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I can’t imagine catching a 33” walleye ever...let alone during a derby! 😳 Exactly what @travisfarrow did during the Regina Beach Walleye Classic on SK’s Last Mountain Lake. Said he was using a dropshot + leech, but instead of the traditional weight at the bottom 👀 he used a jig + leech as the sinker, and the fish hit the jig: |
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Brandon ( @pilgrim_outdoors) cracked his new PB walleye to the tune of 11.04 lbs (31") on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba! 💯 He caught it vertical jigging out of the mythical Hecla area with a "firetiger" color VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig paired with a salted minnow. #shoulders |
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Weather-wise, it looks like it was a pretty ‘bitey’ day out there for Alex Poliquin who Ontari-Yo’d this 31.25” walleye that weighed 11.5 lbs. 😤 Such a gnarly looking fish! |
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Talk about weekend goals! |
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The best shallow walleye spots right now have a mixture of weeds + rock + sand. 🎯 |
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Finally got to knock a little something off of my fishing bucket-list ✅ I was able to spend some time in the boat with an absolute walleye hammer – any guesses who? |
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Yessir, I’m talkin’ the one and only Korey Sprengel! Man, is that guy ever dialed!! Every single thing he does or uses has a reason behind it – literally down to the smallest detail. It was fascinating and I can’t begin to describe how straight-up fishing talented he is.
I learned waaaayyyy too much from him in that short amount of time to fit it all in a single Target Walleye, so I’m going to be sprinkling some nuggets in going forward. First I’m going to start with where he’s targeting walleyes right now....
We were fishing on Oneida Lake, NY which actually reminded me a ton of Mille Lacs just down the road from me in MN. He hadn’t ever spent any time out there, but that clearly didn’t matter because the first area we pulled up to and scanned – dude found ‘em.
It was a big main-lake point that had a fairly gradual taper from 4-12’. And Korey said the “wind has been blowing in for 3-4 days. All of the warm water is beat down in the water column.”
And here’s what he was specifically looking for while scanning around:
> A lot of times this time of year, early summer getting into June, weed growth is coming up and has now been up and established long enough to have bait and fish.
> I will scan and look for 1-3’ tall new weed growth. It has to be there long enough for something to congregate there.
> If the weed growth is only 6-10” tall there might be some fish there, but it hasn’t been established enough to keep them there. Needs to be tall enough for the baitfish to hide, or to create a canopy for the walleyes to relax in.
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> A lof of people don’t realize there are soooo many bugs on weeds. Pull in a weed stock and there’s snails, bugs, all sorts of life crawling on there. That’s another reason the baitfish, bluegill, perch are hanging there...for food.
> I’m looking for new weed growth as deep as I can find it. The depth varies...might be 5-6’ while other lakes it might be 10-12’. The term shallow varies depending on the lake...it all comes down to water clarity for what shallow is. Clear lakes shallow might mean 7-8’. Dirty lakes with 1’ visibility shallow might mean 3-4’.
> The best spots have a mixture of weeds, rock and sand.... Anytime you can put multiple things together....
> Clean sand pockets in between the weed and rock are more important than the rock a lot of times...those clean spots are often right on little breaks...sand depressions can form over time with the current wearing ‘em down. The clean bottom allows those fish to rest and lay down right on bottom where they’re going to feed.
And I mean EVERYTHING was there feeding on these same shallow spots:
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But while I was messing around with rock bass, perch, pumpkinseed, smallies, drum 🙄 Korey was absolutely whacking the walleyes on a jerkbait.... |
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Korey Sprengel’s complete jerkbait setup. 💯 |
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No joke, I think Korey put 3 fish in the boat in about 90 seconds...all while I was still switching my reel over from lefty to righty LOL. But he kept that same pace up even after I was fishing too. I felt like a clueless little kid while dad was crushing! 😅
I couldn’t get them to touch a swimbait, Ned rig, you name it. And he was absolutely whacking walleyes on a Berkley Stunna 112 – good ones too! |
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I’ve chucked a jerkbait plenty before, but I usually end up putting it down if I don’t get bit in the first few casts because hot dang it’s a lot of work LOL. After watching Korey put on a freakin’ clinic, I figured I had better take some dang notes! 📝 Here’s why he started with it:
> Dark, gloomy days with some wind are always good. If it’s sunny and windy, you’re good. I may do a few casts when it’s sunny and calmer, but usually that’s when you want to grab the swimbait instead.
> If the water is clean with 3’+ visibility...some wind blowing...it’s a great reaction bait. It moves fast and you can cover water to find out if something is around. Don’t need to worry about boat control or the wind blowing your line.
