Are you eating Walleye?

Is it Zander or Walleye

That was a post in the Croix forum I believe by our beloved Suzuki..talking about sending out valuable sheepies to Chicago to be abused and eaten….

Just some final thoughts on this topic…..

First, I really believed the substitute fish was going to be pollack, cod or good old Mississippi river sheepshead! If there is a substitute out there for walleye, zander is a good pick. Anyway, I don’t agree with what the restaurants are doing and this “scandal” should be enough to motivate change.

Second. I can’t remember the last time I ordered walleye in a restaurant. Possibly never. I guess I’m one of those guys that is lucky enough to eat fresh walleye when I want. I keep a few now and then. I also don’t like the idea that anyone can just order up a walleye sandwich. As I mentioned above, I really assumed most restaurants were serving up something else anyway. Those “Real Walleye” have to come from somewhere. Most, if not all are netted and that kinda rubs me the wrong way.

Here is a question to ponder…. If a restaurant has 24 walleye in the freezer in a Minnesota restaurant, isn’t someone over their possession limit? And if you have a walleye sitting in front of you that you have just taken possession of, don’t you technically need a license? Perhaps restaurants should be under investigation for fish and game violations as well?

Sorry….slow day in the gravel pit.
-J.

Good question, Jon. They must have a special permit just like Byerly’s must when they sell Canadian Walleye. I wonder if the walleye I see there are Zander too???

I rarely eat Walleye out but I’m with others here who have said Tavern on Grand serves up a good one.

I happened to be at Rascals in Apple Valley last night and they had Walleye as a “special”. I asked the waitress if it was really walleye or was it zander and she laughed and said it was zander. . . That’s pretty nervey – advertising zander as a walleye special the day after it was on the news!

My thought was do I order the fake walleye (Zander) or the fresh tribe netted walleye. Just cant make up my mind. Maybe I’ll go fishing.

The restaurant that I work for has about 70 pounds of walleye in it as I type this. I will order 30-50 pounds every week until summer then it goes up to 50-70 pounds a week. All of the walleye that we get comes from Canada. From what I am told by the reps is that the walleyes came from Erie and Winnipeg Lakes. The reps have tried to get us to buy zander but we will not as our menus state that we serve walleye and that is what we serve. The walleye sands and walleye dinners are a big seller for us.

As for the possession limit-I do not have a permit, maybe because they are a commercial product?

I do have a valid fishing lic in MN, WI, AR, MO and Canada so if needed I can account for some of the walleyes in that freezer.