If you're getting Target Walleye for the first time, a friend probably signed you up! |
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I don't know who needs to hear this, but... |
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π 'Tis the season. We're coming into the dreaded "dog days of summer" where walleyes can get extra fussy. Snapping a hard-bodied jigging bait and letting it crash back down to the bottom is the ultimate reaction bite and can make walleyes eat even if they don't necessarily want to.
And in case you need a little extra motivation, here's Aaron Jacob Pappas ( @pappppppas) bringing you a fish-of-a-lifetime's worth at 33.25" long X 19" girth! Caught near Park Rapids, MN ripping a "regal shad" color #9 Rapala Jigging Rap in 15' gravel: |
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Get this: AJ was fishing by himself and had NO net in the boat. π§
Here's another wild perspective to help you get your bearings. #SHEESH
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And forget the net, man...you've got bigger issues: |
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Lol. π₯ Congrats brotha! |
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They don't get much bigger than this pic posted by In-Fisherman! π€― Caught by 6-yr-old [!!!] Jason Rosenberger while out for a stroll with his fam. The fish went 34" long X 20" girth and whacked a "fire tiger" color Bandit Walleye Deep Diver. Released to get even more bigger-er: |
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π± Going to be a tough one to beat. Congrats little man! |
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Dude, where's THERE'S my car!
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Know at least a couple fellers that'll be upgrading their units after seeing that: |
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> "I'm sure someone is still trying to reach them about their warranty."
πππππ
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Apparently sheepshead EAT zebra mussels??? |
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Talkin' freshwater drum aka sheepshead. I can't be the only one who didn't know that? π€·ββοΈ
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Wild! Obviously there will likely never be enough drum in a system to eat ALL of the zeebz...but pretty cool to see that those little invasives are not at the top of the food chain, so to speak. More info here. |
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So Mathew Dubs and Jason Trapp's 2-day total (10 fish) of 44-04 landed 'em cash + prizes totaling $101,295! Impressive fellas!!
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Caught 'em trolling purple stickbaits on rock humps about 35 miles north of the AuSable River launch.
On Gull Lake. Already 72 teams registered 'cuz 1) it's a great cause, 2) the fish are usually snapping that time of year, and 3) it has BIG-time payouts. Haven't seen the payout structure for this year's derby yet, but last year the top-3 teams split a chunk of $22.5K!
Last day for the early-bird registration (saves $100) is Aug 4. More info here.
...to stay open the rest of the season.
> "Goldfish are a regulated invasive species which means you can possess them, but not import or release them in Minnesota. You can fish for goldfish with a hook and line, but you may not spear goldfish. Only rough fish may be speared, and goldfish are not considered rough fish. For more information about regulated invasive species."
Huh.... π€
Love the hardware:
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...for its All-Tackle Length record program...requires the potential record catch to be released alive.
...they're restocking 200 high-elevation lakes across the state from an airplane:
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And in case you're wondering: "The fish are between 1-3" long, so they flutter down slowly to the water."
12. MN: Whole bunch of zebra mussel updates:
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Few TargetWalleye.com Highlights
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What's π₯ on Target Walleye's YouTube π₯
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Typically when we're talking about plucking summertime walleyes out of the weeds, it seems like cabbage and coontail are the go-tos β sometimes even milfoil or chara aka "sand grass." But I haven't heard much talk about "eelgrass" or wild celery ( vallisneria americana) as the scientific-y folks call it? Stuff that looks like this: |
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I stumbled on this bite on accident...sort of.... Was up poking around for walleyes on a long, slow-tapering point β hitting that 10-14β² cabbage/coontail mix where the fish usually are on this central-MN lake β and striking out.
It was sunny and pushing 90 degrees, with water temps on the verge of bath water (81Β°F). I had seen several fish on my Humminbird MEGA Down Imaging hidden in the weeds, but just couldn't get them to go. Figured the fish must've been straight-up buried down and the odds of 'em even seeing my bait was slim.
Was about to throw in the towel π€¦ββοΈ and figured for the heck of it I'd bomb a cast up on the tippy-top of this point = a 6-9β² flat with scattered eelgrass. Flipped the trolling motor to 10 and juuuust started to turn the boat to get to deeper water β so I could get the heck out of there β when I got "thunked."
What do ya know, it was a chunky 15β³ walleye that absolutely inhaled my 4β³ Impulse Smelt Minnow on a 1/4-oz VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig. Have that combo tied on no matter what lake I'm heading to. Not sure the jig color makes a big difference since snap-jigging is mostly a reaction bite, but I was trying to mimic a tasty-little perch: |
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I like to rig it with 8- or 10-lb Sufix 832 Advanced Superline and a 5-6β² leader of 8- or 10-lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon. Smooth + strong combo and can still feel 'em "donk" the bait on the drop. Heavier leader when snapping out of thick weeds, and drop down to 8-lb for the sparser stuff.
I immediately hit Spot-Lock and fired another cast up top. Ended up catching 3 walleyes in 4 casts [!] snap-jigging my bait so hard that every stroke looked like a hookset...and sometimes was.
Noticed on the 3rd cast (the one where I didn't catch a walleye) I had a piece of "eelgrass" hanging from my bait. The next few casts after that flurry of fish helped me put together the pieces of that puzzle. Ended up catching a couple of largemouth bass, brought in a little more eelgrass, and snagged 2 small-ish perch in the belly. So now I knew what they were feeding on and where.
That "eelgrass" typically grows in 10β² or less...sometimes out to 15β². Likes growing on a semi-hard bottom...like sand covered with a thin layer of muck. It can get thick, but these fish were relating to thinner patches of the stuff. Only thing I can think of is it was enough cover to hold bait (perch) but thin enough that those fish could easily feed in and around it. Especially since the cabbage/coontail mix I normally get 'em out of was soooo thick and overgrown = a nightmare to snap jig through.
The "X" marks the spot(s) where I found 'em relating to that shallow eelgrass, and I highlighted in yellow where I normally catch 'em midsummer on this point:
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You've got your typical "flash bites" for walleye β about 45 minutes near sunrise and sunset β but there seems to be another bite window for these shallow weed fish: they LOVE to eat midday. Not sure what it is β maybe that's when the forage is congregated around these areas?
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"If the fishing is great all summer, do you really need to keep 50-100 walleyes when you're only going to use 20?"
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Congrats man! But I'm still a little jelly: |
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Happy fish-flop Friday! Hope you have a great weekend. |
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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.) |
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Friends of Target Walleye |
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Who is Target Walleye
Target Walleye β walleye during open water and all species during hardwater β 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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