Target Walleye/Ice email

Teeners of the week, Burbot have backstraps, How to dead bait pike

Today’s Top 5

Teeners of the week!

Get this: A crew pulling cranks with Columbia River Mafia Guide Service (WA) put together a 57.38-lb bag on 4 fish…that’s dang near a 15-lb average!!! Pics from Yo-Zuri photo contest — more deets as I can dig ’em up. #Speechless

Here’s Jaime Rodriguez gettin’ outfished by his 12-yr-old son to the tune of 16.5 lbs and just shy of 34″. Caught trolling deep-diving cranks on the Columbia River, WA. Least he was nice enough to let you hold it lol. Sick fish, dude!

Matty Haarsma (@haarsma01) hit up Manitoba’s Lake Winnipeg and stuck a BIG suspended mark on his ‘Bird with a Northland Macho Minnow. Only problem is this “teener” was the wrong species.

Bet that got your heart beatin’ for a while, man!

Paunchy razorbacks of week!

Sometimes smaller baits catch the biggest fish. Worked this day for Kristine Ostertag who whacked a massive 32″ Lake Winnipeg greenback on a tiny #3 (or #2?) “chrome blue” color Rapala Jigging Rap:

Another non-rattlebait Lake Winnipeg greenie, this time caught by TW fan Alex Busch on a “glo perch” color Northland Buck-Shot Spoon. Fish went 30.5″ and didn’t seem to mind the frosty -30 deg temps — thank goodness for insulated shacks:

Ashley Ann (@motherbabushka) rolled outta bed to best kind of alarm clock…a rattle reel singin’ on Lake of the Woods. Fish has some serious shoulders:

Dan Asper hit this “super snow moon” 30-incher near peak brightness (at 3:48am) on Mille Lacs Lake. Caught soakin’ a golden shiner in 32′ and put up a nice 7 min battle before being photo’d and released:

Burbot cleaning done right.

The burbot bite is (finally) kicking into gear…and yes, they taste muy delicioso! Gotta clean ’em a little differently though — almost like cutting the backstraps out of a deer. Here’s how it’s done from ‘pout connoisseur Jeff Matity:

Was some grumbling in the comments section of the vid about wasting the belly meat…but there’s something you should know:

> Jeff: While I was a contract biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, I poured over their burbot data from all over North America and was stopped in my tracks to find out that burbot are a real canary-in-a-coal-mine when it comes to pollution and toxic contamination of their flesh.

> For whatever reason (diet, habitat, biochemistry of the fish) burbot are specifically sensitivity to pollution and their bodies “successful” ability to mop it up from the environment.

[“Mop it up” is right!]

> Mercury and other contamination accumulates in organs and fatty tissue of living things. That’s what makes burbot liver and their fatty belly meat a potential health concern.

> I eliminate the belly meat and any internal organs in my field-dressing method and NEVER recommend anyone eat the belly or gigantic liver of a burbot.

Great info, Jeff!

Btw don’t let all that nasty talk scare you away from cookin’ up burb…just make sure you’re not eating a bunch of their weird parts….

Walleyes eat emojis?

Not sure what Phantom Lures has up their sleeve this time, but I want in:

Case you didn’t know, Phantom Lures has more than just muskie baits…they’ve got a killer lineup of open-water walleye cranks designed in MN. And by the looks of that shushing-face emoji, they’re dialing in more vertical jigging baits to compliment their Tilly — here’s a look at it in the “purple tiger” color:

The crew was fishing with guide and Tilly-lover Matt Peters (@fishwithmatt) who’s a total go-hard. #SendIt #Sent

Zander eat Rapala Rippin’ Raps too.

Shout out to TW fan Mikael Ranta all the way over in Finland!

Said he set up on a rocky point that dumped into the deeper water in 35-37′. Got whacked within 1 min of tying on a #6 Rapala Rippin’ Rap (chrome) and had 2 more within a half hour. #Stout

News

1. Lund Ultimate Fish Camp.

Happenin’ Jun 23-26 on Leech Lake, MN. Chance to hit the water with legendary Lund pros like: Ted Takasaki, Perry Good and Tony Roach…but heard they’re gonna let Ryan DeChaine come too (lol kiddin’ man).

I got to help out at one a few years back…was AWESOME getting to fish out of each pro’s rig and see why they chose the model they did:

Definitely recommend jumping on the opportunity if you can swing it. Few spots left — more deets here.

2. MN: Perch extravaganza tomorrow on Mille Lacs.

Out of Nitti’s Hunters Point Resort. Is it just me or are the Millie jumbo gettin’ nasty big again:

3. NY: Could this bill be used against fishing derbies?

No doubt it could in catch/kill tourneys, like most walleye events still are:

> …A722 “Provides that it shall be unlawful for any person to organize, sponsor, conduct, promote, or participate in any contest, competition, tournament or derby where the objective of such contest or competition is to take wildlife.”

4. MN: Charity MN Fishing Challenge.

Happening Jun 1 on Gull Lake. They raise something like $300K each year [!] and all proceeds benefit a great charity: MN Adult & Teen Challenge. Plus you get to try and out-fish Al (good luck).

5. Have you seen Moonshine’s Jigging Spoons?

Lots of talk (and walk) about their Shiver Minnow, but they also have a Jigging Spoon with the same sick patterns/glow paint. Few that look super fishy:

Check ’em all out right here. Let us know if you’ve tried ’em.

6. Top fishin’ brands for ’18.

Based on a Southwick Assoc survey of 11K anglers:

> Top mono brand: Berkley Trilene
Top ‘lectronics brand: Humminbird
> Top trolling motor brand: Minn Kota

> Top scale brand: Rapala

Full list here but seems kind of bass-heavy — would love to see the results from ice-heads….

Headline of the Day

Tip of the Day

Gotta love a little hand-to-hand combat with freshwater gators — a bite that’ll keep gettin’ more good-er as the season progresses. J-Mitch says he’s yet to find anything better for catching big “toothy critters” than hangin’ dead bait (cisco, smelt, etc) below a tip-up 3-5′ off bottom.

Talks about the what, where, when and why of it all during this Devils Lake, ND beatdown:

Quote of the Day

There’s bad people everywhere, and there’s good people to fix it.

Tanner Ouellette talkin’ about his ridiculously eventful weekend in Selkirk, MB…had his truck, trailer and fishin’ gear stolen while grabbin’ coffee on the way to the lake (day 1)….

Locals found out and saved the weekend — hooked him up with everything needed to stick himself a big ‘ol Lake Winnipeg greenback:

The full write-up is for sure worth a read.

Today’s ‘Eye Candy

How ’bout Jay Siemens doin’ what Jay Siemens does:

There’s a reason his YouTube content is A+++…. #MagicMaker #NextLevel #AlsoSendingIt

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Who is Target Walleye/Ice
Target Walleye/Ice — walleye during open water and all species during hardwater — is brought to you by Al and Ron Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Brett McComas and other diehard fish-nuts like you! #fishheads
Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye/Ice. 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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