Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited - Monthly Newsletter |
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Thankful
Greetings Club friends! As we celebrate Thanksgiving, it is gives us time to reflect on what we are thankful for. I’m thankful for my family and friends and I’m thankful to be a part of a great club like Twin Cities Walleyes. A big thank you to our club members and sponsors. Your support helps us to Connect, Educate and Give back to our community.
What a great presentation from our November guest speaker Scott Mackenthun. The information he shared regarding the DNR Lake Finder and how to interpret the data to help approach the lake you want to fish was outstanding. Also for giving us a tip about the rearing ponds that the DNR use and how they are an over looked place to fish. Check out the speaker notes below for more information.
I’m excited for our December club meeting with guest speaker Jason Mitchell. Jason is a legend in the fishing industry and I can’t wait to hear what he has to share with us!
Save the date! Please mark your calendars on January 28th to volunteer for our 6th annual Minnesota Military Youth Ice Fishing Event on Big Marine Lake. This is one of our biggest GIVE events of the year and we need your help. Click the link in the newsletter to sign up today!
Also, save the date for our 4th annual Ice Fishing Event with our host and guide Tony Roach, Saturday January 14th. Space is limited, so make sure to sign up early.
I look forward to seeing you all at our December meeting and don’t forget to bring a friend!
Dale Meinders
President - Twin Cities Walleyes Unlimited
Connect | Educate | Give
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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
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Jason Mitchell joins TCWU as
Guest Speaker on Thursday December 1st
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TCWU welcomes you to talk fishing with Jason Mitchell!
Hello Club Members, we are excited host Jason Mitchell as our guest speaker at our December 1st club meeting.
Jason began his career in the fishing industry as a guide on North Dakota’s Devils Lake. He guided full time for fifteen years before retiring to pursue a career in outdoor television. Jason Mitchell Outdoors Television is going into it's 16th season and routinely boasts some of the highest Raw Nielsen Ratings for outdoor programming. He has also had several top ten finishes in tournaments throughout his career and was indicated into the North Dakota Fishing Hall of Fame in 2016.
Make sure to mark your calendars and we will see you on December 1st!
Check out Jason's webpage for the latest shows and fishing tips:
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TCWU Guest Speaker line up 2022-23 |
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Giving Back to the Community
Volunteer Opportunity
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MN National Guard
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 setting up and then coaching the kids up who need some help. |
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We would like your help
We are looking forward to our 6th annual Minnesota Military Youth Ice Fishing event. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, January 28th.
We would love to have 30 Club members and friends volunteer to help make this a special day of fun for these families.
We are expecting a great turnout as the last two events were completely booked with 175 individuals signed up at each. We need volunteers to make this event a success. Click on the link below to learn more...
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Sponsor Spotlight - SCHEELS |
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A special shout out to Trophy Sponsor SCHEELS in this months Sponsor Spotlight. They are a great club partner and if you haven't visited their Eden Prairie store yet, we urge you to check out their top notch retail experience! |
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SCHEELS FEATURES
Customer service experts passionate about the products within their department. They are dedicated on providing the best retail experience in the eyes and minds of our customers. You will experience, an engaged team employees who deliver plus one for the customer and all with a positive attituded.
They carry world-class brands and back every product they carry with the SCHEELS guarantee. You can feel confident knowing you’re purchasing the same footwear, apparel, and gear professionals rely on.
They host seminars with well known fishing educators such as Johnnie Candle, Tom Boley, and Joel Nelson.
Awesome Events such as Ice fest and Fish Fest, which include awesome prizes and giveaways
SCHEELS is geared up for Cold Weather and is loaded up on all the outdoor gear you need. Make sure to get a head start on the holiday rush to get what you need before it gets picked over!
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Club President Dale Meinders and Board Member Rusty Nelson are pictured with SCHEELS fishing department manager and fishing expert Erik Mosell, who will be joining us at our December 1st Club meeting to showcase the "What's NEW" of ice fishing products at SCHEELS Make sure to say hi to Erik if you see him at SCHEELS!
