Do you eat big fish?

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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.

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Sorry that that happened, sometimes it is hard to how to judge a person when staring at a computer screen. When the profanities start and one is trying to make a point like you were sometimes it makes it even harder to get your point across.

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People were accually so dissrespectfull in there responses I stopped participating at IDA.

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Glad to have you back with us

Ron

Ahh, I remember that thread for some reason?? I stayed out of it as I wasn’t up to speed with the river at the time, but I must say calling people dumb and sluring out “censored” isn’t a good way to start a thread. There was also some very good info in that thread and some good debate, sometimes people take what’s posted here WAY to personal. A bunch even agreed with you, just left the censored out of it. Just because there’s a little debate, which happens often here, is no reason to tuck tail. If it’s within the law, to each their own. But, practicing cpr with spawners is a good way to go!

BIRDDOG

My personal slot on walleye is 14″ to 18″ where legal to keep them in that range. Smaller ones don’t have a lot of meat on them, and releasing small ‘eyes gives them a chance to reach sexual maturity where natural reproduction matters. I also release walleye larger than 18″, as they are the mature females on whom spawning success depends in waters with decent natural reproduction.

Even in SE Iowa, where walleye populations depend on stocking, I release fish over 18″. They don’t taste as good, and have the chance to become real trophies. On the Mississippi down here, where the walleye population is self-sustaining, there is a state-enforced 19″-27″ slot on Illinois-Iowa boundary waters in addition to the 15″ minimum. I am all for those regulations.

I ate my share of 20″-ish walleye when I was younger, but unless the fish is likely to die if released, and it is legal to keep that fish, I will eat no more in that size range. My last such fish was a 22″ pre-spawn walleye I caught below the spillway in Winona about ten years ago. I was already releasing more of those fish, but I was a hungry undergrad, so I kept that one, which was perfectly legal. When I fileted her the sight of all those eggs spread out on newspaper was enough for me to stop keeping adult females. It was a “final straw” sort of thing, not an epiphany.

In general, I will release all walleyes over 20″.. sometimes I release them of all sizes, sometimes I take a few home. I keep an extra meal in the freezer.

Now sometims, its difficult to catch a walleye under 20″. If Sherry is chasing me down for a fresh meal of fish(if reserve is not there), I will keep 1 fish in the very low 20’s if that s all thats available(it happens).

I would rather keep one 20″ fish most of the time vs 5 15″ fish for the same amount of meat.. lots less cleaning involved.

If any of you had to keep fish around for *Fisher Sherry*, you would understand where I am coming from

There are different types of fisher people. On one extreme is the person that stocks the freezer another is the one that lets everything go. I am the type that releases most fish (except some panfish mmm..) but I have been known to keep a few meals of which, on occasion, a couple will be frozen for a later date but I am by no means a hoarder. I feel that I do my part to preserve the resource although in the past I have kept 22″ and smaller not the 20″ that most are saying in this post. Yup, I’ve learned something else today and I’ll practice it in the future. I think the most important thing is that people learn how to promote a more healthy resource. I have a 20″ large and a 27″ brown on my wall. By no means huge fish, but I took them when I was younger. I didn’t have someone (or a website ) to instill good c&r practices when I was growing up as a younger teen. Now I get a great feeling letting a big fish go. I recommend everyone try it at least once and hopefully it’ll grow on you.

As long as a person is doing it within the law I say don’t knock them. It’s a right to keep the big ones and we have all seen plenty of posts here of people complaining about having their rights taken away. Like was said, the larger fish are less productive as reproducers but they may also have genetics to pass on. Letting it go so it can grow and someone else can catch it is an admirable thing to do but if you don’t it’s your choice (but please harvest selectively if you can ).

Posts like this are great because they make people think and maybe re-evaluate their practices like I did.

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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.

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James, I’m waiting for “Crazy George” to reply on this topic…have you seen him lately?

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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.

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James, I’m waiting for “Crazy George” to reply on this topic…have you seen him lately?

