Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited - Monthly Newsletter |
|
Thank You!
Greetings Club friends! What a gorgeous weekend of weather. I hope you all got a chance to enjoy the fishing opener. We had a great club meeting season this year. Thanks to Joel Nelson for ending our year on a high note. Joel gave an awesome presentation on mastering jig fishing. If you did not get a chance to attend the meeting, it is worth reading through the speaker notes below.
I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to all of you, our club members. Thanks to all the new members and all of you who renewed your membership. We can not do all the things we do without your support.
I’m excited to announce we reached our goal of $2,000 for our GIVE project. The new shed we are donating to Camp Fire MN will be delivered soon. Thank you for making this project a success!
Don’t forget we have our spring club fishing outing on Saturday, May 21 at Buffalo Lake. You can see all the details below.
Also, we need volunteers for our Fraser outing on Saturday, June 4th. What a great day we get to share with our friends at Fraser. Check out the article below for more information and to sign up to volunteer.
I hope you have a safe and fun summer! I can’t wait to see you all in September as we kick off our season with guest speakers Eric and Kevin McQuoid.
Dale Meinders
President - Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited
Connect | Educate | Give
|
Take our Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited questionnaire to help the board plan our events & objectives
The purpose of this questionnaire is to gain our members interests and to guide the board as it plans for the future. We would appreciate if you could complete as much as you are comfortable with. None of the information you provide will be shared outside of the club. Those who submit their answers will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 Gift card from Scheels!
|
Membership has
it's advantages
Join TCWU or renew today by registering on-line at:
You can find out more information about Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited and our Events by going to our website and on Facebook
|
|
TCWU Guest Speaker line up 2022-23 |
|
MN-Fish hosts first
State of Minnesota Fishing Summit
|
|
Governor Tim Walz and Commissioner of the Minnesota DNR Sarah Strommen, were in attendance, which is very exciting.
Great Job MN-FISH!
|
|
Also here is a link to great article from the Pioneer Press summarizing the Summit.
|
|
At our last club meeting we had two members of MN-FISH who reviewed the two important Bills proposed to help improve fishing in Minnesota.
Bill HF 4541 supports and appropriates money for Fish Hatchery repair
Bill HF 4794 supports & appropriates money for Boat Ramp repair
|
|
Club President Dale Meinders represented TCWU at the Summit, pictured below with Sarah Strommen and Ron Schara great job Dale! |
|
Sponsor Spotlight
Kevin Valento - Atlas Insurance
|
|
Atlas Insurance
“Is a World of Choices”
Hey club members, have you talked to Kevin about your most prized possession, (your boat)?
Club member and Sponsor Kevin Valento specializes at making sure your covered from storage and all the way to the lake.
|
|
|
Atlas Marine Brokers is a leader in the marine insurance industry providing comprehensive coverage to ensure your boat is properly protected in the event of a total loss. Representing over 30 carriers insures you will receive the best protection.
Kevin is very involved with the community and volunteers his time with many youth programs. He is also an avid Walleye fisherman, nice Marble Eye Kevin!
Kevin is very experienced with protecting our precious Boats, definitely check him out at:
The Valento Insurance Agency, LLC
Office: 651-457-5444
Cell: 651-855-8289
Fax: 651-457-5515
|
|
Fishing Buddy's Needed - FRASER
Volunteer Event - Saturday June 4th
|
|
It’s unique that some of the happiest and most memorable moments in our lives have something to do with fishing and the outdoors. Taking our FRASER friends out fishing, so they can relive those memories and have something fun to look forward to every year is rewarding an important. The excitement they bring is energizing! From the moment they arrive, we all realize the true impact that we are making in their lives and the importance of inclusion. We hope you have time to join us on Saturday June 4th to give back by being a fishing buddy, and connecting with the community to create a FUN day for all!
See below for the complete event details
|
|
Its been a long two years since we've gone fishing with our friends at FRASER and we are glad that we can get back together.
