People in the south, east and west may not get it, but up north walleye fishing is a serious religion. Those dudes take their leeches and splash guards and gigantic nets every bit as seriously as bass guys take swimbaits and tungsten and deep diving crankplugs – maybe even more. A lot of them also like to drink, as evidenced by the fact that in most Wisconsin and Minnesota towns there seems to be a bar or two or three. So I decided to investigate the intersection of walleyes and beer and was not surprised by my findings.

Tournament fishing is hard and occasionally depressing enough, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to drink your cares away after a tough day on the pond. B.A.S.S. has yet to announce the full 2021 schedule (they have made clear that Lake Ray Roberts in Texas will host the Classic, which is more than fine with me) but if I was on the scheduling committee it wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit to build a tour around tasty brews.

It’s nice to celebrate specific fish with beers named after them. I’m not superstitious, thinking that if I drink a “Giant Trevally Pale Ale,” I’ll never catch one, but at the same time I’d like to save some of these for the moments that they’re made for.