|
Sorry for the late send! Ran into some technical difficulties. Here we go!
|
|
The Walleye Cup is back! 🏆
|
|
|
We have a bunch of fresh, new YouTube content coming your way!
Let’s kick things off with a new season of “The Walleye Cup” where Nick Lindner, TJ Erickson and myself go head-to-head-to-head, battling it out to see who can catch the 5 longest walleyes in 8 hours. The stakes? Ultimate bragging rights and rightful ownership of the coveted Walleye Cup. 😏
Oh, and to help keep things interesting: The person who’s in the lead is not allowed to use live bait. 👀
Here’s episode 1 that was posted on YT last night
|
|
|
And episode 2 just went live at 4pm cst TODAY. 👊
|
|
|
Let us know what you think by leaving a comment over on YouTube!
|
|
Snitchin' suspended late-summer walleye
|
|
|
Earlier this summer I put together a special TW issue featuring new walleye fishing stuff from ICAST 2025. One of the new baits I saw at the show – and was excited to fish with – was called the VMC Snitch Jig, which looks like this:
|
|
|
Little info:
> The new VMC Snitch Jig is a noisy, flashy, and versatile addition to the walleye angler’s arsenal. It features a unique sculpted blade that rotates effortlessly against the bead stopper, even at super slow speeds, making it ideal for pitching, drifting, or jigging.
> The Snitch Jig features a weight-forward teardrop shaped head to maximize water flow to the blade which makes the blades turn at the slowest of speeds. As the blades spin, they effortlessly emit wicked vibration and flash, like a dinner bell for a walleye.
I was able to get my hands on a couple packs of ‘em and was excited to get out and play with it.
Why?
‘Cuz throwing a jig and nightcrawler at suspended walleyes has been all of the rage these past few seasons – literally winning hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of thousands of dollars [!] in tournaments across the Midwest. And the new coming soon-ish VMC Snitch Jig brings a new twist to this tournament-proven technique....
|
|
What’s it gonna take to win the NWT Championship? 🤔
|
|
|
The 2025 NWT Championship is happening over the next 3 days (Sept 4-6) on the Bay of Green Bay out of Marinette, WI.
The top-40 pros in the Angler of the Year standings qualified to fish this no-entry-fee championship. 1st place takes home a brand new 2025 Ranger FS620 boat and motor package plus $20,000 straight cash, homie! And the AOY title is still up for grabs tho Duane ‘Dewey’ Hjelm has a solid lead in that race....
Here’s a look at what sort of average it took to win the last couple of NWT events out there.... Obviously these derbies were at different times of year, but might still give us an idea of what kind of bags will be needed for a shot at the champ.
June 20-21, 2024 – Oconto, WI
Eric McQuoid won with a 2-day total (6 fish) of 43-14 = 7.3125-lb avg
|
|
|
> “Four of the fish I weighed came up suspended. I was fishing anywhere from 6’ to 20’ of water. The one my co-angler caught the first day was sitting next to a giant boulder, and I caught another one sitting just inside the rocks on the bottom.”
McQuoid primarily used a 3/8-oz Kalin’s Google Eye Hair Jig (purple) with a stinger hook. Two of his weigh fish were caught on a Kalin’s Pendu Jig (1/8 or 3/8) threaded with a full crawler.
|
|
|
> “They were not aggressive enough for bigger hard baits. I was hopping the hair jig up and down – trying to mimic an alewife or some bait dying. When I couldn’t get a reaction from the hair, I just wanted to slow it down and go old-school finesse with a jig and crawler. The first day I saw a lot more walleyes. Even though I only caught those three fish, I had probably 20 chase it to the bottom but not eat. The second day the alewives sort of moved back in, and I saw only 10 walleyes all day long.”
McQuoid fished both presentations on a 7’ medium light “Double L” Rosemore spinning rod. He employed 15-lb Berkley Fireline (flame green) with a 12-lb Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader. Not surprisingly, LiveScope, and the detail it provides, proved to be the key.
