Back from ICAST (the fishing biz trade show in Orlando) where we got a first look at all the new fishing gear for 2024. I’m still wading trolling through photos and videos – have a bit in today’s TW – but more coming your way soon-ish. Thanks much for reading! |
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It took nearly a 30” average to win on Lake of the Woods. 🤯 |
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Northern-MN hammer Will Pappenfus and Aaron Schmitz won ‘The Woods Goods’ catch-photo-release derby (thru the FishDonkey app) on Lake of the Woods with 5 walleyes totaling 147.75 inches. 😳 Let that soak in! |
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Crazy enough they had the winning bag in just a couple hours of fishing!
Like basically every...single...walleye pro 😅 they’re keeping the specifics on their win ultra secretive because they’ve got to “keep it quiet until they win some more money on it” first LOL. I mean if I was consistently catching 30-inchers and cashing checks in everything I fished, maybe I’d be a little more tight-lipped too hahaha! But I don’t have that problem.
I know these fellas are LiveScope’rs, so I’m assuming [???] they were targeting big, individual, suspended marks and only casting at the ones that looked like submarines on the graph....
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Will did say he had a few rods on deck, and if the fish didn’t want one presentation they would fire back in with the next one.
Those setups he was rotating thru included a mixture of:
- Glide baits on the Elliott Identity ‘Reaction Bait’ rod,
- Throwing plastics including Eye-Candy Paddle Shads on the Elliott Identity ‘Jigs/Plastics’ rod, and...
- A slip-bobber setup on his 2B Genesis “Sharp Shooter" rod which was the longer 8' medium-light moderate model for absorbing those giant head-shakes.
Speaking of giant head-shakes 👀 here’s the other 4 fish on their card. #sheesh
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Insanely impressive, fellas! 👏👏👏 BIG congrats!!
Btw - say what you want about forward-facing sonar, but you've still got to make them bite.
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Plus the majority of other folks fishing the derby had FFS, so....
I have LiveScope, and I never even caught a fish in our local walleye league last night on a walleye-infested Whitefish Chain 🤦♂️ and I was casting at marks alllll daaaang niiiight.
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NEW Rapala Jigging Rap Magnum coming. 🥵
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I seriously cannot wait to take one out for a rip:
*feisty red head not included
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Few quick details and some observations:
It’s 2.75” long (same as a #7 original) but weighs 1-1/8 oz. 💣
Falls fast and true if you’re targeting specific fish on forward-facing sonar so you know it’s hitting them right in the face. Same proven Jigging Rap swimming action on the rip.
Has a solid ONE-PIECE body and fin design...the tails are not separate.
There's a plastic type of finish on the outside similar to what the newer Jigging Shadow Raps feel like imo...seems like it would protect the internal metallic finishes and avoid chipping.
Has a built-in heavy duty swivel on the #5 belly hook to help prevent fish from getting the leverage to throw the bait:
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I haven’t fished with it yet, but after holding it and asking questions from folks who have...I think this is going to do an awesome job of rounding out Rapala’s line of “vertical jigging lures” to now cover all speeds, depths, seasons, etc.... Great compliment to their Jigging Shadow Rap (lighter/slower/shallower) and the OG Jigging Rap (the benchmark) with a now heavier/faster bait for deeper water or current.
But also regardless of depth and current...I see it as being a way to trigger nasty reaction bites from fish that are refusing to eat anything else, or heavily-pressured fish that have maybe gotten accustomed to the “normal” fall rates of reaction baits.
Comes in 15 colors, here’s a quick look at a few more:
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The next time you hear my talk about them will be after I have fished (and caught) with ‘em. I’ll follow up then.... |
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...walleyes are able to “throw” Rapala Jigging Raps and other hard-bodied jigging baits? This one gave the Wired2Fish crew a first-hand look above water: |
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You combine tiny little hooks with the momentum of super heavy baits, and the leverage of those head-shakes might as well be them waving goodbye.
That’s exactly why it’s important to keep steady pressure on ‘em, why guys like Al Lindner recommend running mono (versus braid) to absorb the shock.
ALSO why I think the built-in, heavy-duty swivel on the belly hook of those new Jigging Rap Magnums is such an awesome idea.... 👀
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Have you ever tried “lipping” a walleye before? |
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If you have, you likely won’t ever do it again! Unless you’re MLF (bassin') pro Kyle Cortiana, who must have one heck of a callus built up on that bass thumb.... 😅🩹😤 |
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And he's a repeat offender lol: |
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Reminds me that I put together a list of “ 22 unique ways to hold a walleye” a number of years back. For sure worth hitting up again if you need a chuckle – click the pic below to see ’em all: |
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Should you cut the line or remove the hook? 🤔 |
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On deeply-hooked (aka gut-hooked) fish.
I’ve heard lots of arguments for both sides, so tried to do a little digging. Not a lot of hard info out there, but did come across some....
