Some of my buddies and I were talking last night about where the next record walleye will come from. Some were saying leech, lake of the woods, possibly vermilion. I was saying for sure mille Lacs in the next 3-4 years with the population being on the low side and less competition for food. Anyway I was wondering where everyone else is thinking the next record walleye will come out of?
Got to keep Saganaga (sp?) on the list. Otherwise Pool 4 Mississippi River has a shot. Mille Lacs – no way, not even in the top ten. The genetics are not there for record fish.
-J.
They don’t live long enough on P4 imo, but the growth rate certainly could trump that. I don’t think the state record will be broken, at least not for a VERY long time. If I were to guess I would bet on a small remote lake/river system in Northern MN. I would guess there are fish close to the record swimming in many of the big lakes though too. You don’t hear of many coming out of Mille Lacs much bigger than 30″ so I’d agree w/ Jon on that. What’s the biggest you’ve heard of in the last 5-10 years? The biggest in MN that I know of in that time frame was 33.5″ and spawned out, so a LONG way from this:
State Record: 17 8 35¾ 21¼ Seagull River at Saganaga Lake
http://www.northlandoutdoors.com/event/article/id/118594/publisher_ID/36/
World record fish will probably be caught in the Columbia river system out west.
You guys the 2nd biggest walleye ever caught came right from the Niagara river I believe it was 22+ pounds. Lake Erie – Lake Ontario may produce the next record. It’s said many die of old age in both lakes.
I personally know of a 15-1/2 lb fish that came out of LOTW within a couple of years ago, but in Canadian waters.
I think LOTW has a chance. Perhaps pool 4. Perhaps a remote border country lake/river system like sag.
As far as vermillion, Mille lacs, leech, …… I would say no way. I believe the state record musky swims in all three, but as far as walleyes, not even remotely close. No way, no how.
In my opinion it will come from a lake that doesn’t get pounded, or is big enough to disperse the pressure. LOW is big enough, but I think it will come from a river.
There has been 2 state records in pool 4 in the last 30 years. The first was found dead during a drought. The second came from some woman that caught one early in the morning, put it on a stringer, drug it around all day, the weighed it. It was like 1-2 oz shy of breaking the record. My money would have to go to pool 4.
I think it could come from a smaller river. Something like the Pecotonica river in S.W. Wi.
Are we talking state or world record? Seems to be some confusion.
State record my money is on P4.
World record, no idea, likely some place down south caught accidentally like the current record
When pursuing the MN state record, fishing for pre-spawn females is a big advantage. You may remember our current record caught on a late spring opener on the Seagull river. Now that option has largely been removed as most of the big pre-spawn locations are shut down in the early season when we have late ice out. Those eggs are likely a 3 lb +/- weight loss during the spawn. For that reason I agree it may be a long time until it happens.
Thanks for all the replies guys 
I did not think of a lot of those places, gives a guy a lot to think about 
I will say that you cant forget about the St. Croix. However the Gunflint Trail area has monsters out of the deep clear lakes. I have a cabin up in that area and our neighbors caught a 36 and a half inch walleye that may have been a state record but they didn’t have a scale so they let it go. I have seen walleyes in the rivers up there that would make you shake and drop to your knees. I believe that there are at least 4-5 new state records in my cabin’s lake alone. If you take into account that loon lake and sag each have a state record (sag being the current) anything can happen up there. That is also an area that doesn’t get hit that hard. Also HUGE pike are up there as well.
IF , and that’s a big if, but if one could get into the saginaw river before the spawn, bingo!
A guy who worked the hatchery on Lake Vermilion said he stripped eggs from state records nearly every year.
I don’t think you’ll see a new record for a long time.
I wonder how much of this is location and how much of this is technique. In other words, there are probably a number of lakes and rivers that potentially hold a new MN state record Walleye. The problem may be that no one is actually fishing for them. Let me use Trout fishing as an analogy. If you get on a MN Trout stream with a fly rod and do a great job of “matching the hatch” wiht small little flies, you’ll catch a lot of fish….but probably not that 30 inch pig that is nocturnal and eats other fish for a living. Mr. Big doesn’t get caught because nobody is throwing Rapalas or big streamers at him after dark. Big Bass tend to be a different animal than their smaller relatives as well, they live in different places. Maybe it’s the same thing with Walleyes. That 35 inch fish can’t be bothered to run down 2 inch long shiners any more, and would rather stay out deep and pursue 3 pound Ciscoes. How many of us are trolling 16 inch long baits in deep water all summer, hoping for ONE hit? The other problem with fish that big is that they are very efficient. They don’t spend a lot of time hunting. They hang around their prey, and snap off what they need every few days. The actual window when they’re active might be measured in minutes per day.