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Ah yes… Crazy George. The man that never met a walleye that didn’t deserve the working end of a hammer.

You haven’t lived until you’ve had a borderline mental case scowl at you and sing “the farmer caught a fish” off key and at max volume.

OK OK I do eat alot of walleye but I never keep anything over 19″ maybe even 18″ is to big in my book to clean and eat. I love the 13 to 16″ class.

You people eat fish??? Yuck, I may have to reconsider the circles I frequent on the internet. Degenerates!

yes, i eat a few big fish every year. last fall i kept a 29.5 caught cranking durning the fall bite. smoked it, way better than your average whitefish. i also keep a large northern pike every fall, over the 36 inch slot here on mille lacs. i also smoke the northerns. there is nothing wrong with keeping larger fish. as far as taste goes, walleye tastes like walleye. if you didn’t see it cooked and how big the fish actually was, and it was cooked chris tuckner style, the 30 incher will taste the same as a 14 incher. i remember last year when someone posted pictures of two big northerns that he kept, and everybody was all over him. it was legal and he did nothing wrong by keeping thoes fish. i think that some people go a little overboard when it comes to catch and release. here on mille lacs, with the 20 to 28 inch protected slot, there are some days that you just don’t catch eater size fish. if you choose to only eat 15 inch walleyes, more power to you, to each his own, but you are missing out…………..tom fellegy

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if you choose to only eat 15 inch walleyes, more power to you, to each his own, but you are missing out…………..tom fellegy

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If walleyes taste like walleyes regardless of size, what am I mising out on?

I’m a river guy. Eating walleyes over 20″ is a bad idea for reasons that don’t even touch on taste. The younger the fish the better and definitely in moderation. Many bodies of water are in the same boat… no pun intended. Check the consumption advisories on the DNR website for the lakes / rivers you fish frequently.

I’ve had smoked walleye… and it was a big walleye that one of the guys from Island Campground harvested. I guess I can say it tasted pretty good.

In all honesty I’d rather eat a chicken sandwhich than fish any day. But then I’m a little different than most I guess.

Have you read the internet reports of what they are doing to chicken to grow them faster and with extra legs?

I’m sticking to my 30″ walleyes right out the the nuke plant.

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Have you read the internet reports of what they are doing to chicken to grow them faster and with extra legs?

I’m sticking to my 30″ walleyes right out the the nuke plant.

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Isn’t it time for your cigarette break?

Not sure about of the rest of the folks here but I see nothing wrong with taking a 30″ + pike to smoke during the winter. Makes for some fine table fair! I also love somked lake trout from the “Big Pond”.

I tip up fish A LOT and sometimes you hook one that gulped the hook down so far that I am not sure it would make it even if you cut the line and let her go. Even with using circle hooks I have had big pike take the whole works down to the belly. Heck I have even caught pike with tackle in the jaw…………

HArvesting a big fish does not make you a BAD fishermen

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HArvesting a big fish does not make you a BAD fishermen

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Uh huh, does to
Just kidding
I guess I need to catch a big fish before I worry about eating it or not

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Isn’t it time for your cigarette break?

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Kidding right? It would be his “Fresh Air Break” by putting one out!

A 30″ pike is just right (can’t be any smaller in my opinion) for the fry pan! Just big enough to crack out the “Y” bones on a nice 4″ x 4″ chunk filet!

I’d prefer it if people would release larger fish so they might be caught again another day. Having more larger fish back in the water rather than in the pan has to increase the odds of any one of us catching more large fish. I don’t need a biologist, the DNR, or a mathematician to help me do the math on that one.

I also fall into the category of people who prefer to fry a smaller fish, in that 15-18 inch range. I think they clean up so much faster and easier and fry up much better myself.

Whether you keep large fish or small fish, just consider the resource and the body of water you’re fishing. Some waters can handle a little more harvest than others. And, you can’t always count on the DNR to regulate your ethics for you. Just because something is “legal” doesn’t always mean it’s a good idea. Be a critical thinker. Use good judgment. We’ll all be better off for it.