We are looking for volunteers to help be fishing Buddy's and assist with a few other tasks
TCWU will be supplying all the equipment for the event; Rods, Bait and Tackle along with all the food and fixings for lunch. We just need your help to make the event a Great Success!
|
|
|
Event Details:
9:00 am - Volunteer Coffee and Doughnut Breakfast.
9:15 am - Prep fishing rods.
10:00 am - Fraser residents arrive for check in and escort to fishing piers.
12:00 pm - Lunch!!!
Location:
Moore Lake Park Shelter #2
5898 Central Ave NE, Fridley
|
|
Special Thanks to our Sponsors |
|
Club Outing - 2022 TCWU Open
Buffalo Lake, Wright County MN
|
|
Attention all Twin City Walleye Unlimited Members!
The 2022 TCWU Open fishing outing is scheduled at Buffalo Lake
- Date - Saturday, May 21st.
- Location - Meet at the North public water access
- Time - 7:00 am.
- Lunch – Provided by the club at 12:00
- Back on the water until 3:00 pm or stay and fish through prime time
Contact - Dan Camp call with any questions (320) 420-6961
|
|
What should you bring?
- Bring your own bait to use for chasing those walleyes!!!
- Favorite snacks or comfort food
- Beverages
- Chair for lunch break
Direction to the Buffalo Lake North Public Water Access- Highway 55W to Buffalo MN, left onto 2nd St S, Turn Left to Stay on 2nd St S, Turn Right onto Lake Blvd S, Left on to Lake Blvd NW (County Rd 35W) - Buffalo Lake North Public Water Access approximately 1.1 miles on left
|
|
TCWU Open 2022 Championship will be decided by the club member who catches the largest walleye and will be honored with a personalized wood commemorative plaque!
Entering a fish
We will be utilizing the Fish Donkey App to enter all walleyes caught. If you haven’t used the Fish Donkey App all you need to do is:
- Download the Fish Donkey App to your smart phone and create a profile.
- Once your profile has been created tap Fish In A Tournament at the top of your screen
-
Search for the TCWU OPEN 2022 and click on Join Now.
-
The rules posted in the TCWU OPEN 2022 tournament, explain how to measure and take a picture a fish.
- You will need a bump board to measure
-
You can practice entering a photo in the app by tapping the Fish In A Tournament icon at the top of the screen. Then search for Practice Entering a Fish.
|
|
Buffalo Lake Fun facts… Size and Depth
Area: 1551.9 acres
Shore Length: 6.25 miles
Mean Depth: 14.7 feet
Maximum Depth: 33 feet
Buffalo Lake is located in Wright County, within the city limits of Buffalo. It has a surface area of 1,552 acres and a maximum depth of 33 feet. The watershed is large and dominated by agriculture and development. The lake is a popular destination for angling and other recreation. Mill Creek runs through Buffalo Lake and connects to the North Fork Crow River. There are three public accesses: in the northwest corner, Sturgis Park in the northeast, and in the southeast near the Mink Lake inlet. Invasive plants include curly leaf pondweed (typically a nuisance in the spring and early summer) and widespread Eurasian watermilfoil. Water quality is poor, few plant species were found and plant growth is limited to shallow water. The previous lake survey was in 2003.
The Walleye gillnet catch in 2013 was within the expected range of values for lakes similar to Buffalo, but down from the previous two surveys. Walleye were relatively large, ranging in length from 15.1 to 27.1 inches with an average length and weight of 20.3 inches and 3.0 lbs. Forty three percent of Walleye were longer than 21 inches. Growth was fast; Walleye average over 20 inches at age five. Natural reproduction is limited and Walleye fry are stocked every other year.
|
|
One-fish walleye limit set on Mille Lacs Lake for spring, fall fishing
Mille Lacs Lake walleye anglers will have two potential opportunities for harvest during the 2022 open water season. A one-fish limit will allow Mille Lacs anglers to harvest one walleye 21-23 inches or one longer than 28 inches from Saturday, May 14 through Tuesday, May 31. After a summer of catch-and-release fishing with an early July closure to reduce hooking mortality, the one-fish limit is expected to return on Thursday, Sept. 1.
