|
|
|
Stealing a Page from the Bass Play Book |
|
Beyond “match-the-hatch”, Northland Fishing Tackle’s new, natural Metallic Olive color has proved phenomenal for finicky walleyes when little else works. |
|
BEMIDJI, Minn. (June 17, 2024) – Plain and simple, jigs catch walleyes. In fact, there’s a legion of anglers who fish almost nothing else, spring through fall. Fish ‘em vertical, pitch ‘em, drift ‘em, slow-troll, you-name-it, there are myriad ways to fish jigs. We talked with some of the top names in walleye fishing about the latest in Northland’s Tungsten Jig arsenal – names you know, including top tournament stick, Tom Huynh; veteran guide, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl; and angling educator, Joel Nelson. Of all those we spoke with, best to start with multi-circuit top walleye tournament angler, Tom Huynh, who drove development of the new Metallic Olive Tungsten Jig and Short-Shank Tungsten Jig with Northland lure designer, Sam Larsen. |
|
|
|
Huynh’s winning approach to catching large, bait-conditioned walleyes has been to present live bait naturally on whatever bait delivery system can be hidden best, typically a 1/16- to 1/8-ounce Northland Short-Shank Tungsten Jig, pitched within 40 feet – in his manner of spot & stalk big walleye hunting with forward-facing sonar – which he calls “sniping.” “Hard to believe, but this particular color was about a year-and-a-half in development,” says Huynh. “And all based on walleye behavior I had observed on LiveScope.” |
|
|
Walleye ace and Northland jig color consultant Tom Huynh |
|
“At the time of the Tungsten Jig introduction in black, we were also toying around with shades of green and green pumpkin, but we wanted to get it exactly right. Thing is, green pumpkin is really close to black and we wanted something different. Black matches shadows and there are shadows in every single water environment, any river or lake, dirty or clean. What we ended up with was matching the color of weeds and grass, so it’s really a kind of bait delivery system camouflage. With this Metallic Olive color, big walleyes don’t notice the jig or hook, it blends right into the environment and they don’t shy from it.” Huynh continues: “I’ve said it many times and I’m no fish scientist—but I do know what I’ve observed on LiveScope. I want the walleyes keyed into my live bait or plastic, not the hook or jig head. So, when the Metallic Olive Tungsten is hovered in weeds—whether it’s on a slip bobber, dragged through weeds, pitched into weeds, or fished vertical – this jig perfectly blends in with the leaves, stalks, and roots of aquatic vegetation, so walleyes don’t react negatively to it. That’s the main thought behind the color.” |
|
|
Shadowy black tungsten jigs are also gaining favor with walleye anglers. |
|
Huynh footnotes: “Fishing content creator, Nicole Stone, wrote an informative article last winter about walleye eyesight that strangely said walleye eyes react best to the color green. Turns out they can see it better than any other color. So, science backs up what I’ve observed on forward-facing sonar.” Although available in weights up to 3/8-ounce, Huynh is notorious for use of lightweight jigs to chase (and catch) big walleyes. “I really like the new, smallest 1/16-ounce Northland Tungsten Short-Shank Jig, and have used it in a handful of tournaments where I’m fishing 6 feet or less. Recently, we fished Mississippi River Pool 3, then locked into Pool 4 and fished weed beds out-of-the-current in a back bay. We were in three feet of water and it was dead calm, and I didn’t want my bait to splash and spook the fish – and also not sink so fast that the fish couldn’t see it. Turned into a payday for us.” Huynh concludes: “While I rarely use slip floats, a lot of my followers have been making comments and posting that they’re already hammering walleyes with the Metallic Olive Tungsten power- and speed-corking—either the 1/16th or 1/8th. I use 1/8th in everything from 8 to 20-some feet, just pitching to what I see on my electronics. Any deeper than that and I’d move up to a ¼-ounce Northland Tungsten Short-Shank.” |
|
|
Legacy guide and olive tungsten believer Brian “Bro” Brosdahl |
|
Bro Loves Metallic Olive Like Popeye, veteran Minnesota fishing guide, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl, loves Metallic Olive. “And I’ve got a really good story,” laughs Bro. “I was fishing with Sam, the main lure designer at Northland, and he told me he was on the verge of something big. ‘Sure,’ I thought. ‘Every new bait is some breakthrough…’ “Then Sam pulled out the new Tungsten Jig color from his tackle box, tied it on, and immediately caught a big walleye. Then he caught another one, and another one after that, so he had trumped me 3-to-1.” “I asked to take a closer look at one of the new color jigs and I didn’t get real excited because I’m typically using Parrot, blue, or a brighter green. But what I experienced was nothing short of phenomenal. He hammered on the walleyes using that color and left me in the dust. ‘Metallic Olive’ as he called it was clearly the color to have on the Rainy River that day.” Since, Bro has started using it and says it “transcends every other color on Winnie.” “I catch fish on it all-the-time, everywhere,” says Bro. “I think the thing is, it’s camouflaged so fish only see your meat, not necessarily the jig—and that’s a good thing when fish are neutral to negative. In fact, I’ve been using them so much I need to get more from the guys at Northland because I’ve had so many pike bite-offs. I need more!” |
