Would you nail this walleye-fishing trivia? 🛎️
|
|
|
Here's a cool little piece of walleye history from a Lindner's Angling Edge FB post:
> Hair jigs are one of the oldest walleye baits, dating back to their first use during WWII. It's a very simple concept: just hair lashed to a jig head. Yet, it remains a very effective way to catch fish and something that stays in our boats throughout the entire fishing season.
> Part of its effectiveness is that it is very different than most baits that are trying to represent a minnow or smaller fish forage. A hair jig can also imitate various other forage options. We will use this bait often during bug hatches...it seems to be the best and one of the only things that can really match them.
> These days, the range of materials, including marabou, craft fur, and others, enhances its versatility. A marabou-dressed jig swims a lot differently and can represent leeches or small baitfish.
> The way these jigs swim also provides versatility in how they can be fished. It's not like a jerkbait where it needs to be worked slowly – hair jigs can be burned or pop quickly at times. They can be fished effectively at both fast and slow speeds, depending on the conditions and the fish's mood.
That post also had a glorious shot of a biggun with a face full of VMC Moontail Jig in the 'firetiger' flavor:
|
|
|
But let’s go back in time a bit to see if this jogs some memories:
> Al Lindner: During our early days of guiding in the 1960s, my brother Ron and I began writing articles for Fishing Facts magazine. At that time, a hair jig crafted of bucktail were among the most successful walleye lures across the Midwest. The Doll Fly and a Jack Crawford Jig were favorites, either white, black, or school-bus yellow. The Upperman Jig, made in Minnesota, was another popular one and in Iowa, it was Cap’s Rockeroo.
|
|
My 'crawler cooler setup 🪱
|
|
|
Options are endless when it comes to keeping those squirmy fish-catchers from melting. You can make it as difficult (spendy, high-tech options) or as simple (coffee can or the container they come in) as you want to...so use whatever works best for you!
Except this:
|
|
|
I always love hearing what other folks are using so figured it’s time to share what’s been working well for my style of fishing the past couple of years: The Coleman Pro 9-Quart Hard Cooler. It’s not actually designed for bait, but works great, so here's a little rundown of "The Real Cheater Box." 😂
|
|
|
Of course the most important feature for a day on the water? It does a great job keeping 'em cool – duh!
- Few other reasons I chose this one...
- It’s a nice size that can hold a couple dozen crawlers, or a dozen dozen!
- Single, heavy duty latch that you can flip with one hand.
- It’s compact but beefy...feels bulletproof.
- Low profile so it fits on the bottom shelf in my garage fridge.
- Grippy, rubberized boots so it doesn't slide around.
- Has anchor points/tie-downs for you folks running BIG water.
- Antimicrobial treatment to the interior helps protect it from odor causing bacteria.
- Flat on top in case I need a surface to write on.
- Can support up to 300 lbs so you can use it as a seat or step.
Most coolers get so much deeper when they get bigger, and I didn’t want to have to be digging shoulder deep to get to ‘em on bottom. Also needed to make sure it would fit in the bottom shelf of my garage fridge!
Exterior dimensions: L 13.50”, W 9.45”, H 9.17”
Interior dimensions: L 11.5”, W 6.5”, H 7.5”
Of course you can just throw a Ziploc bag with some ice in there...but after enough time the condensation can make a mess.
I ended up buying a 4-pack of slim ice packs (4.75” x 0.5” x 7”) off Amazon for less than $10 that work slick. Can fit two laying side-by-side on the bottom. And on really hot days I'll add the other two along the sides.
|
|
Anywho...this is just what's been working well for me the last couple of seasons.
If you're in need of one, it looks like Scheels has 'em in stock right here.
|
|
Reading walleye reactions on forward-facing sonar 📝
|
|
|
"...pay attention to how that fish is reacting and what you're doing to make it react. That's really where you start figuring out how to trigger those walleyes."
- That's Dylan Nussbaum talking on the Whiskey 'n Walleye Podcast on how he really uses FFS to learn what's going on in those fish's brains.
With forward-facing sonar, finding the fish isn't necessarily the hardest part anymore..... But how do you figure out what actually gets those walleyes to bite? Here's more from Dylan:
> "Pay attention to every little detail – what did you do to get that fish to go? What bait were you using? Did that fish care what you threw at it? Did you throw another bait at it and suddenly it went after that one? Those are all little mental notes you start building over time.
