed heavier than the current state record on a certified scale, BUT this write-up said:
> “The fish is too close to the state record to be considered as the new title holder. The current record is a yellow perch caught by Kirk Rudzinski of Erie while fishing April 9, 2021, on Lake Erie. His fish weighed 2.98 lbs and the PFBC rounded the weight to 3 lbs.
> …one of the rules on the application form is that the fish must weigh at least 2 oz more than the existing record to be considered for a new record…to eliminate any margin of error.
> …they don’t list ties or second place in the list of state records. The only way that would happen is if two record fish were caught at the exact same time.
Yikes that’s a bummer. But congrats on the jumbo of a lifetime, man!
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You know what day it is….
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Love me some #FishFlopFriday!
Although it’s only funny when it happens to someone else lol:
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Zach Mader sent this one in and said “Not today, sucker.” 😅
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This Rainy River walleye had Kory Wermerskirchen doing the stank face:
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Normally trout (those slimy little buggers!) hold the top spot for fish-flop Friday pics. Do NOT forget to check out the facial expressions!
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But pike are making a run at it:
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New “Top 5” vid coming in hot! 🍿
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I just posted episode 71 on our YouTube channel, and it might be my favorite yet. Hope you dig it 👊 and thanks SO much for taking the time to watch and comment!
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Big thx to our friends at Sea Foam for making this video series possible!
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1. OH: Lake Erie NWT weigh-in happening right now.
Just wrapping up, you can check the unofficial live leaderboard here. or catch the tail-end of the live weigh-in.
We’ll be following up with the winning details and pics that you won’t be seeing anywhere else….
2. MN-FISH’s “World’s Greatest Fishing Auction” kicks off
…at 7pm on April 19 and will run thru 7pm on May 2. Will be a bunch of great prizes and guide trips to bid on.
3. MI: 1st Denali Myriad Walleye Tournament, Oct 12.
On Saginaw Bay:
> The popular and professionally run Michigan Walleye Tour will host this new event and run the weigh in activities. Denali products, particularly the Myriad Series of rods, have found strong favor among Michigan walleye anglers. As appreciation of that support, Denali wanted to bring a customer appreciation event to Michigan for supporters of the Denali brand. A $5,000 1st-place prize will attract many anglers, but every team that signs up will be a winner. There will be an optional side pot for the biggest walleye valued at $2,500 with a 100-boat field.
Costs $300 to enter, but:
> Each team entry will receive 2 Denali Myriad Rods and t2wo Denali Fission Reels valued at $480 for free, just for participating in this event. Also, beyond the top prizes, 10 random anglers will be drawn for a $500 cash prize, and 30 anglers will be drawn to win an additional Denali Myriad rod valued at $140.
More info here.
4. GA Walmarts are now delivering live bait.
> …the retailer is rolling out live bait delivery across 154 stores in Georgia – roughly 80% of its total locations in the Peach State.
> The new service offers live bait pickup and delivery from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., bringing the bait anywhere with a deliverable address – including docks.
Dang! How about some soft-plastics in there, too?!
5. MN: Shout-out to Future Anglers of Minnesota!
A nonprofit organization that teaches life lessons through the great sport of fishing. And they’ve got a really cool dealio coming up this summer to help get some kiddos even more addicted to the good stuff!
> Our mission is to get kids involved with fishing and help mentor them to learn life and fishing skills. Over the years we have chosen five outstanding kids as our Ambassadors; kids with high character, a love for fishing, and a willingness to help others. We proudly call these kids our “Future Legends”.
> To help them grow their knowledge of professional fishing, five Professional Anglers are “giving back” by donating their time and talent to fish in a tournament with them on Sun, July 7 on Leech Lake. We can’t thank them enough for doing this for the kids!!
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Walleyes can usually be a little funky to start out the season when they’re recovering from the spawn…but hopefully the early ice-out this year will have them putting on their post-spawn feedbag instead!
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Here’s how they do date night in northern MN! 😎 Some double-trouble Rainy River walleye action from Stephen and Karlee Roller in this 2B Fishing post:
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Have a great + safe weekend, all!
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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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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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