|
|
No shortage of colors in Northland’s tungsten jig collection. |
|
Bro adds that green can be a lot of things in the underwater world, from perch, to minnows, to critters, to weeds themselves. Walleyes are used to seeing a lot of green down below and aren’t alerted in the least when something green plops down in their face. “The new Metallic Olive color obviously works great with live bait, but I’m using a lot of Eye-Candy plastics so I don’t have to re-bait my customers’ jigs all the time. Like the Jig ‘Crawler or Paddle Shad. And the Grub on a Short-Shank is kind of a secret up here, and should really slay during the bug hatches when you run out of ‘crawlers or just don’t want a huge mess of bedding and dirt in your boat carpet,” laughs Bro. Bro says he’s been successful with the Metallic Olive-colored jig everywhere from slipping the Rainy to pitching and bombing in lakes, like medium-depths using Spot-Lock and hitting structure like rock humps, weed clumps, edges, what-have-you. “My clients absolutely love the Metallic Olive Tungsten for helping them put fish in the boat—and the walleye pros are slinging it, too. There’s a really big buzz about it because it’s unique. Here’s one last example: For decades we’ve been using John Deere green Northland Gumball Jigs on Leech Lake. Now we’ve got Metallic Olive… so watch out everybody!” |
|
|
Angling educator, content producer, and all-around multi-species expert, Joel Nelson |
|
Nelson Says “It’s Buggy” Angling educator, content producer, and all-around multi-species expert, Joel Nelson, is also hot on the new Northland Metallic Olive-colored Tungsten jigs. In fact, he says it’s been responsible for some serious hammer time in his Lund everywhere from northern Minnesota to the submerged willows of Lake Pepin. “Bottom line, this new color is ‘buggy’,” says Nelson. “It just looks like natural bait and the surroundings—from emerging critters to crayfish to the green found in a lot of minnows and young-of-the-year. And it blends into the surroundings, too—like natural bait—so walleyes aren’t put off by it.” Like Huynh and Bro, Nelson says it comes at the perfect time for catching more fish with forward-facing sonar in ultra-clear walleye waters. “Using FF sonar in clear water, I don’t want my jigs to be big. And I don’t need them to be bright and super colorful. I need them to look natural or like nothing at all. With FF Sonar, I’m learning more about walleye behavior than ever before. Drop a regular jig on a slip bobber in front of their face and they might turn it down. They can be super finicky. Especially with larger fish, anything bright or non ‘match-the-hatch’ can turn them the other way. But put on Metallic Olive or Black and it’s a different deal. Then they’re not focused on the jig head, per se; they’re focused on the live bait that’s being delivered, whether that’s a minnow, leech, or ‘crawler chunk. And Nelson has used the Metallic Olive Tungsten Jig and Short-Shank Jig plenty—from early-season casting shiner or plastics pitching shallow sand and gravel to more recently pitching Eye-Candy plastics in weed-beds openings or slow-dancing to frantic ripping through fish-holding cabbage. “I caught a lot of fish on Winnie with both shiners and Eye-Candy Paddle Shads earlier this season, but recently it’s fishing them in and around weeds or searching out big marks and power-corking with the Metallic Olive Tungsten Short-Shank Tungsten. They all work fantastic. I’m glad I have them in my arsenal,” concludes Nelson. |
|
|
|
#NORTHLANDTACKLE |
    |
|
ABOUT Northland® Fishing Tackle In 1975, a young Northwoods fishing guide named John Peterson started pouring jigs and tying tackle for his clients in a small remote cabin in northern Minnesota. The lures were innovative, made with high quality components, and most importantly, were catching fish when no other baits were working! Word spread like wildfire, the phone started ringing… and the Northland Fishing Tackle® brand was in hot demand! For 40 years now, John and the Northland® team have been designing, testing and perfecting an exclusive line of products that catch fish like no other brand on the market today. Manufactured in the heart of Minnesota’s finest fishing waters, Northland® is one of the country’s leading producers of premium quality jigs, live bait rigs, spinnerbaits and spoons for crappies, bluegills, perch, walleyes, bass, trout, northern pike and muskies. |
|
ABOUT Bagley Bait Company The personality of any company comes from its founder. Jim Bagley was an inventive, fun-loving, passionate fisherman who became one the most respected legends in the fishing tackle industry. In late 2010, Jarmo Rapala and a group of investors bought Bagley Bait Company. As an admirer of Jim Bagley for his attention to quality and of his product ingenuity and innovation, Jarmo initiated significant changes in operations, enhanced production processes and quality control. Now in 2020, Northland® Fishing Tackle, along with Jarmo as its Chief Lure Designer, maintain the legacy of creating premium balsa crankbaits and topwater lures, as well as jigs and spoons for both freshwater and saltwater anglers. |