Does anyone here eat big walleye? I find it hard to believe that someone caught and ate, two-eight pound walleyes in one day. I was just about stoned on another website for saying something toa guy who did just that. Maybe I am off base, but that doesn’t help our natural resources and doesn’t make me happy. Am I alone?
What is the biggest fish you will keep to eat?
I’m not a purest or anything, but I throw anything in the 20s back.
I agree with you. If one really cares about the future of fishing releasing the big ones is the best thing to do.
If I am starving and have no other means of food then maybe the view would be different. But in todays world food shleves etc. nobody should be starving out here and should stay focused on the future of the sport of fishing.. Just my .02
I prefer to let all walleyes over 20″ go back. If I’m going to keep fish for a meal I want them in the 15″ – 16″ range.
If I had my choice I’d rather eat a 10″ – 11″ perch. Nummy-Nummy. 
I have and will again. Most big ones go back, but occasionally – if legal – I will clobber a nice one for the grill. I have a few recipes for grilled and baked fish that are awesome – and they come out better with a bigger fish – as a bigger fish does not dry out.
Most places have a “1 over” restriction, so if I kill a 23, 25, or whatever(within the law) – I feel I owe nobody an apology – as the DNR is telling me I am ok to do so.
With that said – the vast majority of nice fish I catch get turned back. I am not on board with the belief that ALL nice fish no matter what must be turned loose. They are only a fish – and I don’t look at it as a sin to kill one to eat. Another thing I consider is how the fish is hooked – a bleeding big one is getting the club if legal.
More of a regional thing. Guys who fish the great lakes dice up 8 pounders all the time. No biggy. The fishery can handle it and regs are set up to control it. The common thought is to toss back the 20 inchers and let ‘em grow. Come to the cleaning shack with a bunch of 17-20 inch dinks and you will get an earful from the locals. Believe me I know. 
But to the original question. Yes, I’ll eat a big fish if it goes belly up on me. Not going to let it turn into bird or turtle food. Most of the time it’s a big fish from a tourney weigh in that didn’t make it. Happens….
-J.
I also agree.
I might keep 20 fish all year, mostly crappies and few walleyes mixed in.
When I made my annual trip to Tobin Lake in Canada. It was common to walk by a fish cleaning house and see guys taking a knife to 8 to 12 pound walleyes.
I understand that it is their right to do this BUT I feel that these guys are the first to complain when they can not catch the same quality fish in future trips.
Plus the smaller fish taste better IMO.
Ron
19 inches and under only when it comes to walleyes. Let the bigger ones go back and let them do their thing.
John
That is my thoughts as well-20″ and over go back if at all possible (walleye).
Last time I kept a larger eye was about 10 years ago. About 5 lbs. and it was very good on the grill. Now, if I’m eating, I prefer 14 in saugers although I don’t turn my nose up at a 15 to 17 inch eye too often either.
This is what the education on IDA has done for me.
To me I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I release a big fish…whether it be an eye, cat or sturgeon.
Last summer Chappy hooked into 3 eyes with me. The 10 pounder was bleeding like a stuck pig. The other two 8ish fish swam away nicely. We worked on that fish in the live well and on shore for over an hour. It wasn’t to be and he had it mounted.
I truely believe in pointing out catch and release works, but I would never condem a person for keeping what’s allowed with in the law.
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Another thing I consider is how the fish is hooked – a bleeding big one is getting the club if legal.
Yup-yup. If it is legal to keep, a fish that is going to die shouldn’t be pitched over the side just to say the fish was released. This happens on guided trips a time or two a year when a biggie gets ahold of a crankbait deep and bleeds out. I hate to do it but it makes more sense to make use of the fish.
No big ones get cut up by me, I think the biggest eye I’ve ever cut up was 22″. I prefer the smaller 15ish fish for frying. I even throw most of them back except when I have company that want a fish fry, the look on my buds faces when I throw back the eaters… 
I do agree, it’s a regional thing.
I don’t have a problem with guys that want to cut up fish as long as it’s within the law. It’s the guys that have bags and bags of daily limits in their freezer that chap my
!!
BIRDDOG
BIRDDOG
I will NEVER keep an eye over 19-20. Two reasons A. The littler ones taste better B.(and most important) These big fish ARE the future of any given lake.
Just cuz its legal, doesnt mean its right…
No I don’t eat big ones. Anything over 20 goes back into the lake. But I also don’t rag on others if they decide to knife a big one either. There is nothing we can do as long as they are legal.
Best thing you can do is practice letting the big ones go yourself and hopefully others will follow. Going on to a website and badmouthing someone that did keep a few big ones usually only fuels the fire.
In most inland lakes within Minnesota, Mille Lacs, Winnie, Leech and the like, you don’t need to go to confession for killing/keeping a big walleye….if your concern is the well-being of the resource.
In MANY cases(most small walleye lakes), there is very little, significant natural walleye reproduction going on anyway. So putting back a big one allows it to either be caught as a bigger fish or allows it to die of old age. But does very little for the future of the walleye population. (DNR studies provide info in this regard via the “lake survey” records)
Even in the cases where the walleye population is primarily based on natural reproduction, such as Mille Lacs, “big” walleyes lay many eggs, but have very little actual reproductive success. The significant “spawners” are ranging from 18″ to 24″. At this lattitude, walleyes growing old enough to be 26″ on up are “over the hill” in the making kids department. Yes…they are loaded with eggs. Yes they lay the eggss. And no, the actual hatched egg rate is not a big factor…compared to the smaller, younger fish.