Anglers fishing during the 2022 open-water season that starts May 14 on Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota will have a four-walleye possession limit, with only one walleye longer than 20 inches allowed, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Try Lake Pepin, Mississippi River for unique fishing destination
Simply casting a worm on a hook into the Mississippi River in the scenic Lake Pepin area gives anglers a great chance of catching a wide variety of fish, all while experiencing the fun and intrigue of river fishing. “Lots of variety — that’s the name of the game for Lake Pepin. There are dozens of species to catch
|
|
TCWU Pro-tip of the Month
Featuring Joel Nelson
|
|
May guest speaker Joel Nelson shares this “Pro Tip of the Month“ on catching early season walleyes with Club President Dale Meinders.
Thanks for the great meeting Joel!
Click on the photo below to hear what Joel shared!
|
|
Guest Speaker re-cap
Featuring Joel Nelson
|
|
TCWU hosted Joel Nelson at our May Club Meeting. Joel is an amazing angler, educator and speaker who totally tuned us up on early season walleye fishing techniques and strategy's by taking us through his Jig fishing master class. He featured the theme of using different jigs based on seasonal patterns and fishing conditions. He shared where to fish in spring and how to target walleye from longer distances to prevent spooking them in the shallows.
He provided a very detailed information on how to improve your success as an angler and shared some really informative fishing tips in his presentation.
For those who missed the meeting you will find a recap of Joel's favorite jig fishing techniques, baits, equipment and tips, that are sure to broaden your fishing skills, enjoy!
Jig Fishing Master Class
Anyone can catch fish when the bite is on, but when the fish are neutral, understanding the key details and matching it with the right bait will help you succeed in tough fishing conditions. It’s important to match the water conditions and the activity of the fish to the type of jig.
A jig excels when you have feel. To achieve feel you need enough weight keep in contact with the bottom and also have control of the Jig. Using the right jig head for the conditions, you encounter, based on season, structure, or bait can make a difference on a successful fishing outing.
How to choose a specific jig design - The common rule is to use just enough weight for the water conditions to keep in contact with the bottom. However, jig design (the shape and how it falls), gives you another option to keep in touch with the bottom with less weight, which can make a big difference.
Jigging strategy is to impart action on your jig, while keeping it glued to the bottom. We want it coast but we do not want to jig and have it soar over the fish. If you choose to do it by weight, you may be crashing the bottom and sacrifice a life like presentation. If you can achieve through jig head design and not by weight you win.
Types of Jigs - How to select, when to use and how to fish them
|
|
|
|
Round head, short shank fireball jig excels for vertical jigging, rivers, deep water or pitching smaller minnows. The Fireball jig and a fathead are a perfect presentation match. The short shank allows the fathead to seat right up to the base of the jig, which gives a natural presentation. These jigs have a short shank and a large gap, which keeps your bait from sliding too far down the shank and keeps less material away from the hook gap for quality hook sets.
|
|
|
|
Jigs with keepers help secure your bait to the jig, which is important for attaching plastics and live bait. Always use a keeper jig when using plastics, its essential! The keeper is nice for holding a half crawlers in place or minnows as well. Try hooking your minnow through the throat and out the top of the back far enough to get the keeper hooked on the lip of your minnow. There are several types of keepers on jigs, which are designed to help you fish – wire hooks , lead ball, and screw lock to name a few. |
|
Long Shank jigs & larger minnows |
Brian Brosdahl demonstrates - double hook Shiner. Click on the pic below |
|
A jig and a shiner may be the most popular presentation for early season walleyes. Using a long shank jig with a shiner is definitely a different way to catch more fish vs a short shank.
The difference the long shank provides is in how you attach the Shiner – in through the mouth out the gill plate, then back through the belly by the butt and then point the hook out through the back. The key is to have the tip of the hook out through the back to get the hook in the walleyes mouth.
Spring walleyes are notorious at grabbing your shiner tail. They just hang on to the tail, swim along with it, and eventually shake it around until you set the hook, and then swim off with your bait.