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Special Thanks to all our Sponsors |
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Club outing with Tony Roach
on Lake Mille Lacs Saturday January 14, 2023
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Great news members, we have scheduled our 4th Annual Ice Fishing Camp with Tony Roach as our guide and coach. Tony is stoked to host this event and has an awesome day of Fun planned for us.
Camp includes shelters, lunch, bait, personal coaching from Tony and his guides and the latest ice fishing technology and equipment to try out.
Book your lodging now if you plan to make it a weekend of fishing fun Nitti's offers lodging and a variety of fish house rentals
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Questions: Rusty Nelson
Phone: 612-616-9964
Email: tcwalleyes@gmail.com
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Nitti's Hunters Point Resort
5436 479th St, Isle, MN 56342
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Mille Lacs Lake winter anglers can harvest one walleye starting Dec. 1
Starting on Thursday, Dec. 1, anglers will be allowed to keep one walleye between 21-23 inches or one walleye longer than 28 inches on Mille Lacs.
Upper Red Lake walleye regulations change for winter season
Anglers fishing during the winter season on Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota will have a three-walleye bag limit, with only one walleye longer than 17 inches allowed in possession.
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DNR cautions about uneven conditions as ice season gets underway
Anglers will be venturing onto the ice in several weeks, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources stresses the importance of checking ice thickness with a spud bar, auger or other device before stepping out onto it.
Below find some helpful Ice making and lake Ice thickness Charts
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TCWU Pro-tip of the Month |
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November guest speaker Scott Mackenthun shares this “Pro Tip of the Month“ on the importance of a good bump board and how to measure a fish correctly with Club President Dale Meinders.
Thanks for an amazing presentation Scott!
Click on the photo below to hear what was shared!
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Guest Speaker re-cap
Featuring Scott Mackenthun
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TCWU hosted Scott Mackenthun MN DNR Fishing Biologist and avid outdoorsman. Scott's first experience in fisheries came out of a step-in at the Hutchinson fisheries office. He was on a 4H project to learn about what they do and figured out at an early age that you could be paid to play with fish! He soon planned his focus on a career to aquatic biology, fisheries and wildlife management, which he earned a Masters at the University of Minnesota. Scott’s dream came full circle as he returned to Hutchinson DNR office as Fisheries Biologist.
For those who missed the meeting you will find a recap of Scott's presentation which includes the Lakefinder Tool, Minnesota's top 10 walleye lake update, secret tips, fish survey's and valuable insights, that are sure to broaden your fishing knowledge, enjoy!
Lakefinder – How to utilize this tool
Lakefinder is by far the most popular clickable link on the MN DNR Website and once upon a time, before the internet, the only way to get this info was at the Minnesota State Fair DNR booth. You were allowed three lake printouts when you visited. Today Every Lake in the state of Minnesota has been inventoried and is in the Lakefinder. This is a great tool, but you have to do the research to find the diamonds in the rough.
You can access from a computer or mobile app using the link below
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Gleaning information from Lakefinder
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Area = Size of the lake in acres
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Littoral acres = Shallow water size of water under 15 feet
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Shore Length = Total shore length in miles
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Mean depth = Average lake depth. Tip, shallow mean depth can identify lakes subject to winter kill potential
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Water clarity – Low transparency/visibility = productive system due to abundance of nutrients
- You can few all historical lake surveys in Lake Finder to observe fishing trends
- Check out the lake classification code, it is important. It categorizes lakes that are similar in structure, water clarity, etc… If you like fishing a particular lake type you can easily research and target these lakes through this tool.
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Lake frequency table – shows how the fish in your lake stack up. Great data for panfish and includes; Stocking, Ice in and out dates and Fishing advisory
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Fisheries Lake Survey = How many fish are they catching and the size of the fish. See below to learn about the different DNR surveys
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Surveying – The State of Minnesota DNR monitors fish management activities, fish stocking and regulations on water bodies with public accesses (land and water) and is not permitted on lakes without access.
Gill Nets - are very good at sampling offshore pelagic fishes. The DNR uses the same size gill net going back to the 1960’s. It's 250 feet with 5 different panels. Each panel is 50 feet with different mesh sizes
- Placement
- They measure water factors such as lake stratification (thermocline) to determine effective net setting locations.
