How many of you and how often have you caught and kept a full 6 walleye bag limit?
Most of the walleye fishing I have done in the past and still do is on a bigger lake with special regulations, so the limit was never 6 anyways.
So how many times have I kept a full 6 walleye limit? Not once in 22 years. I can recall keeping a 4 fish limit maybe a dozen times over the course of the last 20+ years.
Fishing locally i rarely catch more then 3 or 4 in a entire day. And keep maybe 2. Every once and a while I get lucky and catch a limit or a few over. And typically still keep 2. Then I go to ” walleye ” destination lakes. Just to catch a bunch and really only keep what I eat. 2 maybe 3.
I think fish tastes best fresh, so I rarely keep more than what my family can eat, while fresh. I have a few times kept a full limit, but that is only if I have requests from my Mom, or wife’s parents. Unless things changed, this day in age we don’t need to stock our freezers.
In the end changing the limit to 4 is going to have very little impact.
As many times as a limit of Crappie, Sunfish, Catfish, Muskie, Pike, Sheephead, Trout, ect.
I fish Pool 2 90% of the time for walleyes.. All C&R.
When I do get the chance I will keep a handful. Maybe 25-30 eyes over the course of a season. 2-3 outings a year with a full limit if I am going to guess.
I prefer to eat walleyes out of cold water. So ice fishing into late spring are when I will keep the most. Majority of the time I am good with 2-3 fish. That takes care of me and the family when we want to keep some for a dinner.
I normally keep a limit or Two Each spring and Each fall. Other than those times of the year I rarely target them. I will Keep a few off and on during the summer if I get one or two while targeting other species and I feel like a meal of fresh Baked Walleye.
Never have I ever kept a full limit of walleye. I must just suck at catching walleye…
Edited to add: I catch and keep limits on Mille Lacs every time I go…
Kept a limit? Not very often but wouldn’t think twice if I did because, as For me, it’s about how many I keep per year. Between my wife and I, we generally keep around 10 walleye TOTAL per year from MN waters…anything more gets released. That seems to be enough for our annual neighborhood fish fry every summer…and that’s about the only time I eat fresh water fish every year.
I religiously keep a “limit” twice a year. Once on LOTW ice fishing that we will do a hook and cook special at the bar with mostly 14-16″ fish, and once in May when we have a fish fry over Memorial Day Weekend. For our at home limit, my brother and I generally catch them Friday afternoon (8 fish is the river limit for 2) and we eat them Saturday night as a part of the neighborhood grill out. My freezer rarely has fish in it. It is just so much better fresh.
I generally only harvest fish if I know we are planning a meal around it in the near future. 2 eater walleyes feed myself and my wife with fish tacos easily. A half dozen jumbo perch a few times a winter is plenty for a meal each time. I haven’t kept a bluegill in years as the big bulls are crucial to size structure and I hate cleaning anything smaller. I rarely keep crappies or target them either.
I am a catch and eat guy also, don’t like freezing fish. So, don’t keep a full limit of fish very often. Many years ago, used to keep a limit of Walleye on fishing opener and have a meal Sunday night. Very rare I keep 6 Walleye. Do LOTW every year and don’t even keep a limit from there, just enough to have a couple meals.
I’m going to guess a vast majority of Mn resident anglers are like IDO members. Keep a few when they want to. Probably not looking to “Limit Out” on any given trip. The ones who do are probably working with a guide and only get out once or twice a year.
I think the resort / tourism folks are most concerned with the legal limits. Out of state visitors likely base some of their vacation plans on what they can keep and take home after a week stay at a resort. This is whre you will see the most opposition to lower limits. The 6 fish limit looks good on paper. Easy to go somewhere else with higher limits. Not just limits but easy to understand and follow regs. Minn is far from that. 
-J.
I can’t really recall a day in Minnesota where I kept a 6 fish limit. Maybe once a LOW but they are all 12-14″ anyways & only 4 are Walleye. 4 decent Walleyes from 15-18″ is all I need to feed the family. Anything extra usually gets donated to my grandparents or parents.
Lake Erie is the only place I’ve kept a legal limit that I can remember. There it is a 4 fish daily limit with a minimum set at 15″.
How many of you and how often have you caught and kept a full 6 walleye bag limit?
Often and often.
Everyone who eats my fish has been prepped on how to respond to a survey, should one arise.
Why has it become so taboo to keep a limit? It’s a resource that’s there for us to eat. I love eating fish. When I lived in ND I kept fish often and always had at least few meals worth in the freezer most of the time. The chest thumping about cpr reminds me of how vegans just HAVE to tell you they are vegan.
No, the catch & release is so you guys can keep and kill.
