brother’s fish

Dan or

Two awesome walleyes! Congrats to your brother! I’ve always wanted fish the Columbia River!

Please don’t take this the wrong way… The picture shows 2 walleyes at the same time. It also states the length, girth and weight of the bigger fish and you stated that both were released. I would not recommend if you’re practicing CPR that a walleye angler keeps fish out of water for an extended amount of time. Did he catch both of them? If so, where was the first fish when he caught the 2nd one? Then he measured the length of both fish, the girth of the bigger one, (maybe even used a scale to weigh of the bigger one or did he calculate the weight?) and then posed for a picture while holding both fish. Common sense tells me that takes quite a bit of time to accomplish all of that. Again, I’m not trying to be a debbie downer but I would not even attempt such a feat due to the fear of killing the fish. Do you understand my concern? Hopefully both walleyes lived and all is well but I just wanted to point out my concern so everyone can enjoy catching such a beautiful trophy. Congrats again to your brother and I hope he lands some more big walleyes.

I’ll just keep it at,dang those are some nice eyes.You guys grow them big out there,you must be doing something right!

Awesome fish! I would imagine one fish was kept alive in the well until the other was caught. If water temps allow it I try to do it once in a while when I know I’m on big fish! But never seem to catch that second fish.

Looks cool out there. We are getting pounded with 98 temps.

Brad,

Thanks for the information on how to treat walleyes that you are going to release.

I do the following:

Measure the fish for length before they are placed the livewell for the first time. Pump all the water through the livewell I can. I use a 750 gpm pump, 500 gpm are standard.

I measure the girth in the livewell with a sewing tape. Sewing tapes are very flexible. I recommend the use of sewing tapes for girth.

I weigh the fish in the net after it has fully recovered in the livewell. I don’t like to see a fish weighed by clamping onto its jaw, can’t be good for the fish. Then Iput the fish back in the livewell.

Then we set the stage for the picture. Gloves on so you don’t drop the fish, coaching on how to hold the fish, get an idea of the angle for the picture and background wanted. I try to always support the fish in two places and never hold them by the jaw.

I get the fish out and take a few pictures and back in the livewell. Allow the fish to recover in the livewell.

Check the pictures and if all is well, when the fish has recovered, I get the fish in the water and pump the fish holding the tail until the fish swims toward the bottom on it own. I have had great success releasing fish. Treat them well and they will swim away.

Even after all of that care we are never absolutely sure that they will live. But I feel like I have done everything I can to ensure a successful release to provide another fisherman an opportunity to have the thrill of catching a big fish.

I am open to any suggestions. 99% + swim away. I have had 2 fish over the years that I could not revive. The warmer the water the more recovery time is needed.

dan or

Thanks Dan for your response and for your extra care when handling fish that you CPR. In MN, there are designated lakes and rivers in which you can not cull or practice live well sorting. I once asked a MN DNR Officer to explain this to me and he said, once you put it in your live well – you own it and it goes against your possession. The laws are vague and poorly written so it leaves us state anglers trying to interpret laws. Again, thanks for sharing your well thought out CPR process with us and I hope you get to practice it on some more big fish!

Nice pair of Eyes

What’s the preferred method of fishing out there?

Cranks, Jigs, Spinner rigs or???

I’ve always wanted to make a trip out there.