> When the water is clear, they’re used to going after something…they’re trying to get away from it. Jerkbait isn’t in the weeds as much as it is over the top of weeds.
Here’s his scoop on the Berkley Stunna 112:
> The Berkley Stunna 112 runs very shallow...about 2-3’ (with the stock hooks). l throw it in 6’ or less.
> Comes standard with the Fusion19 Medium Shank EWG Treble. Swapping out with round-bend Fusion19 Treble 1x Hooks gets it down to 4-5’. Just a heavier gauge hook...more weight. It’s a slight difference, but you’re adding 3 of them that are heavier. The Stunna slowly sinks, so longer pauses during the retrieve help get it down there....
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> The strike zone for a jerkbait depends on the water clarity you have. In clear water, it’s nothing for a fish to come up 5’ for a bait if you’re fishing in 10’. They don’t know if they can catch up to it, then all of a sudden it stops and they smack it.
> I also like the open round-bend hooks because fish are swatting at the jerkbait most of the time. And some days that more open bend can help with hookups.
How he works the Stunna.
> Initial cast I’m trying to get the bait down. Longer jerks pulling the bait down 5-6 times with a longer pause (the Stunna slowly sinks) at the end to get it down. Then I will start to speed up with 3-4 quick snaps and pause.
And he SNAPS those puppies. Tough to tell from this little cadence preview, but my arms are sore just looking at it again hahaha:
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> Pause time depends on water temp. The colder the water the longer the pause. I’ll do 5-second pauses once or twice in a cast in 50 degree water or less. As the water warms up, pick the speed up. By now they’re feeding and their metabolism is up.
> Have to experiment to see what they want that day. Sometimes you’ll stop and be talking to someone for 5 seconds and they’ll come up and smack it.
Like I said before...everything Korey uses, he uses for a specific reason. So here’s a rundown on his complete jerkbait setup including the WHY and not just the WHAT. Did the best I could, he talks fast lol.
Rod:
Korey was using a new Fenwick Elite 7’4” medium - moderate fast (ELW74M-MFS) that will be released at ICAST and available this fall:
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I’ll have a bunch more info coming on those rods soon – in the meantime here's a sneaky preview.... 🤫 |
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And here’s why he was slinging that specific model:
> I like a longer rod, this one is a 7’4” medium mod-fast. Long enough to really bomb the bait out there. Long casts helps to be more efficient...more time to get your bait to depth. Also need to be away from the boat in clear water...a lot of times that last 30’ is useless.
> The action part of the rod is the most important (moderate fast). I’m implying action with the rod: If it’s too wimpy, too moderate...you’re going to have to work harder to make that bait move and dart...you don’t get that snappiness. That slack line snap is what gives the bait its darting actions.
> Longer rods have a little more forgiveness. Need the crispness for working the bait, but the forgiveness for fighting a fish. That combination with a smooth drag...everything works together.
Reel:
Korey was using the size-30 Abu Garcia Revo Rocket, which is a high-speed spinning reel with a 7.6:1 gear ratio!
> I’m implying the action with the rod. The reel is picking up the slack. The less I have to do, the better.
He doesn’t use baitcasters for jerkbaits because he says he can cast farther and “the drag on spinning reels is so much better and smoother.”
> I have my drag backed off so it clicks on a hard rip of the bait. Need some give to not bend hooks or tear them out – you don’t know how you’re going to have them hooked when they’re swatting at the bait.
Line:
> Braid because fluorocarbon deadens the action. They’re just pulling that bait, not snapping it...not getting that bait to turn sideways. Getting the bait to turn sideways is a big deal...it flashes so much when it turns 90 degrees.
And he runs a 15-lb fluoro leader for most everything (way heavier than “normal”) because then he doesn’t have to worry about breaking off fish, having zebra mussels slice it, or waste time constantly re-tying.
I know what you’re thinking, and he said he hasn’t seen any difference in the # of bites or walleye he catches since experimenting with heavier leaders. And he runs a short 3-4' fluoro leader because he doesn’t want the knot to go through his guides.
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So much info and so little time! I’ll have more golden nuggets coming your way soon-ish from this media trip out to Oneida. |
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Another one bites the dust. 😳 |
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This one’s from TW reader Ian P. (👊 thx man!!!) who said:
> “This is a nearby lake that we get some really good-sized panfish. While working some shoreline for smallmouth bass I came across a 27.5” walleye that went belly-up after trying to eat a rather sizeable bluegill! Sad to see as I would’ve liked to reel this one in someday. Nature at its finest!”
