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Duane Hjelm is en fuego! 🔥 |
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Sheesh! Where to start.... 😳
Walleye pro Duane "Dewey" Hjelm won the Green Bay NWT outta Marinette, WI with a 2-day total (10 fish) of 73.40 lbs = 1st-place payday of $101,322! |
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Duane said he drove 30-40 miles north from Marinette – staying on the west shore and heading up towards Big Bay de Noc. There, 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'.
> "I wasn't making a cast unless I saw a fish. I had my head down on my Lowrance ActiveTarget the whole time. You knew you were casting on or around fish. I never really understood it until I fished Green Bay, but these walleyes never stop moving. They are constantly on the swim, and you can just watch them come and go on the graph. You'll get super excited, and then they'll completely vanish."
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."
Said they saw 5 or 6 schools right off the bat at their starting spot, but they weren't interested at all. Then all of a sudden they'd get a 45-min bite window where they'd catch 3 or 4. Then a lull. Then another bite window. Walleyes being walleyes!
> "Winning any of these tournaments is a huge accomplishment. I don't take any of this for granted. I'm super blessed and super grateful. I know what it takes to win one of these, and to walk away with another one is crazy. Two weeks ago I married my longtime girlfriend Valerie, and my parents have been traveling with us for the last few events. It's overwhelming the amount of support I've received lately. They all plan on coming to [the NWT championship at] Dunkirk too."
BIG congrats, man! 🙌 Tho it doesn't stop there...
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Then last week, Duane Hjelm and Tyson Keller won the National Team Championship on Lake Oahe out of Mobridge, SD. You wanna talk about some stiff competition, they were fishing against 256 other teams from 20 states that had to fish their way (aka qualify) to get in! Came out on top and fattened their fishing fund by $121,995. 🤑 |
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Sounds like it was an extremely tough bite out there...in fact there were only 11 single-day limits caught during the 3-day event, and 492 blanks with teams not weighing a single walleye ( full results here).
Believe the teams could only have 2 fish over 20" each day and no culling was allowed. So some difficult decisions had to be made on keeping fish or sending 'em back in hopes of bigger ones, especially if they came in the morning. Can't imagine what it would have taken to win if all 5 fish could have been "overs" instead....
Duane and Tyson only weighed 9 fish during the 3-day derby, but they were on some absolute UNITS. Check this out:
- Day 1: Weighed 3 fish for 14-11
- Day 2: Weighed 2 fish for 21-15 👀
- Day 3: Weighed 4 fish for 21-15
Madness! Apparently they burned close to 50 gallons of fuel PER DAY. Running and gunning with their electronics and never spending more than 10 minutes on any one particular spot before moving. Sounds relaxing 😅😮💨 but obviously worth it.
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"There's not many places where you can catch walleyes that make a 28" fish small!" |
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- That caption is talking about Lake of the Woods, where Brian Konz (right) caught himself a fish of 1,000 lifetimes – a 34" walleye!!! – while playing around in the muddy basin. Thing absolutely dwarfs the 28-incher (left) next to it. 🤯 |
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Believe they were pulling cranks on leadcore to get 'em down deep for those basin-dwellers, but don't know for sure...these fellas are always super secretive with the specifics hahaha! Guess I would be too if I were catching 34" walleyes in MN. |
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Where Tom Boley is finding mid-summer Walleye Now. 🎯 |
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By the middle of summer, a ton of walleyes have migrated to outside weed-edges near the basin. Here's Tom Boley showing you exactly what he's looking for in this "Location of the Month" so you can duplicate and track down walleyes on your home water: |
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I don't think there's anyone who kicks out more new walleye video content than Tom Boley – dude is a machine. And if you haven't heard 👀 he has a new phone app called "Walleye Now" that can help you catch a limit of tasties:
> Tom Boley: "The Walleye Now app puts you on the fast track to walleye fishing success. Select the time of year and body of water you're fishing, and get detailed videos showing the best locations and presentations for that situation. Walleye Now is the largest library of walleye fishing information in the world!"
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Tom Huynh's ultimate goal is to... |
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...make the Bassmaster Classic?!?! 👀 Seriously.
***other walleye tourney anglers rejoice*** 🤣🤣🤣
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This is the dude who is winning national-level walleye tournaments skipping docks...or flipping TX-rigged crayfish plastics at riprap...you name it.... Off-the-wall stuff with BIG results.
Up until just a couple years back, Tom Huynh had never even caught a limit of walleyes.... Now he's arguably the hottest professional walleye angler in the sport right now, winning – or maaaaybe finishing 2nd lol – in dang near every walleye event he fishes.
> "In 2015, at 35 yrs old, he purchased his first boat. Shortly after, he was scratching his competitive itch on the Bassmaster Opens. It wasn't until the pandemic caused a complete schedule makeover that the [he] was forced to explore other options closer to home."
