Eating Big Walleye

This is something that has bothered me for a while now and was inspired by the “Cheek” thread below. I fish pool 6 and 4 of the Mississippi and a couple Brainerd area lakes. My rule for a while has been, an eye that hits 20″ swims free, and under 15″ is illegal. For me, 20″+ fish make my year and I want to ensure that I catch as many as possible. What sizes do you keep? Do you have any interest in changing the sizes you keep to mesh with other’s so that we have a Min/Dakota/Wis/Iowa “rule of thumb”? I don’t support wasting fish that die on accident, but I can’t stand seeing 20″+ fish on a chopping block. I’m thinking about dropping my rule another inch or two due to an abundance of eaters, thoughts?

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ProStaffSteve wrote:

I can’t stand seeing 20″+ fish on a chopping block.

Let’s address this first. Why?

Most places I fish have a minimum size of 15″ and a protected slot of 20″ to 28″ so what I can keep is already predetermined, I just need to catch the right size. When I go to Canada with the appropriate license, I can keep 4 with only 1 being over 18″, so usually bring home a 22″ walleye for my 1 over 18″.

If I fished lakes that no protected slot, I wouldnt keep anything over 22″ unless it was going to die upon release anyway. If a bigger fish was going to die, I would rather eat it than feed the birds or catfish

I keep what I choose that is legal. How do you know it isn’t better for a system to keep bigger ones and release the smaller ones? If it is legal I say do what you want, to each their own and have fun.

Anything over 20″ I cut the cheeks out and throw them back. It’s well known and scientifically proven that cheeks regenerate quickly.

I tend to not keep anything over 20″ but if I am looking for a fish fry and a 21-22 comes along I have kept them also.

I am basically the same 20 inch and over goes back just like Crappies 10 inches and under goes back and anything over 12 goes back. Unless there is a dire need for a fish fry and no smaller fish are caught.

Don’t go to lake Erie is my best advice. Pretty sure the ML fisherman don’t have that option. On the Sippi I typically throw back ones over 20. This year I didn’t keep a single eye out of the river. 20 times on pool 4, all I ever caught were 12 inchers and a bunch over 20.

I can’t see myself eating a walleye over 20.

I usually keep “eating size” fish for taking home, but if legal, I may keep something larger than 20″ on occasion. I see no harm in it if the DNR doesn’t.

I applaud you for setting your own personal limits. I also think most people here at IDO are responsible and care about the future of their fishing and are careful about what they keep. Like you, most here have a personal standard they follow. Follow what you believe in and you’ll be doing the best you can for the resource..

ProStaffSteve wrote:

This is something that has bothered me for a while now and was inspired by the “Cheek” thread below.

What cheek thread below?

eyeguy507 wrote:

Don’t go to lake Erie is my best advice.

Obviously the location can be a significant determining factor. Smaller infertile lakes can have abundant 10-12″ dink walleyes with anything approaching or over 20″ a rarity.

Then on the opposite end of the spectrum like Lake Erie, the majority being over 20″ with most of those being harvested. Seems that system can support that.

Although the site of big walleyes sitting in a crate in the bright sunlight doesn’t exactly make my mouth water.

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As long as no laws are broken I’m not ever going to be upset at people keeping whatever fish size they want. I’ve eaten a few 28-29” walleyes from tournaments and I’ve eaten more 13 inchers than I’d probably like to admit too ha. Some days I want to keep fish so I do and some days I throw everything back. Fisherman that get on their high horse bug the hell out of me.

My determining factors for keeping large (20”+) walleyes is as follows.

1. Age. If the walleyes grow fast and die young in a particular body of water, I have no problem keeping larger walleyes. Young anything tastes the best. One other thing to consider here though is if it was caught on a body of water with an elevated fish consumption advisory. Older fish will carry more heavy metals.

2. Health of the fishery. In most cases the DNR will have this predetermined and has you keeping a targeted age class. If a fishery has little or no natural reproduction and is maintained by stocking, there is zero harm in keeping larger fish.