> “LiveScope allowed me to find the bigger walleyes that were mixed in with the sheepshead and everything else. That makes you so much more efficient. I had my LiveScope set out at 100, and I would make the first cast at 90’. Not many bites were coming close to the boat. Most were hitting it in that 40’ to 70’ range. The fish, especially in clear water, are so aware of us, you can even see the difference when your trolling motor is on 8 or 9 versus 3 or 4.”
July 14-15, 2022 – Marinette, WI
“Dewey” Hjelm won with a 2-day total (10 fish) of 73.40 lbs = 7.34-lb avg
|
|
|
Said he drove 30-40 miles north from Marinette – staying on the west shore and heading up towards Big Bay de Noc where he sampled offshore structure or what he called resting spots:
> Duane Hjelm: “They’re starting to set up on their summer homes. We were keying in on areas that didn’t have as much baitfish. There was tons and tons of baitfish around, but up there, there wasn’t hardly any. It wasn’t like it was everywhere else...they seemed more friendly.
> “It was basically little shoals or little knobs that had current deflections. Walleyes could get in front of it or behind it, depending if they were resting or feeding. Rocks were a good thing, but if it didn’t have rock, we didn’t rule it out.”
He was fishing ultra-clear water in 18-24′ and said the fish were suspended 2′ to 10′ off the bottom. At times, he would slide up as shallow as 14′.
Said he threw a variety of “glide baits” in natural colors to catch his fish:
> “We had our trolling rods ready in case the wind and weather wouldn’t let us execute. But the conditions were almost perfect for glide baits. We would let it hit bottom, then rip it up. You get most of your bites right before it hits bottom or near the top of the stroke. Sometimes when you go to lift up again they already have it. The action at the top of the stroke, it just makes them super mad.”
Can’t wait to see how it all goes down! #SlugFest
|
|
|
Love to see all the quality shots ^ from K•DOM Photography. 🔥
Said they caught ‘em up north, primarily off rock structure in 18-22’. Key was to look for a certain type of boulders (versus slate rock) because they’re holding more gobies. Specifically targeting areas that has 72-74 degree water temps as it had the bait and active fish. Were throwing 3/8-oz jigs and crawlers...going with the wind while one of the guys is on the main motor to kick it in reverse to help stay put for the cast.
2. ND: SCHEELS donates $50K to Wheelchairs & Walleyes 🙌
> ...SCHEELS of Bismarck has generously agreed to a multi-year donation commitment.... ...to purchase all of the chair lifts for the Bismarck/Mandan area for the next 3 years.
So amazing!
In case you didn’t know: Wheelchairs & Walleyes are dedicated to making fishing and boating accessible to everyone regardless of mobility or adaptive needs.
They’ve been incredibly busy this past year making big things happen at access all across the country. One of those projects was the Merle Baisch Memorial Wheelchair Ramp project where they installed accessibility equipment at the Lakewood Park Landing on Devils Lake.
|
|
|
4. MI: Fall electrofishing survey starts soon
> These surveys [running from late Sept to mid-Oct] are an important tool for fisheries managers to determine whether walleye that hatched in the spring (known as young-of-year) hatched in the wild or were stocked, as well as how many of those fish are present in an area. This information about the status of young walleye in lakes helps the DNR make informed management decisions.
> Using electrofishing boats, crews will survey shallow areas near the shoreline of lakes at night with the goal of capturing young-of-year walleye. Walleye prefer cooler, deeper areas of lakes during the day but move into shallow, nearshore areas at night, making nighttime surveys more efficient. On larger lakes, two or more electrofishing crews using separate boats may operate at the same time to cover more area. The crews will work both on lakes that have been stocked with walleye and lakes that have not.
> Biologists also will collect and keep a sample of young-of-year walleye from stocked lakes to determine whether the fish are primarily reproducing naturally or if young-of-year are from stocking. Many walleye that are stocked are marked with oxytetracycline, a chemical marker that can be observed within captured fish by using a microscope with an ultraviolet light source in a laboratory setting. In addition, modern genetic techniques that allow more accurate assessment of stocking success will be completed at Michigan State University on walleye tissue samples collected during some of these fall surveys.
