If you're getting Target Walleye for the first time, a friend probably signed you up! |
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Do you "tune" your tungsten? |
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Ice tourney pro Lawrence Luoma does, and he's probably iced more panfish than all of us combined [seriously!] so I'm listening. Can you spot the differences? |
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1. Thoroughly cleans the eye (more on that below).
2. Always sharpens the snot out of the hook. Especially important if there's any over-spray paint.
3. Carefully [!] bends the eye to 90Β° so the jig hangs more horizontal. Says horizontal always gets more bites.
4. Also "opens up" the hook for better hookups. Notice how the hook tip is actually pointing slightly above the jig's eye?
Takes some time to tie, but says it helps keep the bait perfectly horizontal. Like how Dave Genz always shows to straighten your knot by sliding it back on the eyelet.... When you snell, even the fish can't move the knot.
Couple other notes....
He's always using 3mm tungsten (or even smaller) on pressured lakes.
But says when they "get up north like where the NAIFC Championship is, then you can go bigger. Sometimes that bigger profile is key when there's really big sunfish...."
If he's bumping up to a bigger profile, he likes switching to lead because it's lighter and easier for bluegills to suck in. Bet ya never thought of that! I hadn't....
One more thing....
The final trick he didn't talk about, but I'm gonna, is the importance of a reeeeally good 'stache. I wasn't able to cross paths with him at this year's ice show [βΉοΈ] but here's a snap of his facial powers from last year:
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How awesome is that? Lawrence can for sure pull it off β wish I could.
I'm thinking that 'stache has gotta be part of his pre-tourney plan.... Think about the intimidation factor when dudes with a 'stache like that are NOT smiling β can't say I'd recommend fishing too close to any of these fellas during a tourney:
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Lol! Thanks again for all the info, man!! |
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Rare "golden pike" caught! |
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Outta Russia's Lake Baikal. These pics are the only info I have for you since the original post and comments are basically all in Russian. π€― Pretty wild tho! |
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And the winner of "Best Dressed" at the St. Paul Ice Show is....
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[Drum-roll sound effect]
It's...a tie?!?! π€
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But then I also stumbled across this gem while roaming the show floor: |
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Big props to both fellas for being unique and having fun with it! πx2 |
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How about 32.5 inches of "WHOA!" caught by Kaiden Fletcher ( @kjffishing) on a PK Rattle Spoon?! π³ Congrats on the new PB, dude!!! |
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TW fan Steve Meyer is still catching some open-water tanks on Lake Oahe, SD before freeze-up! Said he's been slinging Moonshine Shiver Minnows, and whacked this stud on Dec 2. π₯Ά #diehard |
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How to make friends enemies with ice-heads....
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By breaking up the ice at the ramp so you can take one last rip in your Lund Pro Guide hahaha. Randin Olson of Lock Jaw Guide Service is about that #TillerLife: |
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Barely a week after that chilly outing, Randin was plucking 'em thru a 8" hole: |
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Loved those live-streamed walleye derbies. π
New 512,000 sq ft facility. But wait, there's more:
> "Additionally, Mercury has announced 3 new expansions to its Fond du Lac campus to meet record demand from its global customers. Mercury will make 2 additions to its foundry and 1 to its machining facility, adding 100,000 sq ft to its global headquarters. With these additions, Mercury will now have 3 mil sq ft of manufacturing in Fond du Lac. Since 2009, Mercury has now invested more than $1.7 bil in capacity and expansion growing to now more than 4,000 employees in Fond du Lac."
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Mike's coming over from Striker Brands and was with In-Depth Media Productions prior to that. Got to chat with him briefly at the St. Paul Ice Show and he seems like a great dude! π€ Congrats to both!
Multispecies derby (costs just $10 to enter) that can be fished by any ice angler thru the FishDonkey app. Thousands of $$$ in Clam goodies up for grabs and a pile of different way to win β more info here.
Running thru the entire month of Jan. There's $5.5K in prizes and weekly giveaways donated by companies that support WAM's ( Women Anglers of Minnesota) mission of getting ladies out fishing! First 750 gals get free registration β more info here.
Teams that qualified at a 2021 NAIFC event will be bringing in their biggest 8 bluegills and 8 crappies per day, fishing for a chunk of $15K+. Day 1 is on Big Elbow Lake, and day 2 on South Twin Lake. Good luck, all!
There's a potential performance issue with a small percentage of 8" Lazer Blades on a handful of new augers purchased after Aug 2, 2021.
