Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited - Monthly Newsletter |
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Supporting our Military Youth and Families with our Fifth Annual Ice Fishing Camp for Kids, please join us! |
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Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited and the Minnesota National Guard Child and Youth programs are hosting an ice fishing camp for military connected youth.
Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for volunteers to support this event to help set up fish houses, cut holes, and coach the kids on ice fishing. See article below for event details.
Date: Sat., January 29th on Big Marine Lake, Marine on St. Croix, MN.
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Connect, Educate, Give
Greetings Club friends! I hope your new year is off to a great start! As the New Year for the club begins, I thought about our Mission Statement and why a mission statement is important. When I Googled “why do companies have mission statements”, this is what I found:
A mission statement is a concise explanation of the organization’s reason for existence. It describes the organization’s purpose and its overall intention. The mission statement supports the vision and serves to communicate purpose and direction to employees (club members), vendors (sponsors) and other stakeholders.
Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited mission to Connect, Educate and Give is the reason for our existence and our purpose.
CONNECT: Connecting with other club members at our outings is a great way to share our passion for fishing. We had another great turnout for our 3rd annual Ice Fishing Clinic with our host and guide Tony Roach. Thanks to Tony and his crew for a great day on Mille Lacs! I’m also looking forward to connecting with everyone at our upcoming club outing on February 5th on Bald Eagle Lake. Look for more details in the article below.
EDUCATE: Learning from fishing experts and each other is a great way to become better anglers. Our monthly speakers bring a wealth of knowledge and I’m excited to hear from our upcoming February guest speaker Nicole Stone. Nicole is an outdoor enthusiast and fishing addict who truly wants to teach fishing to all anglers. I’m looking forward to what she has to share with the club.
GIVE: Volunteer opportunities and giving back to our community is an important part of what we do. This coming Saturday we will be hosting our 5th annual Minnesota Military Youth Ice Fishing event on Big Marine Lake. It is such a fun day helping these kids and introducing them to the sport of ice fishing. It’s not too late to volunteer, check out how to sign up in the article below.
So, if you are ever asked why do you belong to Twin Cities Walleyes, you can simply say it’s because of their mission to Connect, Educate and Give.
I look forward to seeing you all at the February meeting and don’t forget to bring a friend!
Dale Meinders
President of Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited
Connect | Educate | Give
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Nicole Stone - Fishing ambassador, educator, and amazing angler!
Thursday February 3rd
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Attention all Twin City Walleye Unlimited Members!!! Our 2022 winter ice fishing outing will be held at Bald Eagle Lake in White Bear Lake, MN on Feb. 5th. See the complete event details in the article below.
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Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited and the Minnesota National Guard Child and Youth programs are hosting a youth ice fishing camp for military connected youth.
We are looking for volunteers to support this event, which includes; setting up fish houses, cutting holes, and coaching the kids on ice fishing. See the complete event details in the article below or click on the link.
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Eden Prairie SCHEELS hosts Humminbird Seminar with Johnnie Candle
Learn how to maximize the abilities of your Helix locator to catch more fish. Must bring your own Helix unit to attend. Remember to have the most recent software update on your unit. A power supply will be provided.
Receive a $25 Scheels gift card at the end of the seminar!
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Nicole Stone Joins TCWU
as our Guest Speaker on Thursday February 3rd
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TCWU welcomes you to talk Fishing with Nicole Stone! |
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Nicole is an outdoor enthusiast, fishing ambassador, amazing angler and educational blogger who wants to help teach fishing to all anglers through stories, reviews, and how-to's. She started fishing when she was 6 years old and has been hooked ever since. In 2017, Nicole left her career as an Atmospheric Scientist to follow her passion as an outdoor educator and marketer. Nicole loves to represent women anglers who work hard both on and off the water. She co-founded Ladies of Angling, which provides an unique opportunity to learn and share angling experience through a female perspective. They encourage men and women to submit photos and stories of their favorite ladies (or themselves) showing their passion and knowledge for fishing.
Let's encourage the great ladies of fishing we know to attend our next meeting, so they can meet Nicole up close and personal. Nicole is an amazing angler and we are excited to have her share her knowledge with us in February!
See meeting times and details below
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TCWU Guest Speaker line up for 2021/2022 |
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Sponsor Spotlight
Welcome Onyx Outdoors!!!
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A special welcome to Onyx, a new club sponsor!
Onyx is the exclusive life jacket sponsor of professional bass fishing leagues; Major League Fishing Cups Tournament, Bass Pro Tour, and now TCWU!