Using a long shank will improve your success. This technique works well in clear water or finicky bites. You can use a short shank and add a treble stinger hook in stained water but it won’t look as natural as a long shank.
|
|
|
|
The Deep Vee jig design is a narrow front jig head with a V-shape back, which coasts and gets deep with less weight – similar to a pill shape design that helps you get keep in contact with the bottom with less weight. This jig design is awesome for dragging the bottom and has the added bonus of a wire bait keeper. |
|
|
|
Hair jigs are a natural life like material that have been used for decades What’s old is new. Use hair jigs in the rivers and tip with meat or plastics. Allow you to present several different looks with the same bait without retying. Check out Al Lindner’s video on fishing hair jig.
|
|
|
|
Thumper Jigs (Jigs with under spin blade) – Power fishing technique that has finesse capability in rivers or muddy water. The blade makes a big difference that makes it more versatile. You can drag, troll, cast with a straight retrieve or fish it like a standard jig. Whistler jigs (helicopter jig) are a thin jig head design which works great for vertical jigging, river fishing and turbid waters. The thin design cuts through the water/current and is offset by the helicopter blade, which slows it down and adds a little sound. It’s kind of a counter balance or counter act each other. |
|
|
|
Stand up jigs – interesting concept that keeps your bait off the bottom just enough to help fish find your bait. Use them in heavy rocky bottoms. They fish well in cobble/softball size rocks and aren’t hung up. Chunky slab type rocks will snag them all. |
|
|
|
Weedless jigs are popular in submerged wood and weedy bottoms. Hook setting is tricky because of the weed guard, the trick is to just reel in and let the action of the rod set the hook. Typical hook setting doesn’t work well |
|
Pill shape jigs are designed to cut current. The Idea is that the design being less round, sinks and stays closer to bottom more easily and with less weight. When the fish are neutral and you have to get the bait in their face, a pill shape jig in current can make a big difference. Try the Northland Current Cutter. |
|
Check out this video from Tony Roach on utilizing a Keeper with live bait. Click on the picture below to view the video |
|
Two key concepts when fishing jigs:
- Set the hook hard enough and follow up with a continual reel to keep the fish hooked up. Many fish are lost on the initial pull forward when we drop the rod forward. There are many times a walleye will shoot forward up to 6 feet when you set a hook and then turn when they come to their senses. It’s on the turn we are usually lowering our rod tip that slack happens and that’s when we lose them. Remember to set the hook and keep reeling, reel, reel, reel, reel!
- Keep the wind from beating you. If there is a bow in your line, you will have too much slack for a good hook set. Keep rod tip low to the water and keeping your line wind proof. Line watching in windy conditions will also contribute to slack in your line. Avoid being a line watcher in windy conditions.
|
|
Equipment - Set yourself up for Success!
if the jig is the tool then what is the rod? Maybe the most important accessory. not having a good rod is like showing up to the worksite with an electric tool without the battery. Having an improper rod will hamper your jig fishing.
Rod Design
Casting and pitching - The length of rod needed to help make you more effective is a 6’6 to a 7 foot plus medium power rod with extra fast action. This rod will improve your casting, feel and trigger quicker hook sets. Feel is everything! The extra fast action rod advantage is that they only bend at the last quarter of the rod. This design gives you quicker hook sets opposed to other action rods.
Vertically jigging requires a shorter medium extra fast action rod in the 6 foot length. You tend fish heavier jigs but the feel and quick hook set remains important.
Jigging/Rod selection - You need to marry the power of the rod to the size jig you are pitching. If you are pitching light jigs use Medium lite power = 1/4 oz or less. Medium power for heavier jigs 1/4 oz or more.
Reel
Spinning reels - Do I need a good one?
We are not fishing bonefish or permit and no walleye I ever met has ever burned up a drag on the average spinning reel. Be more concerned with the weight of the reel. We use light rods, don’t put on a heavy 3000 series reel. Joel recommends the light weight Daiwa Tatula which is made from magnesium.
Line
Braid suffix 832 - 20 lb test to eliminate the struggle of tying thinner diameters. This line is fantastic but also so supple. Thinner diameters will on occasion casts whip knots and can get caught on the jig keeper. Another way to describe it is: It collapses on itself very easily, which also makes it hard to tie.