I think the opportunity is there, if we ever figure out the details.
SR
I think the river is most likely to harbor the state record and Mr. Root is spot on with the trout ideas.
This year seemed like it was a bad year to chase THE ONE simply because spring came early and the walleyes were done spawning early. If you look at 2 years ago “the winter that would never end” was an awesome time to target the one because the spawn was so late. That is why I like the Gunflint Trail area so much. In the Sawtooth Mountain Range the spawn is usually late. This year the week before memorial weekend they were still catching big 32-34.5 inch females that still had eggs. Its not that we can’t target these fish properly because we know that they have to go towards spawning grounds find the spawning grounds you find the fish, find the staging grounds before the spawning ground find the fish. The tricky part is that fish is carrying spawn one day and is the state record and that night drops her load and is not the state record anymore. So if you ask me the issue is getting the fish to come by at the right time that your there and make her bite while she has a full load. Like I said we have seen fish that would demolish that 35.75 length that the current state record has. The issue becomes making them bite with spawn left in her. There are plenty of people who know that the night bite is one of the best to target a fish of this caliber but to try and get the right place right time is the big part.
Basswood Lake, Birch Lake, or one of the little untouched lakes that connect to those lakes. I would also like to guess the St.Louis River, I have seen some very large walleyes get pulled out of there as well.
The question was stated as record walleye, not state record walleye. This is why I mentioned the 22-pound 3-ounce taken out of the Niagara River, which is the Ontario record and a runner up to the world record. In 1987 a salmon fisherman accidentally snagged a 25-pound 3-ounce Walleye in the Niagara River. It had to be let go and cannot qualify as a World Record as it was caught illegally.
I would be shocked to see the current record fall but then again never say never. I am going to go with Pokegama, it has the food source for monster walleyes to feed on.
Awesome topic by the way.
My vote is rainy River. Best bet is with prespawn fish. I think it has to be a border body of water as they are open year round year round. Rainy has big enough population of fish, big enough water, ie places for big girls to escape the pressure of tons of pressure.
If you were allowed to fish it prespawn, my bet would be on the St. Louis River. The DNR netted a 37.5″ eye out of there 3 years ago up by the dam.
MR Root has the correct answer. It won’t be caught as no one fishes for the big one. Big Pike and Walleye are not with the little guys we are fishing for they are just lazilly finning around suspended whacking big prey here and there.
My buddy witnessed the catching of the State record fish it was basically fish in a barrel goat rodeo fishing/snagging of fish concentrated for spawning run. His boat had a couple 10’s and a 12lber that day. Leroy was lucky to get the big one in. He said it would make you sick to see all the big fish that were being taken. His smallest one was 6 lbs. Unless you can fish an area where they are concentrated like that the odds are astronomical of getting a monster walleye. Open water trolling muskie cranks would probably be a good way to try.
For the world record Perhaps Erie or lake Ontario with little bit warmer water and richer forage base of whitefish.
Mwal
If you were allowed to fish it prespawn, my bet would be on the St. Louis River. The DNR netted a 37.5″ eye out of there 3 years ago up by the dam.
By no means calling you a liar but I find a 37.5″ eye’ in Minnesota very hard to believe. That fish would be over 20lbs pre-spawn. I agree there are many record fish swimming in Mn waters (Mille Lacs strain excluded…) just not that big…RR
I stand possibly corrected! The Mn record that was caught in the Seagull River 30 years ago was 35 3/4″ long so maybe another 1 3/4″ is possible thus 37 1/2 long. Man that would be a slobasaurus! RR
My first hunch is that one of the big river systems, but I also think it’s doubtful the record gets broken anytime soon.
Other than that, I don’t think it’s gonna be one of the usual suspects(LOW, Mille Lacs, Leech), my money would be on a lesser known, remote lake with less traffic and maybe favorable forage species.
I’m far from an expert though!
Who knows maybe there’s a 40+” slamming cisco’s and trout on Superior! 
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