Hope everyone has a great + safe weekend! Careful 'cuz no doubt there will be a whole bunch of crazies out on the water.... And don't want to forget what Memorial Day is all about: Remembering and honoring those that made the ultimate sacrifice.

Quick note from Al Lindner:

> "This Memorial Day weekend we have so much to be thankful for as we honor our patriots that sacrificed their lives serving our country. We appreciate the freedom that we hold. Our fallen soldiers are remembered and their families are in our prayers. May God Bless America. Enjoy the weekend holiday everyone and stay safe in travel and on the waterways. πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ"

Yes sir! Alright, here we go – and thx much for reading!
Today's Top 5
So...walleyes eat birds now.
Or I guess they always have [?] but there's finally proof...or something like that lol:
Was sent that pic ^ from TW fan Jeff who said his buddy @nate_cole56 caught the 21" walleye jigging in 23' on the south shore of Lake of the Woods. They weren't exactly sure what kind of bird it was, but of course it was pretty dang incredible to see.

It's also cool to see walleye getting a little revenge on the birdies.... πŸ€”

Remember in the last Target Walleye when I shared pics of fish that had "notches" taken out of them?
Yup, it happens to walleyes, too.... Sent in from TW reader Brett Selinger in SK:
Welllll, I got a message from Daryl Bauer, the fisheries outreach program manager with NE Game & Parks Commission, who knows a whoooole lot more 'bout that kind of stuff than I ever will:

> Daryl "Saw your photos of healed-up injuries on fish and your question on the cause? Injuries like that are most often caused by fish-eating birds (e.g. herons, cormorants).

> "One thing is for sure, the instinct to survive is strong! It is amazing what some of those fish come through, survive and thrive!"

Thx much, Daryl!
Pick up your dang trash!
It's honestly sad how much garbage I see floating around our lakes and/or piled up at different accesses. Can't believe I have to say this but...if you bring it out, bring it back with you! One lazy person can make all of us look bad. BIG shout-out to those that not only pick up after themselves but also others:

1. Blake O. (@montec78) caught a little North Saskatchewan River sturgeon that had some sort of a rubber gasket stuck around its neck. Glad he was able to get it off before the next 50-ish yrs of that fish's life:

2. Adam Turnbull caught this odd-rocket that'll make you look twice:
Nope, that's not a #47 Jointed Rapala:
It's what happens when some people have zero respect for our waters. Something as small as a Powerade wrapper can wreak the havocs:

3. Jeff Lanteigne caught this walleye sundae on Sylvan Lake, AB that was being strangled by filth – looks to be a lid from a gas-station icee?
Thx to all the above for giving the fish a second chance, but more importantly for spreading the message on picking up after yourself and others.
Will the MN state-record walleye ever be beaten?
All this state-record talk had me realizing there's a lot folks that don't know much about the current MN state record – one that's stood strong for 40 years! – so had to do some digging. 

LeRoy Chiovitte (who passed on Nov 2019 after his third battle with cancer) caught the 17-lb 8-oz egg cannon back on May 13, 1979. Fish was 35.75β€³ long with a 21.25β€³ girth! He was specifically targeting monster walleyes with a #4 hook + shiner minnow on 8-lb line...fishing the mouth of the Seagull River – above the rapids – where it enters Saganaga Lake. Check this out:
Lots of info on LeRoy's catch from Northland Outdoors, who btw kicks out a ton of content and is for sure worth checking out. Few excerpts below:

> The weather was cold that year, and many walleyes spawned late. Chiovitte had caught a 12.5-lber on Sat (the season opener) that was spawned out...hooked his 17.5-lber at about 8am on Sun when it was still full of eggs.

> Catch-and-release fishing was just catching on in those days but Chiovitte and his friends weren't releasing many walleyes at that point. That weekend he and his 2 friends (Lorin and Todd Palmer of Cloquet) took home 10 walleyes that weighed a collective 86 lbs. [!!!]

> That area of the Seagull River is now off-limits to anglers in the spring...to protect spawning walleyes. Chiovitte has said he thinks his walleye record is safe now that spawning fish are mostly off-limits.

> "Almost every record fish is full of spawn, and now you can't fish up there this time of year, so it's going to be pretty hard to top it."

No doubt – πŸ™ RIP fishing brother!

Here's another angle to help get your bearings as to just how huge that fish was:
Sounds like the closest anyone has come to catching (and keeping) a walleye as big was Bob Bruininks' 17-lb 6-oz fish from Loon Lake (along the Gunflint Trail) on July 4, 1989. Got weighed more than 2 hours after it was caught...and they typically lose a bit of weight...so would've been close!