Little disclaimer: This is an older fisheries research study from 2009 – and they specifically used bluegills in the study – but it has some pretty interesting info that I thought others might be curious to hear. Few excerpts below:
> “Research on a wide range of fish species has revealed that deep hooking is perhaps the single most important determinant of injury and post-release mortality in recreational fisheries. However, there is little information on the best option for dealing with deeply hooked fish that are to be released: should the line be cut or should the hook be removed?
> “...the highest mortality levels in fish for which the hook was removed (33% after 48 h and 44% after 10 days).
> “...for the line-cut treatment (8% after 48 h and 12.5% after 10 days).
> “After 48 h, 45.5% of the fish from the line-cut treatment group were able to expel the hook originally embedded in their esophagus, and at the end of the 10 day study, 71.4% had expelled the hook.
> “Even with the hook left in the esophagus, fish were able to feed although at lower rates than controls during the first 48 h of holding. By 10 days post-capture, there were no differences in feeding rates as evidenced by growth patterns among the treatment groups, nor were there differences in the hepatosomatic index.
> “Collectively, the findings from this study demonstrate that cutting the line is a more effective release method than removing the hook when fish are deeply hooked.
> “As such, angler education efforts should focus on disseminating this message to anglers as well as encouraging the use of gear and techniques that minimize incidences of deep hooking....
Interesting stuff – full scoop here. As with anything, I’m sure there are other studies out there, somewhere, that could say the opposite of the one above. |
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GSM Outdoors is a powerhouse on the hunting/shooting side of the outdoor industry, and then decided to do the same thing in fishing towards the end of 2021. First they bought Yamamoto, then Bill Lewis, then Buckeye Lures and SteelShad Lures...maybe a couple more?
Now they just announced their acquisition of Big Bite Baits, and D&J Plastics (which makes soft plastics for lots of companies) also came with the deal.
I believe they bought in at 49% back in 2019, and now are at 60%.
The write-up says that 13 Fishing's James Coble will retain a 40% share and still run the company.
I am NOT going to stop talking about this amazing video series...it’s that good. What I would consider must-watch stuff if you’re a fan of walleye fishing. It gives a behind-the-scenes look at the highs and lows professional anglers deal with on the National Walleye Tour. This episode kicks off the Lake Francis Case, SD event:
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On Otter Tail Lake.
Comes from Salomon (a cold-weather/winter sports brand) and the write-up says he's a lifelong angler.
Internal promotion.
Aka “forever chemicals.”
> “PFAS is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which encompass thousands of compounds that don’t break down in the environment. They are used in many everyday items like nonstick cookware, water- or stain-resistant clothing or carpeting, cosmetics, and even toilet paper.”
Catch-photo-release format thru the FishDonkey app with both walleye and bass categories.
New this year you can fish any lake within Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Aitkin, Cass, and Crow Wing counties...yup, that means you Brainerd peeps too!
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Btw the Target Walleye + Lindner’s Angling Edge “Legacy Walleye Award” of a lifetime fishing license will be presented to the top-ranking walleye team with a youth (15 or younger) as one of the participants. 👊 |
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Few TargetWalleye.com Highlights
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Reminds me of someone taking a bunch of good walleye baits (jig, bottom-bouncer, ‘crawler harness, spinner) and combining them into one hybrid fish-catcher: |
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You obviously don’t need forward-facing sonar (LiveScope, Mega Live, Active Target) to fish with Death Jigs...try slow-rolling it over the tops of structure with a steady/straight retrieve and letting the twirling crawler do the work: |
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Some folks even troll ‘em or fan cast with them as a search bait.
BUT if you have forward-facing sonar, this thing is nasty for “sniping” those big, suspended marks you see moseying around over deep water just off of traditional walleye structure.
Max says he doesn’t think there’s a bait out there that has produced more 30”+ walleyes for him over the years than it.
He prefers throwing the 3/8-oz size because he can work them slower and keep them in the fish’s face longer. Makes long casts past individual fish and does a slow-rolling retrieve past their face to trigger a reaction.
Try to wait a second or 2 to set the hook after feeling a bite to make sure they chomp the whole rig and aren’t just nipping at the tail.
Another quickie tip to keep it from getting tangled when casting:
> Max: “The key is doing a soft, side-arm lob instead of an aggressive overhead cast. You want to treat it as if you're trying to cast a slip-bobber that you're trying to avoid tangling...I rarely tangle the bait once I dialed that in.”
Typically you’re gonna want to tip it with a nightcrawler, but you don’t have to fish it with live bait if the bite is on. I’ve heard of a lot of folks using things like Uncle Josh Pork Night Crawlers, Slimers, or Gulp! on the business end.
I’ll have more details on how/where/why to fish the Walleye Nation Creations Death Jig coming up, but in the meantime (especially if you have FFS) I definitely recommend playing around with it. |
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“When they spit up what looks to be a big perch and you were wondering if downsizing is really necessary.”
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I needed a little big shot of zander in my life, and this Alessandro Altamura catch did just the trick. Fishing somewhere in Italy with a "pearl" color Westin ShadTeez. Amazing: |
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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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422 Laurel Street
P.O. BOX 541
Brainerd, MN 56401
(218) 824 5026
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