I hear all the time, that fish is a good spawner. Well, sorry dude, they don’t successfully spawn in this lake. The DNR usually states whether or not there is natural reproduction occurring in the lake surveys. I’ll admit, there’s a little unjustified reluctance throwing a 22” walleye on the ice or the livewell, but facts override feelings for this guy.

ProStaffSteve wrote:

What sizes do you keep? Do you have any interest in changing the sizes you keep to mesh with other’s so that we have a Min/Dakota/Wis/Iowa “rule of thumb”?

I try to keep fish between 15-20″s but have kept some bigger and smaller as I saw fit. But more importantly, I think, is to encourage others to enjoy the outdoors, and gently explain why you do what you do. Too often I see people shaming someone keeping bigger walleye or for deer hunting little bucks, and while I agree with the idea, it really negatively impacts growing the sport imo. And we should be trying to encourage and recruit as many people as possible, regardless of what they want to eat.

I think it is because I like to catch them so much. To me, knowing that some other guy can get a beaming smile from that same fish that I throw back tomorrow makes me even happier. But when I release it, and someone catches and keeps that while smiling, he is depriving the third guy of that same feeling. You see? It’s not that they can’t taste good either, but its 2018 and chicken is $15 for like 10lbs.

Seems like where you fish has decent management. Do you think the management increase how many you catch overall? Do you catch too many overs and unders, or is it a pretty even split between the sizes?

An occasional 22″ isn’t going to throw the world out of whack, especially in most Canadian lakes. And I DONT support throwing back dead fish. I fed a gull an 18″ eye on Mille Lacs this past summer, really hurt seeing it float up after I spent 15min trying to revive it, got it to kick. It came back up 10 min later and it got taken away. Maybe if you were allowed to keep fish <15″ you would have your fill of fish & be more inclined to toss a 22″ back in the water? This was constructive.

I pickle all my walleye so I only keep 20” and up. More bang for the buck.

Well Onestout, I hope you do not feel too personally attacked. My argument is something like this. The DNR used to give out little fridge magnets, stating that young of the year fish replenish faster, so eat them. In the case of walleye they grow to about 5″ in the first, year 8″ in the second year, 10″ in the 3rd, 12.5″ in the 4th, 14″ by the 5th. They then reach 19″ by the 10th year, 23″ by the 15th, 26.5″ by the 20th, and 29″ by their 25th year. Using some simple math we find the growth rate, in inches, slows dramatically with age from 5″/1yr to 1.16″/1yr.

First of all, The law permits people to keep bigger fish because some people would like to mount larger fish, perfectly acceptable. It is good for small businesses, makes the fisherman happy for a long time, and looks cool. The second reason keeping big fish is legal, as others have mentioned, they do not like to throw back dead fish: lots of bigger fish gas-out while being reeled in. It would be wasteful to put these back. The third, and final reason that it is legal to keep big walleye, is that the law doesn’t give a gosh-darn flipping-damn what fishermen do. It is legal to slam the door in front of an old lady walking into Perkins, but it is unethical. I hope you gained some sense of my side of this debate and would like to hear your opinion. I also encourage everyone to have fun.

I find that all walleye taste the same, so I keep what is legal to keep. I’ve kept walleyes as small at 12 inches but have kept up to 28 inches. What I set a personal limit on is how many I will actually keep. I don’t like to have more fish on hand than what my family and I will eat in a week’s time or less, and pretty much would never keep 6 walleyes.

I don’t play the “I’ll release fish sizes x to x” game, as I let the DNR do that. I think it would be silly to think that any of us know more about the fisheries we fish than the DNR, unless you’re a Biology professor or something. I know how a lot of fisherman look down on the DNR, but after having several conversations with those guys they have my respect and I trust them with the management of our resources when they are allowed to operate freely (I’m just as upset about that Mille Lacs situation as everyone else, but you gotta admit they’re in a damn tough spot). If they say no slot, fair game. If 20-28 is protected, 20-28 is protected.

Long story short, my only rationale while deciding whether to keep a walleye or not basically comes down to “will it be eaten?” and “Do I have enough in the freezer already?”

No worries here, everyone can do as they please, some people even keep fish beyond what the law allows even if I don’t. I think that in order to have a healthy ecosystem you have to take from all year classes, the more people keeping the smaller ones means that I need to keep more bigger ones, just trying to do my part.