They are offering a 40% discount on all online purchases
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Special Thanks to our Sponsors |
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TCWU Volunteer Event Saturday January 29, 2022
Minnesota Military Youth Ice Fishing Camp
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We are hosting military youth and their families for a fun day of ice fishing. We would love your help with setting up, coaching the kids, and most importantly have some FUN! |
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We had an amazing turnout last year for the Military Ice Fishing Camp. Mild weather made for a record of over 100 youth, family and friends who enjoyed a wonderful outing of fishing, food and fun. All the kids had a great time and they all went home with knowledge and memories, as well as some goodies.
We are excited to host this event again this year and are thrilled that current registrations are already nearing the fill limit of 175 for this event!!!
We need your help please Volunteer!
We would love to have 40 club members volunteer in 2022. Click on the link below to view all the details and check out the picture gallery to see first hand the smiles you can help us make this year!
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Volunteers needed! We would love to have 40 Club members and friends volunteer to help make this a special day of fun for the youth and families.
Setting up includes:
- Setting up ice houses - Thank you to Eskimo for providing shelters!
- Cutting holes and scooping out ice
- Setting up heaters and chairs
- Take a kid and family fishing
What to bring:
- A couple extra chairs
- A heater if you have one
- A hub ice house if you have one
- Two or three fishing rods
We may not need to use your personal equipment but it would be nice to have extra supplies on hand. If comfortable, please bring any supplies along.
Event Details:
- 9:15 - Volunteers arrive
- 9:30 - Set-up shelters, scoop and cut holes, add chairs and heaters
- 10:30 - Registration begins. Meet and greet families, and guide them to a fun day of fishing
- 11:00 to 2:00 - Fishing!
- 12:00 - Lunch is served
- 2:00 - Big fish awards, give out prizes and pictures
- 2:30 - Tear down and close it up
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Location:
Disabled Veterans Campground
11300 180th Street North
Big Marine Lake
Marine on St. Croix, MN
Directions:
- From Minneapolis take I-35W N
- To MN-36 E
- To I-35E N to exit 123A Main St
- Take Frenchman Rd, to Hwy-61 N, to 170th St East, to 180th St N
From St. Paul take I-35E N
- Take Exit 123A Main St from I-35E N
- Take Frenchman Rd, to Hwy-61 N, to 170th St East, to 180th St N
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I personally want to thank our members and friends for the support for this great event.
John Jordan
TCWU Board Member
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2022 Winter Outing – Bald Eagle Lake |
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Attention all Twin City Walleye Unlimited Members!!! Our 2022 winter ice fishing outing will be held at Bald Eagle Lake in White Bear Lake, MN. We will meet at the Bald Eagle Lake Boat Launch Saturday, February 5th at 1 PM and fish until 5pm, everyone is welcome to stay longer. Bald Eagle Lake Boat Launch is located a few miles north of Highway 694 just off of highway 61. We will meet at the public boat ramp and discuss strategies for the day's fishing outing.
What should you bring? Something to drink and some comfort food/snacks to eat. Bring your own bait to use as we may get spread out chasing those walleyes!!!
Everyone is welcome, bring a friend or two. Let’s go get some walleyes!!
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Event Details:
TCWU Event Contact:
Dan Camp
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Phone: 320 420-6961
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Email: tcwalleyes@gmail.com
Address:
Bald Eagle Lake Boat Launch Address
- 5599 Hugo RD #5589
- White Bear Township, MN 55110
Date: February 5, 2022
Time: 1:00 to 6:30 pm (everyone is welcome to stay longer)
Directions:
From West Metro – Highway 694
- 694 East to 35E North
- Right on Hwy 96E
- Left onto 61N
- Left on Buffalo St
- Right on Hugo Road
- Left into Bald Eagle Boat Launch
Please Note: Bald Eagle Lake Boat Launch is located as shown by the green indicator mark on map.
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Bald Eagle Lake Fun facts:
Area: 1049.09 acres
Shore Length: 9.23 miles
Mean Depth: 13.3 feet
Maximum Depth: 36 feet
Per DNR Lake Finder Website:
Walleye were sampled at a rate of 1.80 fish per gill net which is in the normal range for Bald Eagle Lake, but lower than most previous surveys. Fish sampled were between 9.4 and 25.5 inches long (17.3 inch average). Almost all of the walleye sampled in 2018 were from the 2014 stocking (age 4 fish). This strong year-class should support quality walleye fishing in Bald Eagle Lake for many years to come. The 2014 year-class was comprised of larger fingerlings than either the 2012 or 2016 year-class. Stocking records indicate that the fingerlings stocked in 2017 and 2018 were similar size to 2014 and should provide more strong year-classes. The yellow perch sample also had a strong year-class in 2014 as well as 2013, providing a solid forage base for the walleye and muskellunge. Perch numbers were high in the gill net catch in 2018, but the average size of fish was similar to past years at 7.3 inches long.