Tuck,
would have to agree with you on that. . had to go at least 30 paces from teh ice house that the GTG on Mille Lacs for my fresh air break.

Broncs

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Be nice to the elderly, that might be you some day.

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Check the consumption advisories on the DNR website for the lakes / rivers you fish frequently.

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My wife was a bit concerned when we went Lake Trout fishing in Lake Superior with a guide and brought home a bunch. If we all have been living this long………….

With Walleye around 20 inches or less. I don’t keep Bass, and only a few Northern and smaller Channel Cat. As for Sunfish, everynow and then I will keep a mess for the frying pan.

james,
the only thing i can see that you could possibly be missing out on is if you are not putting miracle whip on your chicken sandwich. the point that i am trying to make is, if you want to keep a walleye, what ever the size, keep it. don’t let the opinion of others make up your mind for you. if you like to eat walleyes, and your own keeper slot is 15 inch and under, and you come up here to mille lacs and all you catch is 18 to 22 inchers and don’t keep any of them, you are missing out. you are not going to hurt this lake if every once in a while you keep your ALLOWED 1 walleye over 28 inches.

Actually the protected slot limit on the Mississippi here in Iowa is 20″ to 27″. It starts in pool 12 and goes the rest of the way down to the Iowa/Missouri border. Wisconsin’s DNR would not go along with the restrictions in pools 9, 10 and 11 so there is no protected slot in those pools. John Pitlo explained that the fish from 20″ to 27″ are the best breeders which is why they are protected. You can keep one fish per day over 27″. The legal fish are the 15″ to 20″ size which are the best eaters anyway. They included keeping one fish over 27″ per day. One reason for allowing this is that there aren’t that many fish over 27″ in the river so if you kill one you aren’t really hurting the fishery that much. The greatest number of breeding stock in the river are the females from 20″ to 27″ so these are the fish that need to be protected. John also specified a Canadian study done back in the 1960’s in regards to the fertility of the older females. I know there was a big discussion on this a couple years back here on IDA.

In any case I prefer to release those big fish regardless. As a matter of fact I release the majority of the fish I catch every year. I do keep a few limits of eater size walleyes as well as an occasional flathead and a mess or two of bluegills every year. I love to fish and I love to eat fish but I try not to take any more fish than I plan on eating. I do like to keep a fish or two every year that is big enough where I can broil the fillets. 19″ to 20″ walleyes are darn good for this. I caught a 30-3/4″ walleye back in 1977 that was eaten and I still cringe when I think of how I slaugtered that fish.

Eyehunter

Walleyes over 20″ go back in my boat (minus the injured fish factor discussed above, when legal). Smaller eyes, panfish and salmon from the big pond (the really big pond) suit me just fine Everything else goes back to fight another day.

Jim

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Anything 20″ or more never is kept by me except going for a 29″ or bigger eye for the wall thats it though!! MOst times I want fish on Pepin I just get some suagers otherwise everything is thrown back….I honestly think the DNR for MN and WI need to come together and put a slot on Pool 4 thru pool 8 to protect all walleye 20-28″ especially in during the spring time slaughter down there

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One reason for allowing this is that there aren’t that many fish over 27″ in the river

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I have done enough commercial fishing on pools 9,10,and 11
to know thats not true.

I think that the bigger the fish, the more fishy it tastes.

I agree with you on that there are 2 types of fishermen. I can remember when Doug had a couple of our buddies up to the pond, in his boat with him. They were catching good eaters and then one hooked into a 26″ or so eye. They were ready to throw it in the well, when Doug said, “what are you doing ?” they said, they were gonna stink up the pan. Doug said, back she goes. They looked at each other in disbelief, and then hesitantly, put her back in the water. After about 5 minutes, one says to the other, “Pete, if grandpa had seen you let that eye go, he is turning over in his grave right now” I will never forget that story, but there again, in that boat, were two types of fisherman. Doug owned the boat, and it would have been a long swim to shore fror them boys !!!

Oh, I like eating 14-17 inchers !!!

big g