Walleye!!!

[lakerhunter]

I love all species but walleye have a particular spot in my heart!! Sadly i havent been able to fish for them for about two years since i started guiding on the Gorge. That will change shortly. I am leaving soon for a month of chasing other species. Walleye, Northern, Tiger muskie to name a few. I am going to try to best some of these slobs i gathered up over the past few years. Wish me luck!!!
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[g_LOoMiS_boiZ]

Those are some nice catch/Pics...Good Luck chasing those toothy Creatures...

My number 1 fish to eat, 2) Perch 3) Crappies
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[SkunkedAgain]

Wow that's quite a collection of beauties. If you don't mind me asking, are they local, Utah/Idaho/Wyoming or from other locals? Good luck, but it looks like you have the skills that doesn't need much luck. Nice post thanks J
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[Marathonman]

BOSENBERRY HERE I COME
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[Kent]

Clark,

Nice looking bunch of walleyes. Enjoy your month off.
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[TyeDyeTwins]

Can't wait to see 'em once you catch 'em.
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[JLW]

Those are some dandy walleye... Congrats. Fishon
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[Got_Bait]

Nice collection. Like Skunked said, it appears that not many of us have the type of walleye luck that you could benefit much from.

Although I will say this: if walleye truly do have a special place in your heart, you ought to consider releasing slobs like those when you catch them. I don't know where you fish, but the places I like to go aren't stocked - so they depend on big mamas like those having a successful spawn year in and year out.

You will also find that they look a lot prettier in your pictures when the fish is alive when the photo is taken.
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[JLW]

+1 on your advise Got_Bait... Fishon
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[wiperhunter2]

Uncalled for comments imo, everyone of us would be proud to catch eyes like those, what does it matter if he keeps them or not! Did it ever occur to you that those fish were not caught anywhere in the West but in a lake or lakes where fish like that are as common a 12 inch planters here. Come on guys, quite giving members that legally catch fish a hard time.
What is really is people like you and others, get on other members but rarely post anything constructive, like fishing reports but see no problem with ragging on others that do. Sad, very .
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[Got_Bait]

Jeez Curt take it easy buddy. You've completely misconstrued my message here. It was nothing but constructive. I don't care that he harvested those fish. Like you said, I got no idea where he caught them. I even disclaimed that in my post. I could tell it was nowhere I'd been before though.

I simply offered up a widely accepted concept for him to consider, and apply as he saw fit.

I'm not in to attacking people on here. Look at my history. Sure I don't post a lot of reports, but I don't get to go that much either. I do try to help folks when I can. Its mostly regarding salmon and steelhead though.

Cheer up. I've been trying to plan a fishing trip for us. If you still want to anyway. [:/]
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[JLW]

Hey Curt, you can look at my history too and you will see my posts are constructive. I thought Chad said his point pretty nice so I +1 him. You are right that he can keep every legal fish he catches. Those slobs are not a dime a dozen in our country though. Maybe he has got a killer recipe for 10# walleye he can share and I will start keeping too... Hope to see ya on the water... Fishon
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote Got_Bait]Nice collection....I don't know where you fish, but the places I like to go aren't stocked [/quote]

I'm kinda with Curt on this. I know you mean well and your fishery knowledge is strong, but clearly this is not one fishing trip to Willard or UL. Some of the northern midwest lakes to have a glut of good walleye. And they have done some Walleye stocking.

But the point being - are you encouraging him to post a report, or bagging on his legal choice to harvest? That could be one walleye per year for the last 10 years, what then?

Read the recent DNR reports encouraging more harvest. I get beat up on for ever showing a bass that came home to spend the night.
Read the recent thread on "Changes to BFT" - as this was at the core of that discussion.

Of note, you also called his fish slobs and suggested his pictures are ugly. How do you think that makes the fish feel? [:/]

[wiperhunter2]

After JLW's first reply was edited and then you got on saying almost the same thing, I was just a little offended this thread was going in this direction. I have eaten big walleye and find no difference than their smaller brothers, both are good eats imo. Big lake trout on the other hand are different because they take much longer to get to a trophy size. I guess what I'm saying is I'm just tired of members giving others a hard time for keeping big warm water fish. In most cases but not all, they do fine on their own, even when they are heavily harvested. We are getting to the point on this forum where members are afraid of posting reports of big fish they have caught because of replies like yours and JLW's. I did not edit your reply because you did not go as far as JLW's reply. It is time for our attitudes to change if we value this site, as I do. The reason for my harsh reply to you was because I wasn't directing it just at you but others that feel it is their right to give members a hard time about keeping legal fish. I might not have replied to you with my comments if other members had not pointed it out to me, so I'm not the only one that thought you were coming down on the OP by your reply.
One thing I will tell you is that this site and going fishing are two different issues and I don't confuse the two. If you still want to get out, I'm game, sounds like that lake up in Idaho we talked about is kicking out some nice eyes right now[].
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[Wildcat94]

some hawgs there!
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[Got_Bait]