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Honestly tho: BIG props on StrikeMaster's commitment to taking care of anyone fast if they have new blades that are not perfect. Says a lot that they don't just try to sweep it under the rug. π―
> Sportsman's Warehouse, which is a publicly-traded company, said in the filing, "The decision to terminate the Merger Agreement follows feedback from the Federal Trade Commission that led the parties to believe that they would not have obtained FTC clearance to consummate the merger."
> The acquisition was expected to close in the second half of 2021. Under the termination agreement, Great Outdoors Group agreed to pay Sportsman's Warehouse a termination fee of $55.0 mil.
> On Dec 21, 2020, The Great American Outdoors Group agreed to purchase Sportsman's Warehouse for $18 per share in cash, equating to about an $800 mil purchase price. The price represented a 42% premium versus Sportsman's Warehouse's closing price of $12.65 on Dec 20....
> Sportsman's Warehouse's smaller locations were expected to provide Bass Pro with more flexibility to open stores, including opening closer to urban markets and exploring smaller markets.
> According to Moody's, Bass Pro, which is majority-owned by its founder, John Morris, and privately held, had revenues in the 12 months ended Sept 26, 2020 of $7.1 bil. Sportsman's Warehouse's sales in 2020 were $1.45 bil.
> Garmin, Ltd. [GRMN] completed its listing transfer and began trading Tues as an NYSE-listed company. Garmin said it could now leverage all of the advantages of membership in the NYSE community.
For those pesky holes that like to freeze-up overnight whether the thermostat is set at 65Β°F or 80Β°F hahaha:
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Long-ish post about shipping delays and tackle availability.
> "This new [DV] line will consist of 3 models that will offer multiple deck variations for each. The first boat that we are releasing is the DV 22. They will be available in early '22 from your local Caymas Dealer."
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NFWF = National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
> "...to support conservation projects in the U.S. that will generate immediate, overlapping benefits across 3 urgent areas of concern: advancing carbon goals to mitigate climate change, conserving wildlife biodiversity, and boosting the resilience of communities across the nation."
16. FishUSA has some Two Brothers Innovations rods in stock.
Both from 2B Fishing and Elliott Rods = incredible short sticks. And, well, not-so-short sticks if you're talking about Elliott's new-ish " Evolution Series" ice rods...which I'd bet will be sold-out by the time I press send on this email. π³
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Other than the obvious color splash, here's what else makes 'em different:
> "...features the revolutionary FreeFall trigger that allows hard water anglers to hit specific depths, and get instant hookups by releasing the trigger in the target zone. Expect easy one-handed operation, smooth drag, and the perfect all-around gear ratio [2.5:1] for shallow to mid-depth ice fishing. No line twist, drop-speed control, and a tangle-free spool cap create a user-friendly design that simplifies line management and makes your time on the ice more enjoyable."
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Yup, this is real life! π€― Here's your shot to win a new MarCum MX-7GPS lithium-powered sonar/GPS unit!! π₯ GPS mapping + MarCum's legendary sonar platform = we almost feel bad for the fishes...almost!
Takes just 10 sec to enter and can share the link you get for bonus entries. π Good luck!
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Few TargetWalleye.com Highlights
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What's π₯ on Target Walleye's YouTube π₯
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You already know (and probably really love) the OG Shiver Minnow...but did you know that Moonshine recently released a "Fat Bottom Series" with even more gliding action? Know plenty of folks who took it out for a rip this open-water season, but it's actually primarily designed for ice fishing: |
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Here's a quick hitter from fish-head John Hoyer talkin' how he works the bait thru the ice, and why he says it's key to let the lure "wander back to center" when it comes time to trigger a bite: |
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"This is what happens after a night of -22 wind chills. Yep, it's all ice today."
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And Border View Lodge's captains are already out smacking 'em one after another while checking ice conditions! |
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Man, that doesn't look like any fun at all! πββοΈ Cap'n Josh ^ is gonna get sick of me clogging up his radio lol: |
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Not sure what is purtty-er...the paint job of this hardwater walleye, or the "blue glow tiger" one on that Berkley Vibrato. π Gonna have to get my hands on some: |
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Sign up another fish-head!
If you're forwarding Target Walleye to a friend who loves to walleye-fish or want your fishing buddies to get these emails, just send us their email addresses and we'll take care of it! (We won't sell the addresses, use them for spam, etc.) |
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Friends of Target Walleye |
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Who is Target Walleye
Target Walleye β walleye during open water and all species during hardwater β 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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P.O. BOX 2782
Baxter, MN 56425
(218) 824 5026
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