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Wild! 😲 She gets an “A” for effort tho. |
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Little (cheap-ish) upgrade I’ve been loving on my rig. |
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Realized I maybe haven't mentioned this before after a buddy asked me about it at our local walleye league earlier this week – he's sharp and doesn't miss anything!
I’ve been primarily running a 3-blade Kipawa prop ($36.99) on my trolling motor for the last few seasons. Looks like this: |
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Pros:
> Definitely uses less power to maintain speed. I feel like I can run my trolling motor on 4 or 5 instead of 6 or 7. Which saves battery juice on long days.
> Gets the boat moving from stop noticeably faster. There's no hesitation anymore from when I press the button to when the boat starts moving. Not that there's a massive "lag" with the stock prop, but it was insanely obvious how big of a difference it made after I put my old prop back on last year for a bass derby.
> Little less vibration as well. Can feel the difference in the whole boat.
Cons:
> Does NOT do well in thick weeds and slop because they get wrapped up instead of chopped off (it will straight-up murder pencil reeds tho lol).
> Doesn’t work with those T-H Marine G-Force Eliminator Trolling Motor Prop Nuts for quick removal without a socket wrench.
But if you aren’t going up in the shallow slop bassin’, this prop is the deal! And if I am gonna be chasing green carp in the THICK stuff, I just throw my stock Minn Kota prop back on and slice away:
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Launching out of Pickstown, SD to fish the 100,000-acre Missouri River impoundment.
> “While the NWT has visited Francis Case each of the last 2 seasons, this year’s event is launching out of the southern end in Pickstown, SD. This is favorable news as many of the walleyes spawn near the Fort Thompson Dam and then migrate south as the summer heat seizes the prairie.”
Some familiar at the top! And a nice mixture of old-school hammers vs forward-facing sonar gurus. 🤜💥🤛
- Justin Schneider: 384
- Roy Vivian: 380
- Duane Hjelm: 378
- Matt Schiefelbein: 368
- Tom Huynh: 366
- Zachary Axtman: 365
- John Hoyer: 361
- Jason Przekurat: 359
- Eric McQuoid: 355
- Dyaln Nussbaum: 352
- Mark Courts: 351
- Will Pappenfus: 348
- David Kolb: 345
- Danny Plautz: 344
- Dusty Minke: 341
After day 1 (today) got postponed for safety reasons due to wind. Full field fishes Saturday as a 1-day event.
4. CAN: “Walleye Wars” dates are set.
The catch-photo-release style derby thru Angler’s Atlas where folks register their longest walleye caught for a shot at some serious dough and prizes. Registration is now open for all 4 of the events:
They’ve been adding more prizes and sponsors each day over on their FB page. 🤑
5. MN: Couple new lakes confirmed with the zeebz.
Some peace of mind for $99 per year. Motor problems, dead battery, run out of fuel, etc...they’ll tow you back.
> “...hand-picked collection (exclusively for FishUSA) containing seven of the best early-summer walleye baits in various sizes and colors – 77 baits in all!”
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The 66th-annual fishing biz trade show that’s happening July 11-14 in Orlando, FL:
> “ICAST [International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades] is the annual gathering point for the entire sportfishing industry. We bring more manufacturers, buyers and media together than any other sportfishing industry event of the year. That means hundreds of new products, dozens of new connections and many new business opportunities for everyone who attends.”
It's coming up fast!
10. Heads up! 🚨
Make sure to charge the batteries on all of your ice electronics throughout the off season – monthly if possible – to get the most out of ’em. Same goes for your electric ice augers. Yup, I forgot too!
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Few TargetWalleye.com Highlights
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What's 🔥 on Target Walleye's YouTube 🎥
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Ahhhh, those dreaded bug hatches. Some folks swear it’s not even worth hitting the water when a big bug hatch is going on...but Tom Boley isn’t some folks. Lot of the times bug hatches are the first big push for walleyes to move out deep. Of course to gorge on bugs, larva, and leeches...but also on the baitfish that are eating those little treats too.
In case you missed it, Tom posted a video about this time last year where they absolutely crushed walleyes (what’s new?!) despite what most folks would consider tough conditions.
He always makes it look so easy 🔥 except for maybe when they were quadrupled-up lol:
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“That awkward moment when you’re not sure if you should try to cheer your buddy up or continue fishing in silence for the next 30+ minutes.”
- We’ve all been there! Relatable feeling snatched from Musky Insider: |
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Hope you’re not “that” guy or gal this weekend lol. |
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I like Len Talarico’s thought process of: "Good thing the fish are already wet." 😂 He wasn’t going to let a little rain stop him from catching this 29-incher! |
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Slap on that rain gear and get to gettin’ this weekend! 💪 |
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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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