Shore bruiser of the week!

Most folks would stay home on the couch during a nasty 45°F thunderstorm 🥶⛈️ but a Simms’d-out Tyler Flynn isn’t most folks lol. He and his bud had only caught a couple small ones after 3 hours of grinding the banks of Little Bay de Noc, and decided to try one last spot....

He bombed out a #7 Rapala Rippin' Rap and about 3 pumps of the rod later his....

> "...bait got absolutely annihilated. Set the hook Bassmaster style, and this fish just took off ripping drag. I’ve never had a walleye fight so hard in my life before. No headshakes, just long, hard runs. As I got this fish a little closer to shore, I turned on my headlamp expecting to see a huge pike, but the first thing I saw was a giant set of marble eyes."

And she had the belly to match! 🐷

Congrats on the fish of a lifetime, man!

“Ope, ‘scuse me, just gonna sneak past ya and into the storm drain.”

- Hilarious Midwestern-y FB comment from Jason Blackford under an Outdoor Life write-up titled, Fisherman drops a walleye down a storm drain while taking photos, then catches it again:

> “After a photo opportunity gone awry, one ND angler was determined to get his [22”] walleye back – even if it meant casting into a storm drain and catching it a second time. Using a spinning rod and a crankbait, he was able to pull the fish out of the same gutter it fell into. And thanks to traffic cameras maintained by the Valley City Police Department, the whole series of events was caught on camera.”

> Shawn Grim: “...all of a sudden it flip flops onto the street. OK. Not a big deal. I go down to grab it. Boom, boom, boom, right into the drain sewer. It’s like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’”

The posture of pure disappointment when he slowly stands up has me dying. 😂

> As the traffic camera footage shows, Grim then knelt down and looked through the grate, where he could see the walleye below. He tried removing the grate at first, but it was too heavy for him to budge. So, he went over to his car and grabbed his fishing gear.

> Shawn Grim: “I go to my tackle box and I pull out a Rapala [Original Floater], right? Three treble hooks. This thing catches fish. Is it going to catch fish in a storm sewer? We’re going to find out, right?”

> Using a spinning rod, Grim casted his crankbait down into the gutter and tried snagging the walleye. He eventually got a hook in the fish, but it popped out when he reeled up. He patiently cast down again and kept working the lure toward the fish until he hooked it solidly. Then he reeled the walleye in for the second time that day.

> Shawn Grim: “I pull it up, slowly. Grab the fish by the back of the head and slowly pull it out of the deal. So then we stand up, we take the picture away from the gutter, right?”

Yes. Slowly back away from the storm drain with your hands up. 👮‍♂️🚔😅

After watching this InForum news story, Shawn seems like somehow who would be a blast to fish with!

Walleye are one of the best eating fish out there...

...but would you eat THIS one?

I’ll take a hard pass! 🤢

It was caught by Jason Bahr (Head coach for the Brainerd Warrior High School Fishing Team, and owner of Tutt’s Bait and Tackle) in the Brainerd Lakes Area.

> Jason Bahr: “Spent the afternoon with Keith and Mike Peterson, we got into them pretty good, even some doubles. Then I caught this beast, the sores were even bleeding.... It was a 19-incher, I would have taken that [in the tournament] on Saturday, all those extra tumors would have weighed something....”

Thing was so ugly he had to close his eyes lol. But looks like they had plenty of other options for fish tacos that were less bleed-y:

Those fellas can catch 'em!

Top 30 fishing superstitions. 🙅‍♂️🤞

Superstition [sü-pər-ˈsti-shən] noun: A widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief.

We asked Target Walleye fans to drop a comment with their biggest fishing superstitions – good or bad, something they HAVE to do or something that’s NOT allowed on their boat.... Full list on TargetWalleye.com, little 5-piece McPreview below:

• Don’t fill the livewell until you catch one.
• Always dip the net when I start the day.
• Never harvest fish while pre-fishing for a tournament. Never.
• The last numbers on all the line-counters need to be the same.
• Can’t end an open-water or ice season with a pike.

I love these 😂 they make me feel less weird about my habits. Make sure to check all 30 fishing superstitions here.

And just remember...

Have you seen the new Rapala X-Ray yet?

Jordan Powell got his hands on one early.... 😳

Still one of my favorite bait shots of all time lol.

1. Father/daughter duo wins Rainy River “Chili Bowl” 🏆 AGAIN.

BIG congrats to Olivia Olson and Chad Olson on winning Border View Lodge’s “Chili Bowl” walleye tournament on the Rainy River (5 for 18.17 lbs) for the second year in a row! #ChaChing

And it sounds like they won it the exact same way as last year...running #9 Rapala Shad Raps upstream into the current between 1.3-1.8 mph on leadcore. And yet everyone else just keeps jigging with frozen shiners? 🤷‍♂️😅

I have a feeling you’ll be seeing a bunch more teams tying on this bad boy next year:

Hahaha congrats, you two!

2. Acme Tackle acquires Moonshine Lures.

> Acme Tackle Company, made by Hard and Soft Fishing and the makers of Acme, Kalin’s, Beaver Dam, Reef Runner, Uncle Josh, Atom, and Bead, is excited to announce that it has acquired Moonshine Lures.... For the past 17 yrs, Moonshine has manufactured industry-leading Super Glow tackle products, including spoons, flies, dodgers, and the Shiver Minnow.