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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is looking for passionate and dedicated students interested in learning more about possible careers with the DNR through paid summer internship opportunities. If you have a family member who is interested in pursuing a DNR career, click on this link to learn more... Summer Internships
The Minnesota DNR is opening the annual aquatic plant management grant process. In 2022, a total of $1.25 million will be available to fund projects to help manage invasive aquatic plants.
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TCWU Pro-tip of the Month
Featuring Matt Nelson
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December guest speaker Matt Nelson shares this “Pro Tip of the Month“
with Club President Dale Meinders. Thanks for the great meeting Matt!
Click on the photo below to hear what Matt shared!
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Guest Speaker Re-cap
Featuring Matt Nelson
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TCWU hosted Fish-Lectronics leader Matt Nelson at our January club meeting. It was a fasinating meeting that certainly helped all in attendence. Matt answered club member questions for 90 minutes and provided helpful tips and significant insights on boat rigging, equipment, maintenace and equipment functionality. He provided in depth knowledge on all the top sonar units and how they differentiate from each other.
Truly a great meeting and for those who couldn't attend please check out the meeting re-cap below. Also make sure to check out the club member offer from Matt at the end of the re-cap, Enjoy!
History of Fish-Lectronics
They started out as a trolling motor and depth finder repair shop up in Nisswa Minnesota before moving down to the Twin Cities in 1980. They have since become one of the most reputable boat rigging and repair specialists in Minnesota as attested by many of our club members in attendance.
They specialize in rigging new equipment on your boat and excel by taking the time to understand your needs and how you fish. Their services include boat rigging, electronic networking, retail shopping, parts, supplies, rentals, and consulting. They also do some onsite repair and on the water training – these services are available on a limited basis.
Trolling Motors - Yearly Maintenance
A few things and small tune-ups you can do at home
- Check for line around the prop – very easy to do as you can take the prop off with your hand (no tools needed)
- Line wrap issues - line can get wrapped around the armature and it can break the seal to the motor compartment, which will introduce water and damage.
- You can easily check for water damage by removing one of the two thru-bolts to check for wetness or a dingy look. If you have wetness you need to replace the seal. Also it’s a good idea to replace the O-rings on the threw bolt as they will flatten out over time
- Important! only remove one of the thru-bolts, removing both will cause you a lot frustration in lining up the holes and getting it back together
- If its dusty that’s a good sign,which signifies dryness and good seals
- Shaft lubrication – Shafts will get scratched/gouged and do not slide as well from friction. Matt reccommends a non-oil based lubricant. he joked that Minnkota is a Johnson company and they recommend lemon pledge, lol. The truth of the matter is that it works well since it is non-oil based
- Shaft lubrication is especially important for Ulterra’s as they will amp out if too much friction is present
Ulterra – issues are usually centered around deployment
- Power issues cause most of the trouble, as mentioned above shaft friction can cause a need for increased power which will amp your motor out
- Calibration - Vertical Reset
- There are a few sensors, and over time the calibration will shift off kilter until it final shuts down
- The Reset process can remedy off kilter. To perform the belt recount reset on a regular basis here’s the how to:
- Deploy the motor
- Press power button 3 times in 2 seconds
- Brings the motor up until it hits base plate and now the vertical home position is reset
- Calibration - Horizontal Reset
- You also have to re-orient or reset the right and left position as well
- Deploy the motor and turn it off
- Re-orient it so it lines up straight into the cradle
- Turn Motor back on and do one more vertical reset to make sure the position is locked in
- Physical obstructions
- The worm gear can jam from a physical obstruction due to the limited power available from the factory settings
- Remove the side plate
- Pop off the E-clips to release the pins, which releases the tension on the worm gear
- Then manually turn the worm gear to re-align in the correct position
Live Imaging
Tournament anglers and guides are really moving to live imaging – Humminbird, Garmin and Lowrance. They literally will scout until they visualize fish on screen before putting a line in the water. Matt commented that "they rely on it too much as he has caught many fish that were never visible on the screen."