Now you (we) know....
Danny Woodke dominates Sturgeon Bay NWT.
Turned into a 1-day slugfest because:

> NWT: "With sustained heavy winds predicted and a small craft advisory in effect today, we have decided to cancel day 2 of the NWT Sturgeon Bay event."

So Danny Woodke's hefty 5-fish limit for 39.44 lbs (7.89-lb average) on day 1 took home the 'dubyah' worth $93,022 in cash + prizes, and the ultimate bragging rights:
You might remember that the last time the NWT was on Green Bay, Danny took home the $87K win (with 74.94 lbs on 10 fish) chuckin' Rapala Rippin' Raps on big rockpiles in 10-15β€².

He was casting again (vs trolling), but still waiting on the specifics. Here's what we do know after day 1 – was tight-lipped because there was still a chance they were going out for day 2:

> Danny: "Right now, there are 3 different casting baits that I have confidence in. Each day the go-to bait changes. I started with what I thought the go-to bait was, but didn't finish with it. Right now, you just can't rely on one thing – you have to be willing to change."

He noticed the water had cooled down when he arrived at his first spot, which is never a good sign on the Great Lakes. He eventually found the warmer water and his co-angler, Trevor Parsons, almost immediately caught a 9-lber. He ground out 1 more good one at that spot before making another adjustment.

> "I realized the fish weren't where we originally located them. Once I relocated them, they came pretty consistent. We had 8 walleye bites, and we capitalized on 6 of them. Once we relocated them, it was better than we expected. I knew that weight was possible if things went right, but with the rollercoaster we've had, you just never know. 2 weeks ago I had bigger fish located for a tournament and then all of a sudden, the bigger ones were gone, and the smaller ones moved in.

> "The fish are moving this time of year and that's tough as it is. Then we went from 80-degree temps to 40 degrees. It's been frustrating and stressful. Every day is a little bit different. The warm water is moving around and the fish are relating to the warm water. I knew every bite was going to matter today, and I was just hoping to get 5 bites."

Btw Danny is a deputy sheriff for Oconto Count [thx man!] and also owns/operates Walleye Patrol Guide Service where he spends 3 or 4 days a week on Green Bay.

Huge props! I'll follow up with the winning baits/deets in the next Target Walleye.
Gravel lizards of the week!
Cole Frenzel and his dad Doug had themselves a day on Lake Sakakawea! Cole cracked a 32.5" pre-spawner 🀯 pitching a Northland Slurp! Jig paired with a "fire perch color 4" Berkley Ripple Shad. Said he "let her go so some other lucky angler could catch her and have the same excitement we did! Guessed her over 14+lbs! Amazing fish and memory with dad." Amazing is right! Those smiles say it all:

Cody (@backroadangler) hit the spring walleye run on MB's Lake Winnipeg and stuck this gorgeous #greenback – and a bunch of its friends – with a "firetiger" Clam Drop TG Jig + minner. Man, does that greenie ever POP against his red Blackfish soft shell. πŸ”₯
News

From a 2-vehicle crash while on duty near Grand Rapids. Leaves behind a husband and 3 children – prayers to the family.

> "Sarah had been a conservation officer since 2005, following in her family's footsteps as her uncle, father and grandfather all worked as conservation officers, while her husband works for the DNR's Forestry Division and her mother was employed by DNR Fisheries."

Here's the GoFundMe account if you can spare a few bucks to help their family financially.


Huge shout-out to Paralyzed Veterans of America for doing whatever it takes to get these fine folks (I believe 40 in attendance) out on the water for the 18th Annual PVA "Joel Niemeyer" fishing event on the Missouri River.

> The celebration [40th annual] is the city's largest fundraiser, bringing in about $3.8 mil annually and 75% of the operating budget for the chamber of commerce.


A stand-up blade bait made by Matthew Fairbank of @verticalcustomlures. Of course he always kills the paint jobs, but check out this bait design, too:
Always hear folks talking about walleyes "pinning the bait to bottom" – especially with blade baits and glide baits – so digging this design and would sure think it'd help with the hook-up ratio when walleyes fly down to dive-bomb the bait.


Everything from walleye, trout, largemouth, smallies, bluegills, crappies, and wiper. Interesting 'cuz most other states are doing the opposite. Sounds like UT has more fish than they know what to do with.


