Another 16-lb Oahe giant caught!

I was sent this freakazoid from TW reader Steve Meyer, who said he netted this 16-lb (33” long x 21” girth) Lake Oahe giant for his buddy Rob Crandell! And that after “weighing it 25x on 3 different scales, we knew he was close but a warm certified scale wasn't going to get us to 17-14.” 🤯 What a unit!

They caught the behemoth running leadcore with a...you guessed it: Walleye Nation Creations Reaper. Same bait used to catch those last 2 new state records, only this time it was in the “blue shiner” flavor:

Oh, and Steve proved that not all sunset fishing pics have to be cliche (when ya don't catch 'em lol) as they ended their day with an incredible Lake Oahe sunset and the fish of a lifetime in tote:

Thanks Steve!

How Jason Mitchell targets shallow-water walleyes.

Some of the very best walleye patterns on many different systems across the Midwest – particularly at early-ice – are happening in less than 6’....

As always, there’s a lot more info in Jason’s full Virtual Angling write-up here, but gonna plop a few excerpts below to get you started:

> Jason: Shallow is relative...10′ might be shallow on some bodies of water...other fisheries the basin or deepest water available might only be 10′. We often catch walleye in shallow water, but how shallow? A mistake I’ve made over and over in my own life is sometimes not fishing shallow enough.

> ...if you see extremely shallow patterns unfold on a fishery during the open water period, you better anticipate some of the same skinny water patterns under the ice.

> The toughest conditions seem to line up with a little bit of clear ice in clear water. These fish seem to be the most sensitive. Catching fish in shallow water during these conditions is often a low light affair and you must make a conscious effort to be quiet. Drill your holes ahead of time and keep your lights limited to head lamps that you can turn on and off. Take your ice cleats off and try not to make a lot of noise, settle down into an area and let the fish come to you. Tip-ups and extra lines set remotely can be important. The bite will often occur in the dark.

> Stained water, cloudy ice and simply more ice however can make these fish much more tolerant of noise and what you can get away with. Not all shallow walleye patterns require stealth mode but universally, a lot of big vehicle traffic seems to shut down every shallow walleye bite we have ever seen. Therefore it is so important to be the angler that finds the fish first. With shallow walleye, you won’t get there in time if you are waiting for reports.

> ...these fish are often simply aggressive. You’re not working with much water so when these fish come in and punch a spoon or glide bait 3′ from the end of your rod, the hits feel electric. The fish fight hard and are still full of energy when you bring them topside.

> A challenge when fishing for walleye in such shallow water is simply dumping fish at the bottom of the hole when they hit the ice. Can also be a challenge navigating big fish up a hole when dealing with less than 6″ of ice. These fish can back up and leverage their tails against the bottom of the ice. Almost must just plan to get your hands wet for big fish where you reach down below the ice and simply pin them to the side of the hole or get ahold of the gill plate.

Couple of Jason’s favorite skinny-water baits are the Clam Tikka Mino (top/right) and the Leech Flutter Spoon (bottom/left). Would love to know how many fish he’s caught on these specific ones! #ChewedUp

> ...upsize those treble hooks on your lures [when fishing skinny water]. Take about any spoon or glide bait and double the treble hook size. Seems like overkill but that larger hook and wider gap will keep fish pinned up much better when they hit the bottom of the ice. When dealing with a few feet of water, these fish will often hit the bottom of the ice basically when you set the hook. This isn’t a situation necessarily for finesse unless you are using live minnows below tip-ups and are simply letting the fish swallow the minnow.

Full Virtual Angling write-up here.

And the winner of “Best Dressed” at the St. Paul Ice Show is....

[Drum-roll sound effect]

None other than Jason Durham of Go Fish! Guide Service (northern MN) and pics seriously NEVER do his get-ups justice. Especially when we’re talking about a custom, hand-made burbot costume! Would you take candy from this slimy stranger? 🤔😂🙋‍♂️

I got to chat with Jason for a bit (it’s NEVER enough) while down at the show and man his passion for this industry is so dang contagious.

Big props for always being unique and having fun with it, no matter what it is that you are doing. 🏆👊

Al Lindner’s first Lindy Rig walleye EVER.

This awesome throwback was shared on the Lindner’s Angling Edge Instagram page:

> “He just returned back from Vietnam and was living in Rhinelander, WI. This is the first walleye Al caught on a Lindy Rig – a rig system his brother Ron designed while he was away. The fish was caught on Lake George.”

And of course it was a giant!

Wonder how many millions of walleyes have been caught on the Lindy Rig since?!

Btw that might have been Al’s first walleye ever on a Lindy Rig, but it wasn’t his first catch using ‘em.... The first Lindy-Rig-catch picture EVER was actually with Al and Ron absolutely lighting up the largemouth. 😅

Some comments about that pic ^ from Ron before he passed. 🙏

> Ron: “...we were trying to catch walleye, but bumped into a big school of bass instead...it was late in the year (3rd week of Sept). We had not put the Lindy Rig on the market yet (that would take another year) we just invented it and we were still experimenting with it.

> “Brother Al was just back from Vietnam. The catch came from Lake George, WI...we were using 4” chubs.

