DULUTH — Visitors to the Duluth Sport Show will have the chance to forget about the miserable ice fishing season and start dreaming about the open-water fishing soon to come.
And if they stop in for a seminar in the French River Room at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, they just might learn how to catch more and bigger fish, especially walleyes.
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Ted Takasaki, 66, has been one of the most prominent walleye anglers in North America for the past 35 years, winning tournaments; helping shape and steer the fishing industry; and sharing his knowledge through articles, TV shows, videos and seminars.
At the Duluth show, he’s offering daily seminars on how to better use slip bobbers for all species and how to use paddle-tail plastics to catch more walleyes. The seminars are included in the show’s price for admission.
Takasaki grew up in a town of 600 people in central Illinois, often fishing farm ponds with his dad. He attended the University of Illinois-Champaign, where he befriended a fraternity brother and future tournament fishing partner, John Campbell. The duo mostly targeted crappie and bass on Illinois and Kentucky lakes in those days.
After graduating with engineering degrees, both men moved to the Chicago area in 1982 and took jobs with Hewlett-Packard.
The duo attended fishing seminars and even bought a boat together so they could fish more, including trips to northwestern Iowa, where Campbell's family owned a cabin and where Takasaki caught his first-ever walleye.
By 1989, they had been bitten by the tournament fishing bug. They entered their first Masters Walleye Circuit tournaments. In 1991, they earned the prestigious Masters Walleye Circuit Team of the Year title.
The boys went pro at that point and in 1998, Takasaki won the Professional Walleye Tour championship that came with a $100,000 purse.
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Takasaki had always dreamed of making fishing his full-time career, and that happened in 1999 when he moved to Brainerd to become president of the Lindy-Little Joe fishing tackle company, which had been his first and biggest sponsor.
“I was selling computers for Hewlett-Packard; I could sell for sure. I had management experience. I knew how to fish. I had just won the championship. And I got an interview for my dream job,’’ Takasaki told the News Tribune. "And I got it."
Takasaki oversaw huge growth at Lindy until the privately held company was sold to Pradco fishing tackle in 2008 and Takasaki moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“I loved Brainerd, loved the people. But I don’t like the cold. The first day I was in Brainerd it was 25 below, not including the wind chill. I never got over that,” Takasaki said, also noting that South Dakota doesn’t have as many mosquitoes in summer or an income tax.
Some of Takasaki’s major walleye wins include the 1993 Mercury National Tournament held on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin. In 2002, he set the all-time one-day Professional Walleye Tournament record, which still stands today, with a limit of five walleyes that weighed 53.2 pounds on Lake Erie.
In 2010, Takasaki was inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, noted for not just catching walleyes and winning tournaments but also his efforts to promote fishing. That includes a longtime monthly column for the Midwest Outdoors newspaper and a regular stint on Midwest Outdoors TV. He also produced a series of popular how-to fishing videos and he has continued a grueling circuit of seminars at various events and sport shows across the Midwest.
Takasaki has managed to hang on to a boatload of major sponsors over the years even as sporting goods manufacturers and retailers have consolidated and cut back on sponsoring anglers, one reason many people have had to drop out of the business.
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The News Tribune caught up with Takasaki recently between his fishing seminars to ask a few questions:
Q: How would you describe your current job?
A: I’m a full-time professional fisherman who makes his living fishing tournaments and promoting the sport. … I think I enjoy promoting fishing, the seminars and teaching people more than the tournaments.
Q: Are you still doing a long winter seminar schedule at boat and sports shows?
A: I start in January, and then it’s almost every weekend through March.
Q: Are you still fishing tournaments?
A: Yes. This coming year, I've decided to fish the whole National Walleye Trail, four qualifiers, and, potentially, the championship, so I’m back into it big time in 2024. … I’ll be at Lake Erie, Red Wing (the Mississippi River) and Green Bay for sure.
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Q: How did you get so good at tournament walleye fishing relatively quickly?
A: It wasn’t instant success. My dad first took me fishing when I was 4 years old. But central Illinois doesn't have many walleyes. I fished for bluegills, catfish, bullhead and a few bass. … I didn’t catch a walleye until after college. But we (Takasaki and his fishing partner John Campbell) kept at it and got pretty good. The first two tournaments we fished in, we didn’t catch a single walleye in either one. … But doing well at that Dubuque (Iowa) tournament on the Mississippi River (in 1989), we just missed first place by a few ounces — I think we finished fourth — was the spark. When we pulled our fish out of the live well in front of 6,000 people in a stadium, that really lit the fire for me. I knew I wanted to do that for a living. I dedicated myself to walleye fishing at that point.
