Near record ND perch, MN walleye limit debate, Spoon line twist hack 🔥

Heads up! I'm hoping to sneak over to Lake Erie to chase some open-water walleyes (finally, ugh! 😂). It's been a bucket-list trip that I've been trying to pull off the last few years but just hasn't worked out.

I will still be sending out Target Walleye emails, but just wanted to warn you they might be coming at ya off schedule over the next week-ish. I'd probably be the only one on the trip looking forward to those windy 💨 "blow days" stuck back at the cabin so I can snipe up all the WiFi.

Of course the plan would be to bring you fresh, original content here, on Target Walleye's YouTube channel and socials.

I'm all stocked-up on the MONDO #14 Rapala Down Deep Husky Jerks = "go big or go home!" And I don't wanna go home 'cuz they're basically the size of the walleyes I catch around here hahaha:

Few details from this Northland Outdoors write-up below:

> Jake Hanson: "It's really exciting but at the same time it's almost unbelievable. I never thought that would ever happen in my life.

> "I figured at 25 years of age, and my dad is 60-something, he's never seen anything like that before. You see pictures and stuff, but you don't see that in person."

He thought it was going to be a walleye until its head popped out of the hole:

> "As soon as I saw the head come up, I was just kind of in shock. So I kind of helped its way out of the hole because I didn't want to pull the hook out of its lip."

Big congrats, man!

That fish looks eerily similar to this one posted by Ray Welle a couple years back. Can't remember if it was 2.8 lbs or 2 lbs 8 oz, but regardless it's an insane fish no matter where you're from – except maybe Europe haha!

Here's a few lines from that ^ original write-up:

> "Kyle landed a supremely fat 2-lb 15-oz yellow perch, breaking the 'old' record set just a week ago [a 2-13 also caught on Devils Lake].

> "...was among a half dozen...weighed in Mon morning that tipped the scales over 2 lbs.

> "He caught the beauty using [a jig and minnow] on 20-lb line.

> "Officials at NDG&F...said Kyle's record will probably stand up at least until next winter's ice-fishing season."

Now going on 40-years strong! That gut is madness:

Anytime you talk about changing regs, folks get a little "passionate" (lol). It's okay to disagree! I always enjoy hearing both sides to any argument. Just don't need to be a 🤡 about it....

My quick-ish 2 cents: I'd be in favor of reducing the walleye limit from 6 fish down to 4.

A lot has changed since 1956 👀 which is when Minnesota's original 6-fish walleye limit was put into place.... IMO it's time to be proactive instead of reactive and reduce Minnesota's daily walleye limit from 6 fish to 4. Why? To help protect the walleye population going forward and ensure our future generations have the same (or better!) walleye fishing opportunities that we are accustomed to today. Of course this is just 1 piece to the big walleye-fishing puzzle.

Please take a few minutes to watch this video and hear how a few other MN walleye-nuts feel about reducing Minnesota's walleye limits:

This Bob McNally write-up on OutdoorLife is loaded with ALL the details. Few snippets below:

> "I got to a spot where a long, deep eddy of water came off a fast-water stretch and started casting a Hell Hound glide bait [with an 8' rod, 100-lb braid and a 175-lb wire leader].

> "I finally made a cast almost across the [100'-wide] river to a shallow shelf on the far bank. I started a retrieve, twitching the plug several times. Then I just felt some weight, not a real hard strike. So I set the hook, and I could feel a fish shaking its head.

> "She stayed deep, kind of bull-dogging...in the mid-depths. The water temperature was a cool 44 degrees, and I'm sure that had much to do with her fight.

> "I've caught plenty of muskies over 50" and knew this fish was a heavy one...."

> ...scooped up the fish with a large landing net. He knew right away that it was a giant, and wanted to measure it, but didn't have a tape or measuring board so he called for help. King eventually reached a friend who knew several state DNR officers, who were contacted. One said he was on his way to meet King at the river's edge.

> Meanwhile, King unhooked the muskie, and had it waiting calmly in his huge landing net in the shallows of the Little Kanawha River.