> “What I like about the photo (it was before “catch and release”...we still were using stringers...no beards...and notice the antenna arms on the TV) it takes me back to the old days.”

How cool is that?!

But gotta admit the very first thing that came to my mind was...

Are you silly? This dude's still gonna send it!

The procrastination is hard in this post from Pontoon & Deck Boat magazine on FB:

I guess that’s one way to clean all the zebra mussels off of the ‘toons!

1. MN/WI DNR report biggest capture of Asian carp to date.

From the Mississippi River near Trempealeau, WI:

> "...officials caught 296 silver carp, 23 grass carp and four bighead carp Nov 30 in what the agency called the largest single capture of invasive carp in MN to date."

> "Agency officials said the WI DNR tracked 6 tagged invasive carp in that area of the river that led officials to larger schools moving upstream. Observations from commercial anglers also helped officials pinpoint the fish."

2. NS: Volunteers purchase hub shacks for homeless Halifax folks.

3. PA: Corps in process of removing old Elizabeth Dam.

On the Monongahela River. Also creating 73 rock reefs to “provide habitat for fish within the area and some shallow water areas to spawn during the spawning season.”

4. ID/MO: USDA reissues solicitation for 108K pounds of walleye.

> The walleye fillets are for distribution to ID and MO via the National School Lunch Program and other federal food assistance programs, according to the government’s notice. The deadline for offers is Dec 7, with any contracts announced by Dec 14.

> The USDA first issued a solicitation for the fillets in Aug, but canceled the solicitation in Nov after no bids were submitted.

> The USDA last purchased walleye fillets in Dec 2022, when it issued a $1.3 mill contract to Redby, MN...Red Lake Nation Fisheries for 108,000 lbs. Red Lake Nation Fisheries has won every walleye contract from the USDA since 2020.

5. MN: Reminder that Mille Lacs’ new walleye regz began Dec 1.

Can keep 1 walleye between 21-23”, or 1 longer than 28” this ice season.

6. WI: New Wisconsin Ice Fishing Expo, Dec 8-10.

At the Sunnyview Exposition Center in Oshkosh.

7. MN: Arrowhead Ice Fishing & Winter Show, Dec 8-10.

At the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

8. WI: H2H Fishing's walleye teams announced.

Looks like all matches will be on the Lake Winnebago chain or The Bay of Green Bay:

9. NY: Cazenovia changing from a walleye to bass lake.

> ...as the lake has aged and become more nutrient-rich and heavily vegetated, it has become less of a walleye habitat and more of a largemouth bass habitat.

Sounds like the normal progression of most lakes....

10. MO: Forsyth becomes Walleye Capital of Missouri.

11. MD: DNR is raising freshwater mussels in a mobile lab.

Jesse Pinkman would be quite proud:

> “...aiming to raise imperiled freshwater mussels and restore them to waters of the Susquehanna River basin – all from the back of a trailer.”

> “...the mollusks play an important role in filtering water, just as oysters do in saltwater.”

12. MI: Recreational vs commercial fishers battle continues.

13. Richard Straka = new GM of Mercury Canada.

Internal promotion.

14. Z-Man announces new hire and promotion.

> “...Z-Man veteran and previous sales manager Ryan Harder was promoted to the company’s newly created Brand Manager position. A lifelong angler with decades of experience in fishing retail and sales, Harder assumes a critical role, bridging the gap between product development, marketing and sales teams.”

> “Filling Harder’s vacant sales manager position, Brandon McKellar recently joined the Z-Man staff at its home office in Ladson, SC. McKellar will work directly with National Sales Manager and tenured Z-Man luminary, Glenn Young.”

15. KastKing hires Fish Boss’ RJ Macalanda...

...as Social Media and Influencer Strategist for the company.

16. MN: Camping World closed its Baxter store.

Was previously (few years ago) a Gander Outdoors before they dropped their hunting/fishing gear and converted to a Camping World.

I have heard a few rumors on social that Bass Pro/Cabela's was looking to move in...? No idea if there’s any truth to that, but I’ll keep you posted.

17. Academy opened 7 new stores in Nov.

Which brings ‘em up to 14 new stores in fiscal 2023, and Academy plans to...

> “...continue its expansion efforts goal of opening a total of 120 to 140 new stores by the end of 2027.

18. Grundéns continues its sustainability journey...

...with recyclable packaging for all apparel.

19. DC: Outdoor rec contributes over $1 trillion to the U.S. economy.

> “...new figures reveal that outdoor recreation generates $1.1 trillion in economic output (2.2% of GDP), 5 million jobs and comprises 3.2% of U.S. employees. Across all metrics the outdoor recreation economy’s growth has outpaced that of the U.S. economy.

Top 5 early-ice walleye locations.

From northern-MN guide TJ Erickson, who always seems to do a killer job of breaking down the “spot on the spot,” and talking about the “why” and not just the “what.”

Keep doing your thing, man! 👏👏👏

Meme of the Day

If you’re heading to the lake soon: Take your time and be safe out there! Early-ice can be unpredictable (lol this one has been around for a few):

James Lindner is just over here walking on water 😳 in this wild, EARLY-ice shot from AnglingBuzz: