New ND State Record Walleye !

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/outdoors/4602301-north-dakota-man-sets-walleye-record

MANDAN, N.D.—A Lincoln, N.D., man caught a record-breaking walleye over the weekend, according to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

Tom Volk caught a 16 pound, 9 ounce walleye Sunday from the shore of the Heart River in Mandan, N.D., a press release said. The fish was 32 1/2 inches.

Volk’s catch beat the previous record by three-quarters of a pound set last May by Neal Leier on the Missouri River. Before Leier’s catch, the record remained untouched for almost 60 years, the department said.

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That’s a piggy, I know a few other taxidermist that would to get their hands on it for making reproductions.

Wow. I wonder how old she is.

Wow what a hog. That river runs through da bosses property south of mandan. Doesn’t look like it holds much for fish come July.

Where’s that guy that wanted the fish eggs?

I’ve read from many online comments that this fish was snagged. Theres supposed to be a video of him pulling the jig out of the eyes back. Can anybody locate the video?

bob wrote:

I’ve read from many online comments that this fish was snagged. Theres supposed to be a video of him pulling the jig out of the eyes back. Can anybody locate the video?

I saw the video…. You can clearly see the guy yanking hooks out of the back of that fish before the camera turns away.

It happens I guess…. but I hope they were not purposely snagging.

So was it a “jig”? Or “hooks?”

The plot thickens….

Where is the video??

I saw the video too. It is plausible that the fish came unhooked (from the mouth) in the net and the hook got caught in the side. I would highly doubt someone would be trying to intentionally snag fish with a tube jig.

“Volk, a community prevention specialist for the state Department of Human Services and also a member of the Lincoln city council, asked to put to rest a rumor that he snagged the fish. He hooked the fish in the mouth, he said, and it wrapped itself in line as it fought. The mouth hook was certified by Game and Fish, Volk said. A snagged fish would not count as a record.”

https://www.inforum.com/sports/outdoors/1009136-McFeely-Lincoln-angler-breaks-N.D.-state-walleye-record-but-doesnt-think-itll-last-long

I seen the video of the alleged snagged fish and I don’t understand how they consider it snagged? Do you know how times I’ve had the hook pop out of the fishes mouth while netting or in the net and then the flailing hook ends up somewhere else in the fish? Had the video shown the fish being brought in with the hook in it’s back then maybe I’d agree it was snagged…jealousy is sad.

Jesse Krook wrote:

I seen the video of the alleged snagged fish and I don’t understand how they consider it snagged? Do you know how times I’ve had the hook pop out of the fishes mouth while netting or in the net and then the flailing hook ends up somewhere else in the fish? Had the video shown the fish being brought in with the hook in it’s back then maybe I’d agree it was snagged…jealousy is sad.

i totally agree!!!!!!!!

Sad part is that in the video he makes very little effort to get the hook out of the fishes back. I believe he was just clearing the hook form the net. In no way shape or form does that fish appear to be “hooked” or “snagged” in the back.

Makes sense.

Update

https://billingsgazette.com/outdoors/north-dakota-game-and-fish-looking-into-state-record-walleye/article_5efcc513-95ca-5619-a936-56065f10b230.html

Another update. Looks like it will not count. My son lives in Bismark and there was a lot of chatter that it was foul hooked.

https://www.sidneyherald.com/national/news/man-absolutely-disappointed-as-north-dakota-rejects-his-walleye-as/article_e6e4145a-f653-5486-91dd-f59bf985bc04.html

Okay.. Can I assume that the Youtube Video is gone forever?

Can I also assume that if there was not a video we wouldn’t be having this discussion and the fisherman would be listed as the state record holder?

Soooooo, the ND dnr says it was foul hooked so won’t recognize it as a record fish. Then goes on to say it should have been returned but won’t contest his keeping it.

OK, Got it.

I have the video saved somewhere. The guy should be charged with keeping a snagged fish as well. It was clear in the video that the fish was snagged in the back. My question, is what kind of person do you have to be to lie to everyone about it? Just going to live that lie out for the rest of your life? Some people…

https://www.grandforksherald.com/opinion/columns/4612934-mcfeely-nd-game-and-fish-walleye-investigation-included-video-witnesses

There’s a video in the link above. You can see the hook embedded in it’s back.

They look like they are being sneaky in the video. That coupled with the anglers lack of a strong reaction to being called a liar leans me towards foul hooked.

Sorry,, I don’t see the hook imbedded in it’s back.. I just don’t. Not sure what that was that the helper picked off his back and threw, is that what you are seeing?

Guilty until proved innocent, the new way. I find it hard to believe the guy would put up such a fight to clear his name knowing there is video of the fish with a hook in its back.

I believe, had that fish been snagged as we see it, there is no way he would have landed it in that raging current. NO WAY.

When the guy removed it, that hook came out so easily, I feel like the reason he took it out was because it was a hassle to carry that huge fish in a net with fishing line trailing behind attached to another person.

If the fish was hooked in the mouth with line wrapped around its body, I believe it could easily come out of the fishes mouth and get lodged where it was during the long walk over sandbar and up a bank.

There is a ton of excitement in that moment and terrible video so who is to say what really happened. It seemed the guy shooting video couldn’t even keep a camera on the event. I certainly don’t think the guy should be strung up for it.

I didn’t see much of anything from the video to prove one way or the other…I can’t believe they would strip his record from a witness account.

ClownColor wrote:

I didn’t see much of anything from the video to prove one way or the other…

x2. Plus anytime I’ve accidentally snagged a fish, usually the first thing the net guy yells is “Oh you snagged it..” or something along those lines. Feel bad for the guy since it sounds like pitchfork nation is after him, and mainly brought about by ND Fish & Game wanting to promote it all over.

Really hard to say
But I’ve had a hook pop out a thousand times in the net and re hook the fish. That’s with out a 1000 ft walk

There was a different video that I saw right when they claimed it was a new state record. In that video you could see what appeared to be a yellow looking jig head stuck in the back of the fish when he was taking it out of the net. From what I could tell from the previous video, you could not assume the hook popped while in the net and got stuck in the back of the fish. Too bad for the controversy because it was a very special fish.

I’m not sure where the controversy is.
1. This spot is known to be a place where more walleye are snagged than caught from them actually biting.
2. He wouldn’t have worried about pulling the hook out of the net… There’s a dang near 17lb walleye. The hook in the net would be the last thing on anyone’s mind had it been hooked legitimately. Go to 1:33 into the video and tell me that’s not a snagged fish…
It clearly not only rolled the fish over but also lifted the fish up a bit as he tried to get the hook out.

If you read the article, it’s stated that Joe the guy who netted the fish said no it was wrapped in the line and that’s why it was coming in so funny. That along with the hook coming out of its back is conclusive evidence that the fish was snagged, in my opinion and any law enforcements opinion. It doesn’t take Nancy Drew to figure this one out.

What makes me suspicious is the guy posting pictures of the walleyes mouth and back on Facebook trying to defend himself. I don’t even think that is the side of the fish in question.

I don’t know what the big deal is with fishing records is. I couldn’t tell you the name of one person who caught a record fish.

If he didn’t snag it that would suck, but to me it looks like he did.

Rjthehunter, the controversy is that state records cannot be legal if they are foul-hooked. They must be hooked in the mouth somewhere. This rule applies to most states. The issue at hand in this particular case is that the angler declares he hooked it in the mouth and the ND Game & Fish investigated it and their findings indicate otherwise. Quite simple, really.

I wasn’t there so I can’t comment on exactly what happened. I don’t know the angler either. So I have to trust what the state agency is doing and believe that their findings are legit.