> "I've got a bunch of rods on the deck, and if I grab a Rapala Jigging Rap and throw it at a fish, I can usually tell almost instantly by the way that fish reacts what I need to do next.
> "Sometimes I can reel that Jigging Rap up and get it away from the fish to make it chase. Sometimes I can take it down to the bottom or work it up in the water column. Other times, I can tell right away that I need to get rid of that bait completely and grab something else.
> "If I throw a Jigging Rap at one and it doesn't go after it, I can usually tell from that reaction whether I need to pick up a [Z-Man] Jerk ShadZ or throw a jig and crawler at it instead.
> "That's where all those little mental notes and time on the water really start to pay off. You're not just using FFS to find the fish. You're watching how each fish reacts and using that information to decide whether to change the retrieve, change where the bait is in the water column, or change baits altogether."
|
|
Should we start fishing glide baits for big walleye? 🤔
|
|
|
Not talking about a Rapala Jigging Raps this time.... We’re talking BIG 6"+ glide baits that are more popular in the bassin' and muskie worlds.
Check out a piece of this insane vid from Berkley bait designer Kyle Peterson hooking up with a biggun on a glide bait while muskie fishing. 👀 One of the coolest walleye eats I've seen captured:
|
|
Ever try the 'Gobius' for walleye? 🧐
|
|
|
That bait is the Z-Man Gobius and the man behind the camera is Z-Man's Jonathan Deitz...or I guess DietZ. 🤣
Jonathan's been tearing the walleye up since Z-Man came out with the Gobius – here’s what he said about 'em:
> “I honestly never imagined a Z-Man Gobius would be the best casting walleye bait I’d ever used. Over the last 2 seasons it’s become my absolute go-to anytime I cast around any kind of rock. You can throw this bait into riprap, boulders, gravel, it doesn’t matter and it doesn’t get hung up. Walleyes flat out EAT this joker. I’m obsessed with it....”
His go-to is a 3/8 oz Gobius in “the deal” color:
|
|
|
Obviously it’s gonna catch ’em in lakes with gobies, but did you also know that there’s a species of walleye candy called the “sculpin” (Mottled sculpin and Slimy sculpin) that are native in more waters than you’d think? 🤫 Google ’em. Learn ’em. Walleyes devour ’em.
|
|
|
Here's a few more juicy colors depending what you're trying to mimic:
|
|
|
He was targeting smelt-relating fish on deeper breaklines:
> “I was fishing points and little cups that provided relief from the current. It wasn’t a small spot...it was two long shoreline stretches about a half mile. You could see bait, mostly smelt, sitting out in 50’, and the current would push the bait up to 30’ or 35’. That’s where the walleyes would get aggressive. The shallowest walleye I caught during the tournament was 20’ and that one was sort of a fluke.”
Caught ‘em with a 1-2 punch of soft plastics and glide baits. 🥊
His plastic of choice was the Rapala CrushCity Mooch Minnow (pearl white) rigged on a 3/8-oz VMC RedLine Series Tungsten Swimbait Jig with a 3/0 hook.
> “When they were staying still and positioned higher up in the water column, that’s where I’d throw the Mooch Minnow. If they were lower or moving, that’s when I’d throw the #7 Jigging Rap.
His best Jigging Rap colors were chrome blue, bluegill, and white glow colors...and he swapped the belly hook with a #6 VMC Bladed Hybrid Treble. 🤫
|
|
|
Can’t wait to see how it all goes down!
2. More proof that bass will eat anything.... ⛳️🏌️♂️
> LIV golfer Charl Schwartzel learned that the hard way during LIV Golf New York at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster over the weekend, when his tee shot on the 134-yard, par-3 seventh hole landed on the green before spinning backward and rolling toward the water.
> The instant Schwartzel's ball hit the pond, a fish – seemingly a largemouth bass – exploded from the water and gobbled it up like someone had just tossed a topwater lure directly onto its head.
Can’t make this stuff up LOL:
|
|
|
Cut all the arms off an urchin and you're good to go!
