> The first snells we did were only 6″ long and had ‘pink’ 6-lb mono…one small little [Eagle Claw] hook for nightcrawlers…this was before leeches were being fished for walleye. Al and I caught fish after fish after fish…we kept records…seemed like the best one was with the short leader.

> I like the bait near the sinker itself. I think fish are attracted to the thumping — you are fishing it like a jig.

Wonder when super-short rigs (s’more throwback info here) are gonna make a comeback?

That reminds me…gonna need to play around with the Mission Tackle Jig’n Crawler Harness this season. Takes probably the 2 most popular walleye fishin’ techniques — jigs and rigs — and combines ’em into one unit:

Speakin’ of Mission Tackle — they need a plant manager in Bemidji, MN.

2. Lake Erie: Perch numbers still good?

But apparently their new diets are making ’em harder to catch. Half their diet used to be made up of baitfish (mostly emerald shiners), but now they’re eating 80% invertebrates and 20% baitfish:

> “With the waning emerald shiner population…perch have backed off eating fish and aren’t hanging around on the bottom anymore.

> “And instead of congregating in larger schools, anglers and scientists believe perch are spreading out in the water column, making it more difficult to locate, hook and land them.”

Lot of really interesting info in this James Proffitt write-up talking perch and emerald shiner populations, movements, habits, and how it’s all affecting the fishery and local businesses.

3. There’s a new trolling app in town.

Called the Troll Master Depth Calculator. Haven’t tried it yet but word it has a “4.8 rating on both app stores, with over 2,000 users.” Lifetime license — with free updates as they add baits — is under $20 bones.

Uses a “physics-based calculation to determine lure depth:”

> Trevor Lewis: “I’m an engineer by trade, so that background + my lifelong interest in fishing is what led to the development of the app. The way it works is that it uses a physics-based calculation to actually determine the curved shape of the line underwater. It does this by taking into account all of the drag and sinking forces that different pieces of tackle impose on the line….”

Can click the pic below for a video screen capture of the app in use:

4. NY: Fishing brings some serious $$$ in.

Not just a New Yawk thing, but check out the size of this number from 2017 in “The Empire State.” #ChaChing

> “…an estimated $2.1 bil [!!!] of economic activity was generated [from freshwater anglers] and 10,961 jobs were supported in 2017 in NY.