> Moonshine owners Tom and Beth Gudwer and their team will remain with Acme post-acquisition and will continue to produce the high-quality products that Moonshine is known for.

> Acme prez Robin Hancock: “We have been admirers and users of Moonshine’s lures for many years and couldn’t be happier about adding Moonshine to our growing family of brands. Acme is eager to build on Moonshine’s legacy and will strive to maintain its strong reputation with Salmon, Trout, Walleye, and Striper anglers while growing the brand through new product development and expanding its sales channels.”

> Acme vp of sales and marketing Matt Bichanich: “Moonshine’s Super Glow tackle products, spoons, and Shiver Minnow are some of the most effective lures out there – they are all fish-catching machines. I am very excited to add the Moonshine brand and its products to our portfolio and look forward to bringing them and more to our collective customers.”

> Moonshine Lures owner Tom Gudwer: “Acme is the perfect fit for us. I am delighted that the Moonshine Lures brand and products will be supported by a company that is as dedicated to quality as I am and has the resources to take Moonshine to new heights. I would also like to thank all of our anglers and stores for supporting us over the years and helping to build our brand. I know the Acme team will carry the Moonshine legacy forward with each one of you.”

Congrats to both sides! 🤝

3. OH: Lake Erie ‘Fall Brawl’ double-digit update.

Charles Reed Jr is currently leading it with a 10.07-lber (29.75") he caught from the bank yesterday!

Props man!

And get this: 8 of the top-15 walleyes weighed so far have been caught from SHORE versus in a boat. How cool is that?!

4. IN: Dude CAUGHT a cell phone...

...that a lady had lost a year earlier and it still worked! He posted a pic of the lock screen in a FB group and they were able to track down the owner.

5. Garmin introduces Next-Gen ECHOMAP Ultra 2 Series.

Gotta quickly mention one thing that instantly caught my attention, and something I’ve been dreaming of for years:

> Wireless Networking: Share sonar, waypoints and routes with another ECHOMAP Ultra 2 or ECHOMAP UHD2 chartplotter on the boat, reducing the need to drill extra holes in the boat, while also keeping the deck space free from the clutter of extra cables.

Ohhhh, and it also looks like you can now screen record your LiveScope catches thru the ActiveCaptain app, something I believe you could only do on the highest-end GPSMAP units before.

6. St. Croix announces exclusive partnership w/ MITO Material Solutions.

> “75-yr-old American fishing rod manufacturer offers expanded performance and increased angler benefits via the world's only functionalized graphene technology.

> “Graphene is a single-atom-thick honeycomb layer of carbon that is harder than diamond yet more elastic than rubber, tougher than steel yet lighter than aluminum. Graphene is currently the strongest and stiffest material known to man. It’s 200x stronger than steel, stronger than diamond, and 30x stronger than Kevlar.” 👀🤯

7. MN: Tom Huynh is speaking at the TCWU meeting Nov 2.

Everyone is welcome – Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited meetings are open to the public. And man what a fascinating brain to get to pick. 🔨

8. Merc’s Eric Nelson elected Chair of the NMMA Canada BOD.

> Eric Nelson, Vice President of Sales of Marketing at Mercury Marine has been elected Chairperson of the NMMA Canada Board of Directors, bringing more than 25 yrs of experience in the marine industry.

Other recent officer elections on the NMMA Canada Board of Directors include:

• Vice Chair: Krista Sparkes, Sales Management, Canada at Smoker Craft, Inc.

• Secretary: Marc-Andre Deschenes, Senior Advisor, Public Affairs and Government Relations at BRP North America.

> Marie-France MacKinnon, exec dir of NMMA Canada: “Eric, Krista, and Marc-Andre bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their new roles on the NMMA Canada Board of Directors and helping to advance the interests of the recreational boating industry. Their guidance will be instrumental as we seek to promote and protect the many businesses and boaters who make up the CAN recreational boating community."


> Eric Nelson: “As a passionate executive and lifelong boater, I’m looking forward to working with the board and members to understand the key issues that are concerning them today and in the future.”

9. DC: Recent federal funding for recreational fishing.

'Infamous walleye cheater now charged with deer poaching.'

Woof. 🫣

Tom Boley GUARANTEES you’ll catch more walleyes...

...if you watch this YouTube video on pitching jigs from a couple falls back. Some really good nuggets in here, in typical Tom Boley fashion:

Meme of the Day

Funny one shared by Future Angler Foundation – the kids are counting on you!

> From Future Angler Foundation: “Help us pass the sport of angling on to future generations! Your donations go directly toward our mission to “Create New Anglers” by working with individuals and organizations throughout the United States to expose potential new anglers of all ages to the sport of fishing and educate them on how to catch fish and protect the resource.”

Moments like this are what it’s all about

Here's one way to thaw out! Danny Alverson having himself a little (planer) "board meeting" after smacking some Lake Erie walleyes:

Thanks SO much for reading! 👊 Have a great + safe weekend!!