How to catch walleyes during an early-season bug hatch ????????????
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It’s somehow already that time of year where the bugs may show up at your secret fishing spot before you do....
First, here’s a little bug ID so you can stop calling everything that flies a Mayfly lol.
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MN DNR, G. Mikel
Some awesome info from MN DNR Large Lake Specialist Eric Jensen in this older PDF (from May 2015) but still loaded with fascinating insight:
One of the first major insect hatches to occur on Mille Lacs each year is the non-biting midges from the Chironomidae family. Midges are commonly known as “fish flies” or “lake flies”, and the first midge hatch usually occurs sometime in May.
Adults look like a very large mosquito, but without the piercing mouthparts. Some of the mating swarms of the adult midges are so dense, that from a distance, they actually appear to be columns of rising smoke.
One of the most common midges in Mille Lacs is the bloodworm. They have red larvae, which is why they are called bloodworms. The red color is due to a hemoglobin-like substance which helps carry oxygen, allowing them to live in very low oxygen areas.
Last spring, I was sent some awesome images from Outdoor News’ Glen Schmitt after he came across a very interesting find in his livewell – all these "bloodworms" aka midge larvae were coughed up by just 2 walleye that came out of small, central-MN lake:
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Another interesting factoid from MN DNR Large Lake Specialist Eric Jensen:
Bloodworms live in tubular cases on soft lake bottoms and feed on organic material.
Here’s a pic of “midge larvae tubes in the soft substrate of Mille Lacs.”
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I can just see walleyes cruising around munching on all the little buggy things popping up and wiggling their way outta that lake-bottom buffet. Maybe this is THE secret as to why walleyes loooove plucking Ned Rigs off bottom so much...? ????
Several emergences occur over the open-water period as their life cycle is relatively short.
???????? Started from the bottom, now we’re here ????????
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Don’t let a hatch scare you off the lake! Here’s a few tricks to help you catch more walleyes right now:
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Why to use high(er)-speed spinning reels for glide baits
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I find it sorta interesting how gear ratios (how many times the spool turns each time you crank the reel handle) are a big deal when talking about baitcasters and bass fishing, but up until recently were rarely mentioned in the walleye world – so I’m going to keep bringing them up lol. I’m assuming it’s because for years we just didn’t have many options for different gear ratios in ’em. ????♂️
It’s incredible how big of a difference you can feel even in going from say a 5:1 to a 6:1.
Here’s NWT pro Korey Sprengel talking about the size-30 Abu Garcia Revo Rocket spinning reel and why it’s his go-to for glide baits. The newest version has a 7.6:1 gear ratio and brings in 43” of line per crank, and the size-40 picks up 47” ???? wowza!
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Btw here’s a few other Revo Rocket upgrades from the previous model:
“...features an asymmetrical X-Craftic alloy body design, that gives anglers a more compact, lightweight body. ...the new AMG2 gear system, that is 17% larger than the previous generation, allowing for extra gear strength and the ability to create the Rocket’s extreme gear ratio.”
Of course it’s not just for ripping glide baits:
“...fills a gap in the arsenal with a faster gear ratio for finesse applications. Long casts can prove difficult in picking up line slack and lead to lost fish and missed opportunities. The Revo Rocket is the answer to that with a design created to pick up slack quickly ensuring a better hookset and more opportunities to catch fish.”
It's also nice for those times when you’ve just made a cast and then see a fish on the graph you wish you would’ve tossed at...so you reel in like a dang tornado lol.
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I’ve got a couple of ‘em right now, but for sure gonna snag a couple more. ????
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Can you name each of these veggie flavors? ????
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Clockwise front the top left = cabbage, coontail, milfoil, and chara (aka sand grass).
This AnglingBuzz write-up is jammed full [!] of the ins and outs of snatching walleyes out of the weeds. They do an awesome job of breaking down each weed category, and how/when to approach ’em.
Few quick excerpts on how Al “catch ’em all” Lindner finds the best weeds:
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“Day in, day out, it comes down to using my digital lake mapping, in my case LakeMaster digital charts on Humminbird units. I can usually tell by looking at the contours where the good weeds are going to be....
“With LakeMaster, you can set a Depth Highlight, which is the most important factor for me. Key in on the initial breakline the fish are using on the first dropoff edge – whether it’s weedline or just a natural breakline that rolls into deeper water – and you can stay spot-on all the time.”
The best weed habitat for walleyes are found on large, tapered flats, points and humps. Find erratic weed edges, pockets, and seams that form...funnels....
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For example, if the weed edge is in 15′ Al will set his Depth Highlight at 13′ and key in + or – 2′ to reveal areas of 11-15′ where the bottom flattens out, forming a funnel going up on to the flat.
“When you’re fishing shallow-water breaklines, fish will penetrate farther up into these funnel areas than you might expect. What you find is a living space that is much more extensive than the sharp breaks on the weedline. You’ll find groups of fish, not just a single here and there.
“It’s astounding how many walleye fishermen avoid shallow water. They get into 12′ or shallower and start touching weeds, and they get nervous and immediately go back down. It’s mind-boggling to see guys pulling rigs, boards and vertical jigging the breakline and deeper when the walleyes are in the weeds.”
Keep reading the full AnglingBuzz write-up here. ????
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Ned rig walleye fishing tips you NEED to know!
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Doesn’t matter if it’s overcast or sunny...windy or glass calm...shallow or deep...Ned Rigs straight-up catch the snot out of walleyes all year round.