> Aaron Yeager a DNR assistant fish biologist arrived on the scene with a measuring board and a scale. They taped the fish at 55 1/16" in length, with a 27" girth. They kept the fish alive and frisky in a specially aerated live tank that Yeager had in his truck. Then they trucked the fish to a certified weigh scale at a feed store in the town of Gassaway, where it was officially weighed at 51 lbs.

> "The fish was in great shape in the oxygenated tank that Yeager had, and it was released unharmed back into the river.

> "I never would have put that fish through this process if the water hadn't been cold and it was handled well by a fisheries biologist with a highly-aerated tank. This is all about the fish, and I was for sure going to release this great musky alive and well."

Apparently that wasn't the dude's first run-in with a conservation officer:

> "...had already been convicted of 5 natural resource-related crimes in the past 8 yrs."

🤦‍♂️

2. ND: Spearing for walleyes will be allowed...

...on Devils Lake, Missouri River system and Stump Lake during the darkhouse spearfishing season from ice-up thru Mar 15 each year. More specifically:

> ...Stump Lake and the Devils Lake complex south of U.S. Highway 2 and the Missouri River System (including lakes Sakakawea and Oahe and the Missouri River) up to the first tributary bridge....

And if you think dark-house spearing for walleyes is wild...

3. Did you know “spearfishing” for walleyes is a thing?

Apparently there are seasons in some SD waters – including sections of the Missouri River – where you can use a spear, speargun, bow and arrow, or crossbow to “stick” walleyes and they count towards your normal daily limit. The speargun thing sounds wild.

The current "unrestricted state record walleye" was taken the old-fashioned way.... Derek Stahlman was dark-house spearing when he thwacked this 14-lb 15-oz behemoth (31.5") from Lake Oahe (believe Mobridge area).

4. Great Lakes ice coverage ended ABOVE average.

Peaked in late Feb at about 56%, just above the long-term average of 53%.

Interesting 'cuz mid-January there was lots of concern that the Great Lakes ice coverage was going to be at a record low. Was only forcasted to reach 12% when that article was written, but then of course winter showed up.

5. MT: FWP's shooting for 60 mil eggs...

...from this spring's walleye spawning operation on Fort Peck Reservoir.

6. MI: DNR to collect 24 mil walleye eggs from the Muskegon River...

...this spring with electrofishing boats – they'll be starting as early as this week and concluding by Apr 14.

> DNR crews will strip milt (sperm) and eggs from approximately 350 adult fish, which will be returned to the river – except for 60, which will be sent to Michigan State University for fish health testing.

> "The Muskegon River has the largest run of walleye in the Lake Michigan watershed south of Green Bay."

7. MN: Great Q&A with Walleye Alliance prez Nate Blasing...

...on wanting to reduce the daily walleye limit from 6 fish to 4. Worth a read – Dennis Anderson asks some pretty blunt Qs others might be curious about.

8. OH: Volunteers needed for Rossford Walleye Roundup, Apr 15-16.

9. Mercury expands its high school marine mechanic program.

Btw:

> "In a survey conducted by the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas prior to the pandemic, more than 85% of boat dealers suggested they had multiple positions in their businesses that were unfilled, and in total, marine dealerships across the United States had more than 31,000 unfilled positions due to workforce shortages. The pandemic has only exacerbated these shortages."

10. DC: $1.5 tril spending bill fish/boat-related highlights.

> Interior Dept: Grants $348 mil for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative [which includes] the prevention of aquatic invasive species.... Provides $43 mil for efforts to help prevent the spread of [invasive species] including invasive carp.

> Corps: ...including $350 mil for Everglades restoration, $21 mil for navigation maintenance, $34.5 mil for inland waterway modernization and $45 mil for projects at small or subsistence harbors.

> Directs the [Corps] to account for recreation-based benefits and costs when considering a project, recognizing the growth of the outdoor recreation industry across the 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.

Target Walleye LLC

P.O. BOX 2782

Baxter, MN 56425

(218) 824 5026

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