5. IA fisheries biologist selected for Hall of Excellence
Mark Flammang has many, MANY accolades while serving as IA DNR’s biologist for the Rathbun Fish Management District for nearly 30 yrs, but here’s one specific example of how he’ll likely help you to catch more and bigger walleyes on Rathbun Lake:
> After discovering that up to 26% of Rathbun Lake’s walleye were being lost through the dam’s outlet structure, Flammang led a multi-year research project to keep prized sportfish in the lake and improve angling success. His collaborative research with Iowa State University and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers resulted in the planned installation of an upstream electric barrier at Rathbun Dam.
6. onX Fish Midwest is now in Ohio
They’ve been busy adding more states: Now available in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, Indiana and now Ohio.
It’s literally a cheat code for researching fisheries (e-scouting!) and finding your new favorite honey hole. The onX Fish app has powerful filtering tools to search by species, trophy potential, keeper potential, and high abundance.
|
|
|
I’ve been using it since last summer here in MN and have legitimately found multiple new lakes in my backyard holding walleyes – sometimes giants! – that I never knew existed. Oh, and did I mention it’s helped me find sneeeeaky ways to access water that I didn’t know was public? 🤫
You can start a 7-day free trial and check it out for yourself! The app costs less than $3 a month, and that’s before you get 20% off when signing up with code: TW on their site. 👊
WARNING: It’s absolutely addicting snooping around and checking out local lakes! Or finding those next out-of-town gems to add to the hit list.
|
|
|
7. MI: $3.6 mil in grants available for invasive species projects
8. MTT's "Directors Cup" is Sept 20 on Mille Lacs
9. Did you know Amped Outdoors offers discounts for...
...current and former military, first responders, educators and more? 🙌
10. BASS announces FFS rule change for 2026 Elite Series
> Beginning in 2026, forward-facing live sonar will only be permitted in up to 5 of the 9 regular-season Elite Series events. Which events allow the technology will be determined randomly [via a coin flip]. The remaining events will prohibit its use entirely, including during official practice.
> Restrictions implemented for 2025 (limiting anglers to 1 live-sonar transducer and a maximum of 55 total screen inches) will remain in place. The 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour will allow FFS, since all qualifiers earned their spot under the 2025 rules.
The coin flips (deciding which events allow live sonar and which will not) will be streamed during a live show on Sept 4 at 10am CT on Bassmaster.com.
11. MN: Bunch of zebra mussel updates
Zebra mussels confirmed in Fox Lake (Becker County).
Zebra mussels, larvae confirmed in Cedar Lake (Scott County) and Big Marine Lake (Washington County).
Low densities of zebra mussel larvae found in Vermilion, Kabetogama, Crane and Namakan lakes (St. Louis County).
12. MN: 36th-annual Ice Fishing Extravaganza is Jan 31
At 'Hole in the Day Bay' on Gull Lake. The largest charitable ice-fishing contest on the planet. They’ve donated over $4.5 mil to charity! And the event has a $3 mil economic impact on the Brainerd Lakes Area each year. Insane!
13. WI: Battle on Bago, Feb 20-21
Over $475K in prizes.
14. Gale Soft-Shell Pullovers marked way down
15. MN DNR proposal: Yellow bass limit going from 30 to 100...
...on Fairmont Chain lakes.
16. SCHEELS has a bunch of goodies on sale
Mooch Minnows, Ned BLTs, Hit Sticks, Plano 3700s, Bandit Walleye Deep Divers, PowerSwitch, Flat Worms, hats, rods, reels, you name it..... Some of it is over half off! Can snoop thru it all right here.
|
|
|
17. Last chance to get it on our Bill Lewis giveaway!
Have a shot at winning a $400 spread of walleye-catchers from Bill Lewis!!! Including the PWC Light, ScopeStik and Depth Strike so you’ve got the water column covered from top to bottom.
Takes just 10 seconds to enter and can share the link you get for bonus entries. Good luck!
|
|
|
Some big weather changes have been rolling thru...for sure going to change things. I’ll be thinking of my buddies that are fishing derbies lol.
|
|
|
It's "Walleye Wednesday" tho some folks like to call it "Hump Day" and this one posted by Hungle Outdoors on IG covers both bases. 😅
|
|
|
Back atcha in a couple 👊 thanks SO much for reading!
|
|
|
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.)
|
|
|
FRIENDS OF 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!
|
|
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
