Personal Best Walleye Wins December Contest

12 Months of Master Angler December Winner

Her Master Angler walleye action photo was selected as the winner of the December edition of the 12 Months of Master Angler photo contest. She has won a $1000 gift card to Cabela’s along with a pile of awesome HuntFishMB gear.

New Personal Best Walleye

Catching a new personal best is always a thrill and an accomplishment to be proud of. In Jessica's case, her new benchmark for walleye is a whopping 32 inches thanks to this monster greenback she caught recently on Lake Winnipeg. "It was so awesome. This fish beat my previous best walleye which was only a 28.5 incher," she laughed. "I caught it using a pink and white flasher jig with a minnow." When pressed for the exact GPS coordinates, Jessica shared it was on the big lake and that they accessed on Chalet Beach Road.

Have to thank Hanz

"I've been fishing for about six or seven years now but I started going a lot more when I met my boyfriend Hanz two years ago," Jessica shared. "He's an amazing angler and I enjoy going to a bunch of different lakes with him catching all kinds of fish." She also gave Hanz some credit for helping her land the giant walleye through the ice. "I didn't think it was that big when I set the hook. Hanz said it's a huge one and he reached into the hole to help get it out. I yelled so loud when I saw it that I think the whole lake heard me."

Multi-species angler

I mentioned to Jessica that her Master Angler profile had the 32 inch walleye as her first ever recorded trophy catch, "Ya, I've thought about submitting my catches before but haven't until now. I'm pretty sure I've caught qualifying fish of a bunch of different species these last few seasons." She shared that her favourite species to catch are smallmouth bass and that those would be on her Master Angler target list next.

How to spend $1000

"I'm over the moon right now about winning this month's contest! I'm not sure what I'll spend it on yet but probably some new camping and adventure equipment." Jessica said that her favourite fishing is during the ice season and could buy more stuff for that, but her and Hanz are looking to do more exploring this summer. "Plus he's the one who took the actual photo so it's only fair that I share the prizes with him."

HuntFishMB – Eric Labaupa

To learn more about fishing for walleye in Manitoba, visit our Walleye page.

For more information about the Master Angler Program, visit anglers.travelmanitoba.com

*Protect Manitoba’s water and resources. Stop aquatic invasive species. For more information on how to do your part visit the Sustainable Development AIS page.