Coyote, I'm sorry, but your comments add no value here. They only drag this thing out further than need be. Taking sides and belaboring the issue is only leading us further down the spiral.

I am sorry that folks gave you a hard time about keeping bass. I like to eat them too. The arbitrary "release every bass you catch" mentality is probably the illest-conceived piece of doctrine in the history of fishing. Harvest of fish can be a good thing, and I am not against it one iota.

Every body of water needs something different. Some need certain, or even multiple age classes thinned, some need broodstock protected. All I have done here is point that simple fact out, and suggest that it might be considered. Perhaps it was.... Who is to say whether it was or wasn't??? I made no accusation whatsoever.

He said that they held a special place in his heart. I figured if that was the case, he might consider that information useful. Most of us want our kids to enjoy the same great fishing that we did, rather than looking at our old pictures and hearing about the "good ole days".

So on to the pictures: if you go back and look, slobs is the word he used. I recycled it for perspective's sake. And I got pictures of dead fish too. There is nothing wrong with them. Sometimes that's the only way you can capture the memory. Its hard to deny that they look prettier when they are photographed alive though. Even if you still took them home and ate them.
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[Blackellunge]

well done sir! - look like some Northern Wisconsin beauties you are holding in some of those shots - fall is coming , good time for a fishing vacation for sure!!! good luck to you
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[Lundman]

Clark looks like you're in th 10 Pounder Walleye Club - something the Mid-West Walleye boys know all about.

Good Luck findings the toothy critters and hope you get a personal best!
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[lakerhunter]

Hey all, Been up in the hills for a few days. Love all the feedback!! Just a thing or two (my own observations) If you look at picture two and five they are alive and well and were immediately released. I lean more toward release anymore on the big fish and for every one that i put under the knife i guarantee i have released six or eight. You only see pictures of the ones that are dead because for the most part i fish alone for walleye. These are all Utah fish. You can do your own research but most information leans towards bigger females being less fertile than the 4 to 7 pound females. True they carry more eggs but a smaller percentage are ever fertilized. And as far as a need for stocking not sure how i feel about that. I catch many, many fourteen to twenty inch walleye and in my favorite lakes i see them looking lean and slope backed about every three years. We call them hammer handles because that is the shape they take on. A strong indicator that there are to many fish in that range so they are starving. I have also found that when walleye break the twenty two or three inch mark they are no longer subject to these up and down cycles. Almost all the thirty inchers i have caught have weighed somewhere between 9.5 and eleven pounds. The first pic is of a thirty three inch fish that went thirteen and change. I don't share much on this board because for the most part i keep to myself. I found out a long time ago that luck has very little to do with catching big walleye. For me and my methods it boils down to time!! Maybe i am not the most proficient walleye fisherman so i make up for it with hours period end. Anyway best wishes to all on catching the fish you are after.
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[wiperhunter2]

Thanks for getting back to us, I figured you were on vacation back East catching big eyes[]. Good to know there are that many big eyes that roamed the waters of Utah. Here is some info that a DNR guy shared with me about walleye.

1. A mature female walleye produces 50,000 - 60,000 eggs per 2 pounds of body weight. A 10 pound female can produce well over 500,000 eggs in a single season and they can reproduce for multiple years.

2. Egg survival is low. Depending on water temperature, spawning substrate and other factors, egg survival varies between 0-10% according to some studies.

3. Walleye are categorized as an r selected species because of these two traits. They have adapted to overproducing eggs in an effort to have just a few survive.

4. Ultimately, sportfish harvest within established limits has little impact on walleye populations other than to promote the growth of the fish remaining in the population. Most walleye fisheries in the west that produce trophy sized fish are managed with very liberal limits because harvest does not diminish the reproductive capability of the population, and because fewer numbers of fish equals better growth.

5. Finally, there is no evidence to suggest that the size of the parents influences the size of the offspring in fish.
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