3. MN: 10K+ dead fish washed ashore on Mille Lacs
Major die-off due to the extremely high water temps (77-80°F) over the last month, which have finally come back down the last couple of weeks. Some walleye, pike, bass and muskie, but sounds like 90%+ of ‘em were tullibees:
> Die-off events for cisco [aka tulibee] in Mille Lacs occur almost every year.... The fish is a cold-water species, and [Mille Lacs] represents the southern end of its range.
> The cisco that are dying are from a very abundant 2024 year class, the biggest on record, which is why it is so visible this year compared to others.... ...it’s not uncommon to see other species mixed in as well later in the summer from heat stress and added hooking mortality.
> The maximum temperature for cisco is 70 degrees...and other cold-water species like pike and walleye start to become stressed at 74 degrees.
> ...Mille Lacs is what’s known as a “polymictic lake.” The water continually mixes throughout the summer, because it is relatively shallow compared to its surface area. This means oxygen is continually distributed throughout the water column. So fish in Mille Lacs don’t usually struggle for lack of oxygen – but there is no refuge from the warm water, even in the deeper areas.
Btw Mille Lacs wasn’t the only lake affected. As of late July, the DNR knew of more than 200 mortality events.
4. Have you seen Rapala's new High Capacity Line Remover?
One of the many new products they have coming down the pipeline.
|
|
|
More details to come and sounds like their website will be done ‘round the end of the month.
7. onX Fish Expands to Kansas
Now available in MN, WI, MI, ND, SD, IN, OH, IL, IA, MO, MT, KS.
Right now newcomers can save 30% off an annual onX Fish membership during their Labor Day Sale, which runs thru Sept 8.
I absolutely love the OnX Fish app. And they have been adding a ton of awesome new features lately like Wind on Map, Verified Catch Zones, and way more.
|
|
|
8. Dan McGuire is speaking at the next TCWU meeting
Happening Thurs, Sept 3 at the Bloomington Event Center. Everyone is welcome – Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited meetings are open to the public.
> Dan [owner of Big River Angling Adventures] is a USCG-licensed captain, licensed Wisconsin guide, and angling educator who has been breaking down the Mississippi River for decades. He spends every opportunity honing his river fishing skills and studying the seasonal movements and patterns of Mississippi River walleyes.
I 10/10 trust the fishing advice from anybody who already had these kind of sunglasses tan lines by April!
|
|
|
“Everybody used to fish on bottom or within 5 feet of the bottom. Now, we’re finding a lot of fish are 5 feet down over 50 feet of water.”
- That’s 19-year old Jayden Wendel talking in this Todd Ceisner In-Fisherman post. Jayden made history in June with a National Walleye Tour win on the Great Lakes. This week, he's chasing a championship on his home waters of Lake Sakakawea.
|
|
|
Few more lines from this In-Fisherman post talking how forward-facing sonar technology continues to evolve, and how the young guns of the sport aren’t getting stuck fishing memories....
> ...a new generation of anglers who didn’t grow up studying the Troller’s Bible are taking the reins of the sport, Wendel among them.
> “Right now, I feel like I’m hitting it at the perfect time,” he said. “Fishing is different with (live sonar). I think it helps to have a young mind to learn it quicker. We’re not set in our ways in how we’ve always done things and I think that’s the biggest factor.”
> It’s also changed how the tournaments play out. For a long time, trolling was viewed as a useful and efficient way to present multiple baits (in accordance with local regulations) and cover big swaths of water. Now, many pros opt to pinpoint individual fish or groups of them using live sonar and then cast to them.
> Wendel said he hasn’t touched a trolling rod in more than two years, meaning every fish he’s thrown at and caught has been a blip on a screen.
> “Back in the day, I feel like it was who you knew and the spots you knew. The game is adapting. Now, we’re able to find fish in spots no one thought they were at and you can have them to yourself. It’s a whole different perspective on how we fish. I feel like before, everybody used to fish on bottom or within 5 feet of the bottom. Now, we’re finding a lot of fish are 5 feet down over 50 feet of water. It’s just a lot different. I feel like we don’t get stuck in old ways.”
|
|
|
This "wacky", to say the least, Walter was caught by U.S. Army vet Wayne Nitka on a recent Wounded Warriors United Wisconsin trip on Lake Winnebago. Sorta reminds me of a cartoon car that hits the brakes too hard and bows up:
|
|
|
Nice catch Wayne, and thank you for your service! 🙌
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