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Why? Because they’re super versatile and can be presented to look like anything walleyes are eating: bugs, shiners, perch, crayfish, etc.
Reminds me of this steak that has a little bit of something for anyone whether they want their bite to be rare, medium, well done, or something in between. ????
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Okay, bad analogy...that thing is freakin’ disgusting LOL. Maybe Neapolitan ice cream would’ve been a better comparison? ????♂️
Whatever walleyes think the Rapala CrushCity Ned BLT is, they usually don’t want to give it back:
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Thank YOU for taking time out of your day to watch a comment on these YouTube videos – I really do read 'em all! We’ve got a bunch of new vids coming to the Target Walleye YT channel soon-ish. And please let me know if there's anything specific you want to see next....
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Friendly reminder that “Death Jigs” are filthy! ????
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Man, do those Walleye Nation Creations Death Jigs ever catch ’em!
Reminds me of someone taking a bunch of good walleye baits (jig, bottom-bouncer, ‘crawler harness, spinner) and combining them into one hybrid fish-catcher:
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You can fish it a zillion different ways, but the most popular might be slow-rolling it (over the tops of fish or structure) with a steady/straight retrieve and letting the twirling crawler do the work.
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Quick tips from Isaac Lakich:
...wait a second or 2 to set the hook after feeling a bite to make sure they chomp the whole rig and aren’t just nipping at the tail.
How to keep it from getting tangled when casting:
“Think of it as more of a lob out [versus a sharp, snappy cast]...and at the end of the cast before the bait hits the water, you want to put light pressure on the line which helps the hook stay back."
Same type of lob cast I do with slip-bobbers, or really any live bait so it stays on the hook. And lightly feathering the spool at the end helps to lay everything out straight when it hits the water.
Don’t have to fish it with live bait either. I’ve heard of a lot of folks using things like Uncle Josh Pork Night Crawlers, Slimers, or Gulp! on the business end.
You obviously don’t need forward-facing sonar (LiveScope, Mega Live, ActiveTarget) to fish with ’em...but “sniping” those big, suspended marks you see moseying around all over is an absolute blast.
The 3/4-oz size sounds heavy, but works great for mid-range to deeper stuff. And could drop down to a 3/8-oz if fishing skinny water or wanting to sloooow-roll it above their heads.
I cannot wait to get back out slinging ‘em again!
Btw the most popular sizes and colors usually seem to be sold out everywhere by the time the mid- to late-summer bite is in full swing, so I’d recommend snagging a couple sooner than later if you’re up for trying a new technique....
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1. Another MN ‘fishing opener’ has come and gone
If you watched my video from last Friday talking ‘Opener’ expectations...I got lucky and it was spot on lol. Surface water temps were already 60-65°F on the couple of lakes we were hopping around on in the Brainerd Lakes Area and walleyes were on the chew!
Caught ‘em a number of different ways up shallow (mostly 6-9’) on sand flats and around newly-emerging weeds. Rippin’ Raps, Ned Rigs, and 1/8-oz jigs with shiners each accounted for fish over 27” in my boat ???? with a handful of fish small enough (under 20”) to go in the box...great problem to have!
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The wind was really gassing on Sunday, so I used the onX Fish app to find a small, backyard lake that would still have ‘Trophy Potential” walleyes swimming in it, and we ended up sticking a mondo 28.25-incher on a Ned Rig! Also caught a handful of ‘eater’ sized fish throwing a slip-bobber with a chunk of nightcrawler in just 5-7’ weeds in a shallow, protected bay. It was an unbelievable couple hours of fishing on a day where most folks would probably look at the wind forecast and stay on the couch.
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The fish were a little fussier for us last night during the first week of our local walleye league (Walleye Wackers) but my buddy Nick Lindner and I did trick a few into biting.
Got lucky ‘cuz our first walleye to hit the boat happened to be a 29-incher that weighed 7.54 lbs and took ‘big fish’ of the night!
But bigger props to Dan Steffen and the mini hammer Leo on the win! ???? Love it!
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Gord Pyzer’s quick trick to finding transition ‘eyes
Quick-hitter on how Gord intercepts walleyes before they’ve made it out to their summer spots:
...understanding the spring migration is a lot easier if you keep 2 things in mind. The 1st to remember is where you’ve been catching the fish since the season opened.... The 2nd is where you normally catch them in the middle of the summer. ...right now you’ll find the walleyes somewhere in between.
To...pinpoint your best options, grab your lake contour map and start by highlighting where the walleyes spawned and where you’ve been catching them. Next, circle your favorite summer hangouts – the places you either catch walleyes in late June, July and August or would anticipate doing so.
Now draw an expressway between the 2 locations and note all of the key structural features that intersect the two locations. I am referring to the tips of islands, sunken reefs, humps, shoals and isolated rockpiles, anything that either crosses or is positioned close to the highway.
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Walleyes can usually be a little funky to start out the season, but water temps are way higher than normal and they’re already putting on their post-spawn feedbag now – it’s time to bulk back up!
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Some folks were complaining about the 90°F temps we had during opener weekend here in MN...so I’ve gotta share this crazy throwback pic from my buddy Andy Walsh during the 2020 fishing opener – what he coined ‘snowpener’ LOL. ???? The Midwest is a wild place:
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Thank YOU for reading! Back atcha in a couple.
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FRIENDS OF TARGET WALLEYE
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Target Walleye – walleye during open water and all species during hardwater – is brought to you by Al Lindner, Jay Kumar, Chris Philen, 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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