12 Months of Master Angler - February Winner is a Walleye Specialist

Congratulations to Jacob Rieth! His Master Angler walleye action photo was selected as the winner of the February edition of the 12 Months of Master Angler photo contest.

He has won a $1000 gift card to Cabela’s along with a pile of awesome HuntFishMB gear.

Jacob who hails from Fargo, North Dakota, caught this beauty greenback during a recent trip to Lake Winnipeg, “My Dad and I have come to Manitoba for an ice fishing trip each winter the last five years. We actually only started ice fishing five years ago that same year as our first trip.” Jacob and his father Chad have since become hard water aficionados targeting panfish in the nearby Detroit Lakes area and trips to Devil’s Lake further west. Their annual trip to Lake Winnipeg has always been guided by professional outfit Blackwater Cats, “Donovan (Pearase) took that photo actually, he happened to be beside me when I caught it.”

We made note that on his Master Angler profile, he had caught five trophy walleyes in a span of two days including the fish in the winning photo. “Yeah it was an incredible trip. I caught three masters one day and then two more the next!” Once an angler submits five qualifying fish of a single species, they earn a Specialist Badge for that fish. Jacob earned his badge after the first day on this trip as he had two Master Angler walleyes to his credit from the previous year. “The Specialist is cool. But that 30.75” one that I got is by far the biggest walleye I have ever caught or seen.” The other four monster greenbacks measured at 29", 28.75", 28.5", and 28.25" respectively.

Jacob didn’t mind sharing what he caught all five Master Angler greenbacks on, “I caught them all on spoons. The big one was on a gold coloured Wabler, but I also caught the others with various big Pelicans. On this trip we had the best action fishing in 10’-11’ under the ice.” Jacob said that he attended the Fargo Ice Fishing Show as well as the hugely popular St. Paul Ice Fishing Show, “I got to meet Aaron Wiebe at the St. Paul show actually which was pretty cool!”

Jacob, a senior in high school, shared that bass fishing in the summer is his favourite way to fish with Ice fishing being a close second. He is lined up to attend Bemidji State University in neighbouring Minnesota in the fall where Jacob is aiming for a spot on the school’s College Bass Fishing team. “I’m really looking forward to fishing for them next year.”