25 Year Old Mille Lacs Walleye

I did not think they got that old, especially on Mille Lacs. If only this fish could talk lol.

http://www.technologicalangler.com/how-old-is-that-fish

BigWerm wrote:

If only this fish could talk lol.

That’s awesome. I often think things like that myself, to think of all the times that fish passed up a meal that could’ve turned out to be a crankbait that could’ve led to its death, or dealt with other predator fish, flooding, losing habitat, etc. I think it’s cool when fisherman have a healthy respect for the old “warhorse” fish.

According to the DNRs methodology, that fish was caught 47 times, died of hooking mortality 13 times, was gill netted 6 times and speared twice.

Fake news. Catch and release doesn’t work.

That’s really cool to see! Thanks for posting.

DaveB wrote:

According to the DNRs methodology, that fish was caught 47 times, died of hooking mortality 13 times,

Haha that’s what I was thinking too Dave!

So males basically stop growing?

mplspug wrote:

So males basically stop growing?

Almost all fish do eventually, regardless of species. I know some will say that fish have an indeterminate growth span but like everything else, both genetics and environment need to be just right for any living creature to hit the maximum potential for physical growth.

I believe Jason is on the high side with his initial age estimate but that bad boy is at least 20 years old and impressive none the less.

Really cool stuff.

Very interesting how it didn’t appear to grow at all in the last 5 years of it’s life.

zooks wrote:

I believe Jason is on the high side with his initial age estimate but that bad boy is at least 20 years old and impressive none the less.

Yeah that’s what I was thinking too. I believe the 2013 year class are now around the 20″ mark, so 5 years to get there. I’d assume males are slower growing early in life too, which would account for the difference? Living another 14 years after being 20″ in 2004 is still crazy though.

That is really cool to think about. Wonder how many lures that fish saw in his lifetime.

How cool is that!

What’s most impressive is how that clever guy swam around all those gillnets over those years. I will definitely be raising a glass to that feat……dilly dilly!

Thank you for sharing. Smart fish, he knows how to stay out of the slot range.

Cool information! I wish more people would report data when catching tagged fish.

Some spawns will be less than successful with nature’s changes. Some fish are going to be eaten by other mature fish. Some fish are going to be caught in nets during the spawn. Some fish will die naturally due to various causes. Some fish will live in the lake for a long time if catch and release is practiced.

…for most of us on here, the only element we can control is that in bold.

Do fish talk to each other about generations, like us humans do? Would a 25 year old Walleye be a baby boomer and a 3 year old fish be a millennial?

“back in my day, we all knew what was real and fake. All you millennial Walleye have it rough with the realistic stick baits, 360GT’s and other fancy lures. All I ever had to worry about was a Lazy Ike and a Mepps spinner”.

404 ERROR wrote:

Do fish talk to each other about generations, like us humans do? Would a 25 year old Walleye be a baby boomer and a 3 year old fish be a millennial?

“back in my day, we all knew what was real and fake. All you millennial <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Walleye have it rough with the realistic stick baits, 360GT’s and other fancy lures. All I ever had to worry about was a Lazy Ike and a Mepps spinner”.

Did I miss happy hour?