Q: Have you figured out what makes you better than the average angler?
A: It’s little things. Recognizing where fish are. Learn where the fish like to eat and where they like to live. … We took fishing classes from Spence Petros (Fishing Facts magazine founder) back in Illinois, and he taught us about structure and cover. … I point this out in my seminars. Throw some minnows into an aquarium; watch where they go. They either go to any cover that’s in there, or they go into a corner. The minnows are in the corners of lakes and rivers, too. The corners are inside turns, and the walleyes trap them in those inside turns. Don't fish the points; fish the inside turns.
Q: What do most walleye anglers do wrong?
A: They’re hesitant to change from their favorite lure or favorite technique. Lindy rigging doesn’t work everywhere or every time. I evaluate my skills every year — trolling crankbaits or throwing swimbaits or fishing live bait — and if I think I’m deficient in any of those, I work hard at that the next year.
Q: One of your Duluth seminars will be on slip bobbers. What’s the secret to slip-bobber fishing?
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A: Put the bait in the right spot and keep it there. Find out where the fish are in the water column (what depth) and make sure that's where your bait is. They might be tight to the bottom, or suspended, or on the edge of weeds. Just adjust your bait depth to where the fish are.
Q: Your other Duluth seminar subject is paddle tail lures. What’s the big deal about paddle tails as opposed to other soft plastic lures?
A: I think the end of the tail creates all of the action. A swirl (twister) tail doesn't really make the body move. But a paddle tail, talk about wobble, they are wobbling back and forth like crazy. Lake Effect (fishing lure company, one of Takasaki’s sponsors) has a great new paddle tail swimbait. You can jig them. You can stop and go. You can cast it and bring it back. … They can be better than live bait sometimes because they will trigger a strike.
Q: What’s your favorite lake or river for walleyes?
A: Probably the Mississippi River. The Missouri River and its big reservoirs. And Lake Erie. Three incredible walleye fisheries. ... And also anywhere in Canada.
Q: Did we hear right that you are also a professional poker player?
A: Sort of. I won a poker tournament for $53,000 once. ... That’s my next dream, to win the World Series of Poker.
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Q: Are there similarities between tournament fishing and tournament poker?
A: You get to wear sunglasses in both! Maybe there are. I think patience is huge. You’ve got to have the patience to wait out the fish and you have to have the patience to wait out the right poker hand.
For more about Ted Takasaki, including links to fishing top videos and Takasaki’s podcast on fishing, go to or follow him at
About the Duluth Sport Show
The Duluth Sport Show and the Northland Outdoors Duluth Deer Classic are set for Thursday, Feb. 15, to Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.
The event features hundreds of exhibitors focused on fishing, hunting, resorts, travel, camping, RVs, docks, lifts, ATVs, and, of course, boats.
Dealers and manufacturers will be on hand displaying their newest models and several seminars are scheduled on fishing, dog training, grilling and more.
Ted Takasaki’s seminars:
- “Slip Bobber Secrets for All Species” — Thursday, 5:30 p.m.; Friday, 3 p.m.; Saturday, 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., French River Room 1.
- “Paddle Tail Fishing for Walleyes” — Friday, 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 11:30 a.m., French River Room 1.
Tickets:
- Available in advance at for $10 for adults, $6 for kids and free for ages 5 and under.
- At the door, tickets are $12 for ages 18 and over, $7 for kids and free for ages 5 and under.
- Save your entry ticket and you can return for a second day for free.
Show hours:
- Thursday — 3-8 p.m.
- Friday — 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Saturday — 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Sunday — 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Don’t miss:
- Free measuring and scoring of deer mounts by the group. All day, each day of the show at the group’s booth.
- “Puppy Training 101” seminars presented by Robert Zembo of Yellow Gator Kennel near Superior. In the French River Room Thursday at 4 p.m.; Friday at 2 and 6:45 p.m.; Saturday at 10 a.m., 2 and 6:45 p.m.; and Sunday at 11 a.m.
- Safari North walk-thru exhibit of animals from around the world, including kangaroos, lemurs, exotic birds and more. All day, each day of the show.
- Television grilling experts Mad Dog & Merrill of Midwest Grillin’ Secrets.
- Humminbird Marine Electronics University (preregistration at Marine General required.)
- Seminars by Jarrid Houston and Wheezy Outdoors guide service.
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