And those other options were walleye derbies for the Moorhead, MN resident. But:
> "Before the pandemic, the ultimate goal for me was making the Bassmaster Classic, and that's still the ultimate goal. I'm working on a few business things to be able to fish both the NWT and the Bassmaster Opens next year."
Those snippets are from a really interesting read, on a REALLY interesting dude, in this post on Mercury's "Dockline Blog" talking a little about Tom Huynh's past, present, and possible future.
Wherever this dude decides to go, I'll be following along thru the computer screen. Unless I can finagle my way into his boat someday HA! 🤞
Keep doing your thing, Tom! Whatever that thing is....
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"I'd say this walleye has a good side and a very, very bad side." |
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- That's Eric Scrivner talking about a 29.5" bruiser he caught from the 'yak!
The good side:
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> Eric: "I think it was just a whole bunch of lymphocystis, but I've never seen it so unilateral on a fish. Maybe not the most aesthetically pleasing fish to look at, but she seemed healthy otherwise. And I don't care how lumpy she is...a 29.5" walleye is still beautiful to me. 😍"
No doubt!
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> BRP Inc. and its marine group recently announced the all-new Rotax outboard models at its dealer event in Salt Lake City, UT. The engine announcement paired with the unveiling of new models from the manufacturer's Manitou pontoon and AlumaCraft lineups for May 2023.
> The new Rotax outboard engine with "Stealth Technology" is initially offered in 115hp and 150hp....
> The new outboards are partially submerged underwater, hidden under the boat, and therefore frees up valuable space at the stern.
> ...Rotax outboards allow for up to 20% improved fuel efficiency compared to traditional outboard engines, along with a 12% reduction in reportable emissions and a 98% reduction in carbon monoxide at idle.
> The Rotax outboard will be featured on some of the newest boats from the BRP Marine Group including AlumaCraft's 2023 Competitor and Trophy models....
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The NWT championship is happening Aug 24-26 on Lake Erie. Always hear a ton of hype about Erie's western basin, so it will be interesting to see how it all goes down 200 miles to the east.
> The Washington Post recently analyzed [hundreds of thousands of] Airbnb listings to determine where and what the Midwest is – an effort to define both the boundaries and the culture of the region.
> It turns out walleye is "the most Midwestern thing on the planet" with the most mentions in Midwest Airbnb listings, according to the analysis."
> About 29.8 mil walleye fry were stocked in Fort Peck Reservoir in June with another 1 mil fry going into Tongue River Reservoir.
> In addition, roughly 3.2 million fingerlings from the Fort Peck and Miles City hatcheries have been released into 17 water bodies this summer....
Aka folks already catching their limit, then going back out later that same day and keeping fish again. Would hate to be these guys, but obviously would never put myself in that kind of situation. Fun chuckling at from a distance tho!
...less plastic and more contact with the products.
> "Not all fishing tackle products require plastic packaging – and getting rid of the excess materials is an easy way to reduce our carbon footprint.
> "When it's necessary to use plastic...we've shifted to using recyclable plastics, and aim to further develop the packaging into a more ecological direction. We believe the markets are ready to rethink the way packaging is done. For us, this is one of the first steps towards our goal of having all our lures in plastic-free packaging, product design permitting."
> "With our new packaging design, the customer gets to actually see and touch the product before making the purchase. There's no plastic to obscure the life-like colors or prevent anglers from feeling the detailed textures of the lures...."
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It's beneficial to some retailers as well:
> "Large chain stores are required to report their annual waste production – and pay fees, accordingly. If you belong to that group of retailers, having packaging made entirely from cardboard makes that process much simpler and cost-effective. We're proud to say the new packaging design doesn't just cover the bases our previous packaging did. Instead, it throws in a handful of valuable benefits to make the deal even better!"
...which has nothing to do with tackle 😜. Helps search for waterbodies and has regs.
...but of course that's relative to the prior Q3 which was waaaay up:
> Total company net sales in the 3rd quarter declined 5% to $203.8 mil compared to the prior year's record-high 3rd fiscal quarter. Key contributing factors include: Fishing sales declined by 12% driven primarily by ongoing supply chain disruptions....
Their other 3 sales categories were up (camping +32%, watercraft +10% and diving +7%).
Sounds like most companies are uncertain about the rest of '22 and also 2023.
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Few TargetWalleye.com Highlights
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What's 🔥 on Target Walleye's YouTube 🎥
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Dropshots aren't just for bass...they're a simple and efficient way to drop your bait right in front of a walleye's face and know it's fishing in the zone the whole time:
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Don't be THAT fishin' buddy: |
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Gotta be careful of the type of people you hang out with.... |
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Pics seriously don't do those HD patterns justice – you've gotta see 'em in real life – but here's a few others to ogle over: |
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Sign up another fish-head!
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Friends of Target Walleye |
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Who is Target Walleye
Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Jay Kumar, 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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P.O. BOX 2782
Baxter, MN 56425
(218) 824 5026
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