Fluorocarbon = Seagaur 8-10 lb test
Fluorocarbon is stiffer, doesn't stretch and is more more abrasion resistant than mono. It holds up better than mono in the rocks and it won't loop around the jig
The best Knot to connect braid to fluorocarbon is the one you can tie the easiest. Get good at one of them and stick with it. Joel uses an Albright Special Knot
|
|
Seasonal patterns Spring/Summer = Jig and minnow/Jig and plastics
Pitching a jig and minnow is the main stay until temps increase to 55 degrees. Then you can start switching over to ribbon tail plastics, which is a little more subtle then a paddle tail plastic. Paddle tails have a little stronger action and vibration.
Fishing tips
In early spring fish are shallower, because oxygen and temps are not prohibitive. Lightly pitching into shoreline structure or emerging weeds is the tactic but remember that you need to keep the boat back a ways off the fish. Start deep even though you want to be shallow so you can slowly creep in without spooking the fish.
You need to be looking! You can see down 10 feet in Lake Mille Lacs and you will see white tips scattering as you creep in shallow. It's okay if they scatter just mark the spot and come back later, the fish will come back and you can stay back and make casts.
- Slow it down in spring
- High skies are not as big of deal in spring compared to summer
- Warmer weather is going to trigger fish
- Cooler temps call for a change of tactics - Dropping is a super effective technique for live bait and cold water. Pitch the jig up and working it back frantically and then drop it. Walleyes are notorious followers at times 15 to 20 yards. This is when dropping is super effective. When you drop keep a tight or at least a semi tight line not rigid. Great technique on opening day.
- You can start to speed up presentations in summer, Walleyes are now in reaction strike mode
- When vertical jigging jig down not up. When you jig up, your jig gets pulled out of the strike zone you want to keep it down, down, down like you are punching it onto the bottom.
- Fall Pattern – a lot of people catch fish using glide baits in September. The fish are in summer locations with a bad attitude. Consider Each jigging stroke is a hook set or you will miss and lose fish. Use a medium fast action rod with glide baits.
- If you find a school and mark both ends with way points and then fish in between
- Free swimming plastics with a slow retrieve will sometimes out perform all other techniques
Questions and answers
-
Milfoil – how do you fish it for walleyes? Talk to the Bass Guys on Minnetonka they know. Focus on the last half hour of sunset and use slip bobbers if you don’t want to use bass tactics
-
Do you use plastic leeches and crawlers? – There are times on lakes that have large populations of panfish, that I do switch to plastics.
-
Leeches or Crawlers? I like leeches for my summertime bait. They are heartier than crawlers and last longer. Hook them through the base of the sucker it will hold on your hook better.
-
How do you typically fish on opener? I like to fish multi-species. I start with walleyes early and then crappies in the afternoon
-
Do you use the entire crawler when fishing? I never use more than half a crawler, Its unnecessary and will actual cause you to lose fish on the follow and biting off at the tail.
-
Do you ever use Willow Cats? Willow cats and and bullheads are great for walleyes but be careful when handling Willow Cats. They will stick you and cause an extreme reaction.
-
What is your go to color? The Old timers used to say "Fish any color you want as long its chartreuse" Love this color for walleyes in fall when they are feeding for frogs
-
What fall rate do you want for paddle tail plastics? Depends on the depths you are fishing. Let it helicopter down to the bottom, with just enough weight to get it down. A lot of times you will have a fish on when you pick it up. Change it around until you find the retrieve you like. You need to figure out how to stay on the bottom with your retrieve. You can also use a heavy jig head for longer casts and a more aggressive presentation remember that the you need to stay down.
|
For those who missed the meeting you can view Joel's Jig Fishing Q & A on YouTube - Click on the picture below |
We all at TCWU thank you for an amazing meeting Joel. We are revved up for the opener and can't wait to try what you have taught us at the club meeting. To learn more from Joel, check out his website and follow his social media pages. They are loaded with informational videos, blogs, articles, instruction and more. It will be well worth the visit as he really put in the effort to help you learn and improve as an angler.
|
|
TC Walleyes Unlimited, Inc. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