- They try to be as consistent as possible when re-surveying lakes. Striving for the same time of year and netting location
- Fish killed by gill nets is small typically 1/2% of the resource on average
Trap Nets
- Target fish near shore
- Nets are staked at shore and stretched tight like a tennis net. Floats and weights keep the net spread open
- Fish encounter the net and turn instinctively into deeper water and into the trap. Non-lethal
Electro fishing – three types; back pack units, barge unit or a boat units
- Best way to sample bass
- Great way to sample seasonal growth rates and successful measuring production
Seining – Sampling young of the year and forage fish (minnows)
Stocking and fish growth productivity
- Growing season length is the main factor in relation to walleye growth
- Southern lakes = 9 inches in year one
- Northeast Minnesota = 6 years to grow 14 inches
- Females start spawning at 17 inches
- Myth – Big female walleyes become infertile, false! Old females produce larger eggs, which produce the best fry
Tips and facts
- There are 11,842 lakes over 10 acres in size in Minnesota
- DNR Biologists are taking the time to study your lakes and write detailed analysis Take the time to read the status of the fishery. Will tell you what was caught, how the fishery has change and if the management goals were met
- The public is welcome to share comments to the DNR on the lake management plan on the lakes that you have an interest in
- If you are interested in a particular lake and want more information, call the local DNR office. They will be more than happy to help you
- How do we reach out to the DNR and find the area fisheries manager – look up your favorite lake in Lake Finder and scroll down to the bottom of the page. It will provide the contact information.
- Minnesota license fees are middle of the road compared to other states
- Fry and Fingerlings are stocked in the Fall
- Lake management plans are typically 5 to 10 years before making changes/updates
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Target scours on the backside of bridges when river fishing in low water.
There are distinct watersheds that have natural restrictive barriers that separated walleyes and created specific strains of walleyes. The St. Louis River, Mississippi River, Rainey River, Des Moines to name a few. The DNR has found that stocking with local strains that match the watershed improves walleye stocking success. Saint Anthony Falls is an example of a restrictive barrier.
Fish rearing ponds! The DNR utilizes shallow wetland lakes with public accesses to rear walleye fry and fingerlings. These ponds are not experiencing winterkill, and offer an awesome opportunity for catching nice walleyes. Get away from the crowed, keep the lights on low and use rattling spoons and baits. These fish are roaming the structureless basin, call them in with rattles.
DNR Update on the top ten largest walleye lakes in Minnesota
- Leech – in the midst of ecosystem change brought on by the introduction of Zebra Muscles. Fair amount of fish in the 14 – 20 inch range
- Winnibigoshish - 2018 and 2019 strong classes with good fish in the 15 – 18 inch range
- Rainy Lake – 2019 had its first strong year class since 2011
- Kabetogoma – Strong classes in 2015 – 2016 and again in 2020. Good Sauger populations
- Lake of the Woods – 2021-year class is strong. 2019 and 2020 classes were below average Sauger averages are good. They will be performing creel surveys this winter
- Upper Red Lake – Keeps humming right along. The 2019-year class was very strong, lots of fish
- Vermillion – The good old days are back and Vermillion is primed. Third consecutive year of above average gill net sampling. 2018 year class was exceptionally strong 2019, 2021 and 2022 expected moderate to strong
- Cass Lake – Walleye abundance is near average with a strong 2018 year class. Winter fishing is low at Cass and yellow perch are plentiful. This lake is currently under fished and primed for good fishing.
- Mille Lacs – Good numbers of 14 – 18 inch fish. Fish larger than 20 were largely absent in the fall onshore and offshore sampling
- Lake Pepin – Strong walleye year classes starting in 2018 – 2021 and the third largest Sauger year class on record in 2020. Ice angling is not popular but fish are caught throughout the winter at Frontenac, Maiden Rock or by the Dam
Special thanks to Scott for joining our club to talk fishing. We had an amazing meeting and appreciate all the walleye fishing tips and DNR insights you shared. Scott has quite a few podcasts and radio appearances available on YouTube. He is also an accomplished freelance writer with many columns available on the internet and various local newspapers. Make sure to check him out if you have time, he has shared a wealth of fishing knowledge.
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TC Walleyes Unlimited, Inc. |
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