Humminbird Live imaging and 360
- 360 primarily shows structure and the focus is not on showing fish
- It’s a great tool for spotting small structure and micro spots, such as individual rock piles, etc…
Mega 360 Live shows both fish and structure
- Use it as a tool to find fish, active fish and fish reactions
- Non mega units can display mega images, just not as clear
- Has a blind spot directly under it and may not be good for ice fishing
Garmin
- Panoptix is a really good unit. Fish look like ovals and if you can comprehend that it’s also a great value
- Livescope provides enhanced imaging which allows you the opportunity to see the fins on a fish. Not all the time however because it only provides slices of the water column through different views; Wide-Thin, Down-Thin and Forward-Thin.
- Pro Tip - If you tilt the transducer when scanning you will have better/clearer results
Lowrance
- Matt loves Lowrance products and Active Target is a good unit. It does have an image delay, which is not good for ice fishing as your jigging cadence will not match whats on screen
Matt commented "Humminbird has a really good unit – has good distance, target separation and picks up your baits well. Likes it a little more than the Panoptix"
- Matt mentioned that Fish-Lectronics now offers an opportunity to rent any or all three of these units and suggests that you try them out for yourself to determine what you like the best before making a purchase.
Pole Mounts
- In General, Matt reccommends mouniting Live Imaging units on a pole instead of the trolling motor mount. Mainly so you can face it in the direction you are casting and fishing.
- The best Pole Mounts are currently found at aftermarket companies
- Fishing Specialties has the best poles and equipment for mounting in multiple locations creates the best fishing experience
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the biggest challenge is "what do you do with the pole during travel," no one has nailed the optimum engineering as of yet
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Definately AVOID mounting on Ulterra’s. They add extra weight, which increases power needed and can result in an increase of repairs.
- There are no issues mounting with fixed position Trolling motors
Talons – install and repair
- Talons are fast quiet and efficient and go down to 15 feet
- Matt reccommends installing two for boat control in wind and current. Using only one Talon can cause boat spinning especially on rivers/current
- Install a Talon down alarm that goes off when you start your motor so you don’t take off with it down
- They need a power kill switch as they always are drawing power
Q & A
Will the Humminbird Gen 3 work with a Gen2 Transducer?
- Yes but it won’t be optimum
- Rule of thumb – you can go backwards but not forwards. Gen2 can’t handle the extra power from the Gen3 transducer, which can kill your unit
Should I upgrade my my current sonar system?
- If your current sonar system/electronics are working for you, I say keep it going – no need to change
- When you upgrade, you’re getting something in return but there is a cost to it. You have to sit down and learn it in order to utilize it
Do you reccommend aftermarket trolling motor props?
- I Like the ninja grass cutting blade that mounts to the barrel of the trolling motor, that cuts line and weeds. It makes a difference but not much help in thick weeds
What are your thoughts on Lithium Batteries
- They have really good charge cycles and longer daily battery life
- Hesitant to use these when using Raptors or Ulterra’s
- When your lithium battery is out of power, its dead and if your Ulterra or Raptor is down when they die you can’t get them back up, you’re stuck!
- Huge weight savings half as much
- Huge price difference but the price over time equals out and they have ten year warranty
Tips
- Vexilar is still the king of picking up small jigs, they can’t be beat
- Power down your pole mounted transducers before pulling out of the water
- Humminbirds automatically power off when taken out of the water to protect the transducer from burning out. They are designed to have the water cool their transducers
- Lowrance and Garmin don’t burn out as easily but they don’t automatically power off. You don’t want to run it out of the water for long periods of time, running from spot to spot is not an issue
- US2 sonars almost never burn out
- Side and down imaging can burn out
- Try cranking the contrast up all the way on your side imaging to scan for fish, it really pops the fish shadows. It adds a lot of clutter to the screen but the fish really pop!
- After market audio speakers with large magnets will mess with your GPS readings from up to 4 feet away from your external GPS. Factory speakers only 1 – 2 fee
- You can test by passing a compass near your external GPS
- Humminbird defaults are very good out of the box
Thanks for the excellent meeting Matt, you certainly created a lot of interest and have quite a following of raving fans, congratulations on earning such an awesome reputation.
Also if your boat needs rigging updates, equipment or repairs now is the time!
Matt has offered our club member a discount on labor. When you schedule your appointment share the code: ShowDiscount
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TC Walleyes Unlimited, Inc. |
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