So….nothing wrong with releasing a 27″-30″ walleyes. It’s commendable! But it most likley adds up to maybe someone else having a shot at a trophy or allowing a fish to die of old age…..not impacting the future population of the walleyes.
I throw them back too, at Mille Lacs! As I like to eat smaller fish….and want to be able to have shot at a big one in a tourney, NOT because I worry about the spawning bio mass. But at smaller lakes that don’t get much fishing pressure anyway, I usually keep them since they will definately die of old age…all the while not playing a role in the overall size of the population.
My two cents…
I just cannot understand why people feel the need to eat big fish (walleyes).
The big fish obviously has good genetics, it has more value in the water than dead. That said, if a fish is foul hooked then yes do the right thing. But if you have fished all day and have no eaters please do not feel killing a big un justifys something. Take a picture and eat a burger.
I try to release all Walleye in the 18″-24″ range if not dying. On occasion I will keep a couple if I have company up for the weekend and they are bent on a fish fry. The Lake I fish (85% of the time)is a smaller lake(350 acre) and has natural reproduction only. It has above the “high” average count for Walleye and I would like to keep it that way, so I tend to eat BASS 
more than Walleye. We dont catch many walleye less than 20″ and thats a little scary when looking to the future. I dont mind if somebody wants to keep everything they catch as long as their license is paid for and they’re within the limits set by law…
I suspect many of you already have this link within your puter “favorites” but if not here is a good source for learning about the population of fish that live in your favorite Mn. lake. Most surveys will include info to the effect that shows the walleye pop. as natural, mainly natural, or mostly stocked with very lttle natural reproduction. Just type in your lake name and county it is in and click on “get lake data”, “go” under “lake information” and you should have it all.
I cleaned a 20″. Too big for me! It’s 14″-18″ for me! But if it’s legal to keep the pigs I may disagree but more power to ya. 
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I bet I can count on 1 hand the # of fish I keep a year….and I practice selective harvest.
I bet you can count on 1 hand the # of fish you CATCH all year 
Speaking here in MN most of the time, it is 20″ and under for eyes. However, during the increased slot on Mille Lacs I will keep a sub 22″ for the table. The DNR has stated that there are a lot of these that are old males in the system currently, and they want to get rid of them. Otherwise, I will release over 20″ fish unless I’m prety sure it will not make it. Then if tha tis the case, I will follow what the regualtions state for that particular piece of water. 
As far as keeping 2 – 8 lb fish, I kind of cringed when reading that, but as long as it is legal to do so, they have every right to do so. It is just not something I would preach.
Every single fish I catch goes back into the pond. I just have fun catching them, getting a picture, and returning them to where they came from. I’m not opinionated on what you keep or put back, its none of my business.
About twenty years ago I caught a 9# walleye out of my local lake.And back then you had to have bragging rights so on the stringer it went and home it went after a few bragging stops.Now I wanted to mount the fish but I forgot I was raising 7 kids no money for that.Oh well lets take a picture and off to the frying pan.Now I showed off that picture for a couple years with the ussual wows.Now that pic still hangs on my wall but today I look at it and I cannot believe I killed that fish and at times I feel I should put it away but its a great reminder.Now that I am older I get this vision that my kids will put this picture by my casket and the people will say Yup he deserved to drop dead for killing that fish.So today my hope is that with some feild reporting of some released trophys that I redeem my self and keep others from a regret.God bless digital and throw away camera,s they have saved us a ton of trophys 
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I prefer to let all walleyes over 20″ go back. If I’m going to keep fish for a meal I want them in the 15″ – 16″ range.
If I had my choice I’d rather eat a 10″ – 11″ perch. Nummy-Nummy.
Me too
I think everyone on this site would agree how good it feels releasing those over20″eyes. I tend not to get as worked up about a client wanting to keep his days catch within the legal limits and believe me,many who are paying $ do just that. I just kind of cringe when I have to knife those nice spawners. I will make it a point to tell them about catch and release so hopefully they will see the picture. If I do eat a big fish I still think a northern is hard to beat.
When I fisn Lake Erie we don’t catch alot of small fish so the big ones get cut up. THey don’t taste as good as the little ones but if you want a shore lunch… Fishing around home same as most every thing over 20 goes back.
Hmmn I have never cought a walleye that large so it is hard to say. But I do enjoy eating them from the 15″ to 18″ range.
I think it would depend on what body of water it came out of.
I personally have to admit, I did keep and fillet a 22″ walleye once. That was a few years ago, and I was happy to have caught it and was just fine eating it. I also caught a 7.9 oz walleye several years ago, and that went back to swim again 
I personally have only ever kept 2 bass, both of which are on my wall. And as far as panfish go, I like to select the nicer ones out and let the 7″ swim if at all possible, But I do like to throw the true monsters back. If you are only interested in keeping enough for yourself, like I am, selectively harvesting the middle class is simple to do. Keeping big fish may feel cool when you show someone your bag or whatever, and its nice to get it home and take pictures and what not, but once the meat is off and the corpse is in the trash, The feeling is gone. Keep those middle class fish!! 
Last spring I posted a report on this web site about keeping 20 plus inch walleye and I thought I was going to be hung. People were accually so dissrespectfull in there responses I stopped participating at IDA. Yes the DNR do have limits to what we can keep but we as sportsman have to protect that valuable resource for the future sportsman. If it were up to me I would introduce a slot and decrease the limits. I never keep anything 20 inches or bigger to eat. I do have a ten punder on the wall and I will mount the next 12 pounder I catch after that a picure is worth a thousand words..
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