ProStaffSteve?

What pro staff do you represent? Just a simple question. Thanks.

Glad you don’t fish pool 5a. We only eat walleyes over 20″.

If the fish aren’t biting on my line, they aren’t biting on yours either.

He’s that good.

onestout wrote:

I keep what I choose that is legal. How do you know it isn’t better for a system to keep bigger ones and release the smaller ones? If it is legal I say do what you want, to each their own and have fun.

well said , couldn’t agree more

I eat every walleye that’s legal. The big ones taste just as good as the small ones.

Feathers wrote:

14-18.5 is my personal slot. On a rare occasion I’ll keep one slightly bigger or a smaller one with a air bladder blown out.

I don’t have much issue with people keeping big fish as long as the water they are fishing can handle it. Not many of those out there though.

I don’t have issue with people keeping small fish unless it’s like lotw where resorts on the south end are telling people to keep small ones if they want to eat fish and guys are coming in with buckets full of 12-13 inch fish. It’s the same guys bragging they got their limits in the bar.

If you don’t like people harvesting big fish talk to the DNR about putting in more restrictive slots. I’ve been encouraging folks at the dnr to get them to reduce panfish limits and consider protected slots on bigger <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>panfish on certain lakes. Hopefully it will change things some day.

We have a lake up here that has an 11 inch minimum on Crappies and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to the lake. Can go out and catch multiple fish over 13 inches each evening with the occasional 14+. I wasn’t around before this regulation was put in but I’ve heard there was nowhere near this many monster Crappies beforehand. I’m curious as to whether this type of regulation would have similar effects on other bodies of water, or if it takes a special type of lake for that regulation to have that kind of impact.

Is this real or are you flowering with me? Seems like a joke. A wound of any size can become infected and kill a fish. More importantly, thats just a little scary.

Jonesy wrote:

I tend to not keep anything over 20″ but if I am looking for a fish fry and a 21-22 comes along I have kept them also.

Seems like an honest answer. For some reason I can relate to that argument more than meat hunter junkies, looking to maximize pounds taken home in the fewest numbers of fish.

eyeguy507 wrote:

Don’t go to lake Erie is my best advice. Pretty sure the ML fisherman don’t have that option. On the Sippi I typically throw back ones over 20. This year I didn’t keep a single eye out of the river. 20 times on pool 4, all I ever caught were 12 inchers and a bunch over 20.

I have heard of the situation on Erie, I envy the fishing there. It is not wrong to keep fish that are big if that is all that exists, but I would still encourage them to be careful. Fisheries can always decline.

ProStaffSteve wrote:

This is something that has bothered me for a while now and was inspired by the “Cheek” thread below. I fish pool 6 and 4 of the Mississippi and a couple Brainerd area lakes. My rule for a while has been, an eye that hits 20″ swims free, and under 15″ is illegal. For me, 20″+ fish make my year and I want to ensure that I catch as many as possible. What sizes do you keep? Do you have any interest in changing the sizes you keep to mesh with other’s so that we have a Min/Dakota/Wis/Iowa “rule of thumb”? I don’t support wasting fish that die on accident, but I can’t stand seeing 20″+ fish on a chopping block. I’m thinking about dropping my rule another inch or two due to an abundance of eaters, thoughts?

Good grief that guy in the Twins hat on the left there is one good lookin fellow
Glad you brought this topic up, I enjoy reading what personal limits others have. The lake I fish the most has a 14-18 inch slot, so I only keep fish under 14 there. Prefer to release anything over 18 assuming I’m not desperate for a fish fry. Prostaff, you are used to fishing the TFF as well where it can be difficult to find walleyes over 14. You learn to eat the little ones or eat nothing but potatoes for the week. Easy choice!
I really never have an issue if people keep really little ones, but it does bother me a bit when I see bigger fish (over 22 or so) being sliced up. Obviously if its a legal fish, its under their own discretion, just one of those things. From what I’ve noticed, it seems like the younger generations have begun to release the bigger fish more and more. Don’t need to bring the fish home to show it off anymore, just snap a pic and get it back in the water!