Heads up: This might be the only Target Walleye this week. I’m wrapping things up from the airport on my way to Oneida Lake, NY for a couple days of chasing fish and playing with some new gear (more on that later). Thanks so much for reading! 👊 Here we go....

...have a little look-see at this curvy bugger Dylan Nussbaum weighed at the National Team Championship on Green Bay last week:

He was bomb casting 1/4-oz VMC Twitchin’ Jigs in 4-7’ while “targeting rock-to-sand transitions or boulders with sand patches.”

I believe those Twitchin’ Jigs are geared for the salmon/trout/steelhead crowd (???) but that hasn’t stopped me before. 🤣

Comes in 14 wild color patterns. Dylan was throwing the natural “bling” color (top) at super spooky, shallow-water fish...but here’s a preview of some of the other colors that sure look like walleyes would loooove to munch under the right conditions:

Has that 2X strong, extra-long-shank TechSet Hook with the Technical Locking Curve and moon-eye head we all love so much. It’s made with “billowing skirts of rabbit hair, tinsel, Flashabou and living-silicone,” so it maintains its shape in the water.

Here’s how Dylan was working ‘em:

And when he says “see a fish,” he’s talking about the original forward-facing sonar 👀 aka his 1998 Peepers with the OU 20/20 transducer. 🤣

Yup! Sight fishing for walleyes while standing on an aluminum painter’s platform!

Man, that would be SO wild! Especially when catching fish of THIS caliber. 🤯

Amazing stuff! 👊 And a big thx to Dylan for the details, pics, and putting up with my annoying questions all of the time lol.

That’s the headline of this Dennis Anderson StarTribune write-up. It’s an interesting read, but definitely a little dramatic imo....

Love it or hate it, forward-facing sonar (LiveScope, MEGA Live, Active Target) is here to stay. It absolutely can help you to find more fish, and make perfect casts at them...but that also doesn’t mean they’re going to bite.... Unless you’re fishing for bass. 😉

Of course there’s days where it’s the deal! But there’s also days where I KNOW it’s hurting me...because I’m squatting on walleyes that just aren’t eating, and it’s tough to leave those ‘blobs’ on the screen to go look for active fish instead.

Last Tuesday we had our local walleye league on Pelican Lake.... Buddy and I were running 2 separate LiveScope units in the boat on a lake I’m very familiar with. We were casting at pods of fish for 3 hours straight – on 5 different spots – and never had a bite.

Finally boated our first and only walleye of the night (just 10 minutes before weigh-in) when we stopped looking at the screen and started throwing a Ned Rig up shallow in just 5-6’ or so. Wonder how many we could have caught if we had been doing that the whole time? 😅

There were 20 boats that weighed fish in that night...and we ended up in 19th place with a whopping 1.19 lbs 🤦‍♂️ LOL. We had a ridiculous amount of technology in our boat that evening (the first time we’ve ever ran 2 LiveScope units at the same time) and the fish still won. It’s still called “fishing” and not “catching.” Oh, and numerous other teams caught fish without using live sonar....

But hey, without “live sonar” I might not have caught this massive bowfin (aka dogfish) that we both SWORE was a walleye all the way until it hit my Clam Fortis Net. 😂 Since when are dogfish this color lol:

Sometimes those “blobs” you’re casting at are not the walleyes you think they are....

TW fan Quinn Cummings caught that little meat pig somewhere in Aitkin County, MN. Said he was drifting over shallow gravel/rock with an 1/8-oz Lindy Live Bait Jig and shiner:

Btw if you zoom in on the graph in the background, you can get a nice little sneak peak at the type of stuff he was fishing, and it even looks like there’s a couple other fish waiting for him down there:

Fish story of the day month!

Spend enough time on the water and you’re bound so see some wild stuff, and no doubt Jake Billings is one of those dudes that puts in the hours. Can you imagine this scenario unfolding...from the kayak?!

Absolute madness! But madness in a reeeeally good way.

Jake posted another pic earlier this spring that’s a different fish, but has the exact facial expression I’d imagine out of the one he figure-8’d. 😤😅 #Befuddled

...then check this out 🤣🙈:

Just in case there’s any young bucks or home-schooled folks reading this...that thing is actually a pencil sharpener that would be bolted onto the wall at the front of the class.

Of course it was used to sharpen pencils, but also for kids to flex their new clothes or shoes.... 😎

...for MN Adult & Teen Challenge drug and rehab programs statewide! 🙌 Just incredible.

Btw fundraising team Dawn and Donnie Hines had the lucky raffle ticket and took home a new Lund! They've fished the tournament all 15 yrs, and raised more than $10K this year.

Scott Rohloff and Lance Busse had a 3-day total (15 fish) of 105-10 to take home $33K+ and of course ultimate bragging rights after walloping the other 270-ish teams. That’s over a 7-lb average! 😳 Big congrats, fellas!

And if either of you two happen to be reading this, I would love to find out some details on how you caught ‘em – can’t seem to find any of those golden nuggets anywhere.

Wayne Wilcox and Gage Gordon sacked-up a 2-day total (10 fish) of 98.82 lbs to absolutely dominate the Rock Creek derby on the Dry Arm of Fort Peck Rez.

Can usually never find any fish pics or winning details from the ‘Wild West’ 👀 but this time I was able to track down a FB post from the fellas who won it with a 1-2 punch of glide baits and swimbaits. Props to them for taking the time to put some info out there!

...has been grinding for 37 yrs strong!

...legit one of my favorite humans. Jason just wrapped up his 22nd year as a kindergarten teacher in his hometown of Nevis, and this is his 32nd year of guiding in the Park Rapids area. Keep being YOU, Jason! 🙌 It’s incredible.

And if you ever get the chance to hit the water with him – pounce on it!

Otter Tail Country.

On Lake Bemidji. Last year it was won by self-proclaimed “bass guys” 👀 Charlie and Jace Peterson who switched it up and won one of the biggest walleye tournaments in the area.

Charlie had posted a recap on his FB page and said they caught the majority of their fish on a new Weedless Stand-Up Fire-Ball from Northland Tackle. It has a titanium weed guard that he said “pulled through the cabbage even better than the original and kept [their] shiners hooked up on long casts."

Round 2 – fight! 🥷 *Mortal Combat voice*

After a 2-yr investigation at Mississippi River's Pool 9.

Times they are a-changin’, but one thing that will never change:

LOL. Don’t take it personally, fly fishermen look down on other fly fishermen too. 🤣 Relax people, I’m kidding...sorta.

When all else fails, Gary Howey chucks out a finesse-y presentation that was being used far before the word “finesse” was even applied to fishing techniques = the splitshot rig. His full write-up here, but a few excerpts below:

> Years ago, we simply used an Aberdeen-style gold hook, either a Mustad or Eagle Claw, in #4. That will still work just fine, but another hook option is the short-shanked, up-eye hook used most often for walleyes. I like a #4 for smaller minnows.

- That's Sam Larsen talking about this post from Northland Fishing Tackle's CEO Gregg Wollner:

Imagine cleaning fish in the parking lot at 8am and seeing the CEO walking straight towards you.... 😰 The way my brain works I’d instantly be thinking about the worst-case scenario lol. Yup, everyone should be like Sam! But could also just as easily say every CEO should be like Gregg.

Not sure what Chris Rosella said to make this Allegheny River walleye blush, but he better tone it down. 😊

National Professional Anglers Assoc.