In order to keep a limit of walleyes you first gotta catch them, right. 
Other then a few trips to canada, I think once in minnesota!! Maybe another time on red???
No, the catch & release is so you guys can keep and kill.
dutchy, in going to argue your point here a bit.
For as often as I go out and target walleyes and for as often as I get skunked, should I would happen once in a blue moon to hit the mother load, yes I’d keep that limit.
While it is rare to say I caught a six fish limit. I have caught a limit several times mostly in Canada, Red and LOW. No one should feel bad about doing so and most that would snub them are jealous he was able to.
Why has it become so taboo to keep a limit? It’s a resource that’s there for us to eat. I love eating fish. When I lived in ND I kept fish often and always had at least few meals worth in the freezer most of the time. The chest thumping about cpr reminds me of how vegans just HAVE to tell you they are vegan.
I don’t think it has. I think CPR is more prevalent now but I think most people don’t care if you keep a limit if it’s within the regs. I think alot of people are more vocal on keeping large fish even when it’s within regs.
I usually keep 3 because that’s what we need for the fam but a couple times a year I might keep a limit on P4 or LOTW. As mentioned, that’s 4 walleye and 2 sauger, though.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dutchboy wrote:</div>
No, the catch & release is so you guys can keep and kill.dutchy, in going to argue your point here a bit.
For as often as I go out and target walleyes and for as often as I get skunked, should I would happen once in a blue moon to hit the mother load, yes I’d keep that limit.
And I’m not arguing your right to do so. However if I wanna release everything I catch thats also my right. It’s everybody’s choice, there isn’t no right or wrong.
I just fished for walleye in Mn this past week with a group of 4 guys…I thought your posted limits of 3 fish, one over 18″ was a very fair way of doing things… We only caught 1 fish over 18″, 1 that was 17″, the rest were 16′ and under…
Of the 4 of us, nobody caught their limit, and we took home 3 fish total…
Where I live and fish for walleye, it’s also a 3 fish limit, but there is a slot limit in place that allows you to keep either 3 walleyes under 14″, or, 2 walleyes that are under 14″ along with 1 walleye over 18″…
Now, if you want to catch and kill walleyes under 14″, have at it…”It’s not for me…!”
Be careful of what you’re asking for…
So far from what I am seeing is most responses are never to rarely. If that is the case then why the need to reduce the limit in the first place? Is it a jealousy issue that I can’t catch six walleyes so nobody should be able to. Or is it something else.
I for one don’t have a problem with the limits the way they are. Considering it is essentially a possession limit. 6 seems reasonable to me to cover everyone from out of town folks that may only come once a year to FBRM who may like to have a couple fish frys in the same week or invite some family and friends over for a larger fish fry. Or the guy that gets out on a weekend trip and catches 3 a day.
Those who stuff the freezer with more than their “possession” are going to regardless of the limit. They are breaking the law now and would most likely break the law if it was lowered. Lots of states have a separate daily and possession limit. We basically have a just a possession limit.
6 in possession is basically 2 meals for my family. With maybe a nugget or two left for breakfast. Don’t see an issue with that.
If the DNR needs to make special regs for a certain body of water based on actual science and biology I am all for it. That is, well their job.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dutchboy wrote:</div>
No, the catch & release is so you guys can keep and kill.dutchy, in going to argue your point here a bit.
For as often as I go out and target walleyes and for as often as I get skunked, should I would happen once in a blue moon to hit the mother load, yes I’d keep that limit.
And I’m not arguing your right to do so. However if I wanna release everything I catch thats also my right. It’s everybody’s choice, there isn’t no right or wrong.
and i agree……i tend to stay out of other peoples business…….unless its on a fishing website!! 
I kept one MN limit of walleyes this year. 6 fish. Never did get to eat them. I would like to see a yearly limit. That way when I do decide to keep some I can keep a bunch.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dirty Water wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:</div>
How many of you and how often have you caught and kept a full 6 walleye bag limit?Often and often.
Everyone who eats my fish has been prepped on how to respond to a survey, should one arise.
Lying is the coolest.
Classy.
Have any info to support calling me a liar? Most categorize me at Brutally Honest. Liar I find very offensive.
Do share
I’ll apologize and own up to mis-reading your post. Sorry, my fault. Had another conversation going about honesty on creel surveys going with someone else and just made a goof.
I eat fish at least twice a week and the only fish I buy is salmon. That leaves panfish, walleye and pike.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dutchboy wrote:</div>
However if I wanna release everything I catch thats also my right.Could you at least keep a few of those abundant slimy hammer handle pike that need to be thinned? The rest of us would all benefit.
No.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