Another one for folks to mispronounce lol.



Taking their fishing-marketing relationship to the next level.

8. Some "free fishing weekends" coming up…

Where residents can fish any body of water in their state without a license:




I'm sure I missed a bunch others, but worth checking into if you wanna introduce someone who's new to the sport.


...this killer Father's Day gift idea I mentioned in the last Target Walleye...it looks like FishUSA just got 7 more Rapala R12 Heavy-Duty Lithium Fillet Knife Combos in stock. And they have 'em about $20-30 cheaper than everywhere else I've seen:
Been using mine since last winter and am seriously impressed – the thing cuts like absolute butter and I haven't even had to charge it yet. 😳

Has 80 min of continuous runtime with one of those little lithium ion batteries (comes with 2) which means you can fillet fish anywhere and not be stuck next to an outlet. And it's 2x the speed and 3x the torque of standard fillet knives, so it can make anybody (even me lol) look good at cleaning fish.


> Senator Maria Cantwell...introduced the Fueling America's Security and Transportation with Electricity Act of 2021 (FAST Electricity Act), which creates a new federal tax incentive to accelerate the manufacturing and adoption of all types of electrified transportation modes ranging from recreational boats to industrial equipment.

> The FAST Electricity Act...would establish a 30% investment tax credit for any electrically propelled vehicle that is not an on-road passenger car or truck. The bill also provides a 30% investment tax credit for recharging or hydrogen refueling infrastructure needed to power the transportation vehicles of tomorrow.

11. PSA: If you're heading to Mille Lacs.

Make sure your net is able to handle 2 at a time (lol). #DoubledUp #Again!
The 1/4-oz NFT Long Shank Fire-Ball Jigs tipped with a shiner have been doing work πŸ’ͺ along sand-to-gravel transitions in 10-16'. Pretty incredible for lake that has no walleyes....
Tip of the Day

Quick (but valuable!) tip from Bob Jensen talking on how finding the fish isn't always enough – you've got to find the fish that are actually willing to bite.

> "Some sonar work might reveal a bunch of walleyes hovering off the edge of a deep-water structure, and just a few walleyes on the top of that same structure. While it's tempting to work the big school of fish that are on the edge, it might be more productive to work the smaller group that's on top of the structure.

> "Walleyes that are shallow or on top of a structure are often looking for something to eat. Walleyes that are near structure but that have pulled off to the side of the structure are fish that have probably recently eaten and are now just hanging around. They probably aren't very interested in eating. When they do get ready to eat, they'll swim back to the structure and find a meal.

Have noticed a whole bunch of this already in the first couple weeks of MN's walleye season, on several different lakes and completely different conditions.

One example: Going back to last Sat when Nick Miltimore put all of our fish in the boat for the Walleye Alliance's Spring Walleye Classic on Gull Lake.

I was repeatedly casting (over and over and over again!) at a school of fish that was sitting in about 10' right on the lip where a sand flat breaks off into deep water. Occasionally I would get 1 to bite, but they would either pop off half way back to the boat or short-nip the back half of my bait. Clearly they weren't committing.

Soooo what's professional jig-pitcher 😏 Nick do? He's straight-up hawking the graph...glued to the Side Imaging. Every time he'd see a shadow come across the screen out to the left of the boat (up shallow in probably just 5-7' sand) he'd fire a cast in there and BOOM = it's on. Those fish were in a completely different mood. They engulfed the bait. And literally coughed up small perch and shiners the whole way in. Those shallower fish were probably just 70-100' away from the huge school I was non-stop pitching at, but it made all the difference.

One of those days that I just can't shake, but has me looking forward to the next time out. I've got to be better about making real-time adjustments on the water and NOT always fishing memories...whether those memories are from 4 yrs ago or maybe even just a couple hours prior. I needed this reminder and maybe you do too.... 😎
Meme of the Day
We're coming into wedding season. Don't be blinded by love during the engagement lol:
Kidding of course...sorta....
Today's 'Eye Candy
It's not usually the walleyes smiling for the grip-n-grin, but Christina Truppe's not complaining. #SayCheese
Btw it was nice of Christina to pause for a quick walleye photo for us...surprised she had time in-between all the figure-8s she's already logged this szn:
She's literally caught more WI muskies already in May than I have in my entire life lol. πŸ’― Seriously impressive stuff, Christina!
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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!
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

ο»ΏTo send us walleye pics, ice shots or whatever, just respond to this email or click here to email us. Or post it on the Target Walleye Facebook page.
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