Live sonar banned, My biggest walleye mistake, DIY hook removal ⛑

Long story short, I NEED to start "pre-fishing" all the time, meaning run-and-gun with my electronics if the bite I think should be going isn't. Stop fishing memories – even if those memories are from just an hour earlier – and be better at making on-the-water adjustments to fish the current conditions in the moment.

In my newest YouTube vid, I take you along to a lake I haven't fished all summer and try to show my process of breaking down what the fish are doing and where they may be set up.

After spending several hours running thru a dozen-ish spots, you can see the moment (starting at 11:01) where all the scouting finally paid off: Actually first saw the school of walleyes on my Humminbird's 2D/DI sonar, then swung around 'em with Side Imaging to see how they were set up on the main-lake hump.

The walleyes were fired-up and chasing around schools of baitfish. Literally looked like piranhas on my LiveScope when I threw a bait in the middle of 'em:

Fired-up as those fish looked, I had to cycle thru 3 different baits to get 'em to go...

First cast I rolled a 3" Storm Largo Shad thru 'em...they followed but didn't commit. Crazy.

Second cast was with a 3/16-oz VMC Ned Rig Jig paired with a Z-Man BIG TRD (green pumpkin goby). It's the clip above where they rushed up to it on the drop and then chased it down to bottom...could NOT believe one didn't scarf it!

So my third cast I figured it was reaction bite time – chucked a #9 Rapala Jigging Rap (glow green tiger) in there and leaned into one on my 5th rip of the bait.

The day was also kind of eye-opening in the importance of cycling thru a handful of baits/presentations based on the fish's mood. And their mood seemed to change more quickly than a toddler's LOL.

There have been some seriously heated debates on social media about this the last few weeks. Honestly they're pretty fun to read thru – from a distance lol.

Random factoid: Did you know that this FF sonar technology has literally been out for over 4 yrs already? Of course more folks are using it now and getting way more dialed with new techniques.

I'll try to follow up with some more details soon-ish 'cuz it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out!

Speaking of muskies....

I follow this dude on Instagram whose name is Kamden Glade, a fisheries research specialist at Bemidji State University who studies fish diets in MN...or as he likes to call it: #fishpuke hahaha.

> Kamden: "...we're working on a research project where we collect diets from muskies and other predator fish to see if they're competing for food and how what they eat varies among lakes with different prey availability."

And he's always posting fascinating schtuff from their field research. Like muskies eating birds, muskrats, bowfin, or a white sucker that was 46% of the length of the muskie that ate it:

Crazy! Of course it's not just muskie diets they're studying. You might remember this post of a largemouth bass that had a rather interesting appetite:

> Kamden: "We've seen lots of interesting diets throughout this project, ranging from common (fish and bugs) to unique (small mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles). However, this has to be the weirdest yet! The largemouth bass that gave this sample went through the buffet line and got a fish (tadpole madtom), a small snapping turtle, and a DANG CHICKEN LEG. Just when you think you have fish figured out, they go and do stuff like this. Just another reason that I absolutely love my job!"

Quite the combo! And proof that bass will eat anything lol. But who am I to tell Mr. Bass that those foods don't go together...? I can think of a few other combos I'd run from, but others will tell you are the deal!

• Apple pie and cheddar cheese (sorry dad! 😂)

• Peanut butter and mayo sandwich

• White rice and ketchup

• Pizza and bananas

• Chocolate and avocado

These people ^ walk among us hahahaha!

If you're the Instagrammy type, I definitely recommend giving Kamden a follow. Super cool of him to share these behind-the-scenes happenings with the rest of us. 🙌

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

To send us walleye pics, ice shots or whatever, just respond to this email or click here to email us. Or post it on the Target Walleye Facebook page.

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Baxter, MN 56425

(218) 824 5026

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