PIGS IN BAY DE NOC!

While we were filming last week on Bay De Noc (James, Nick and Paul) we had the pleasure of meeting some young anglers who certainly know how to catch big fish through the ice. If you aren’t familiar with the size of the Walleyes in Bay De Noc, then check out these photos courtesy of Jordan Millette, Cole Alworden and Christian Creten. These guys spend a lot of time on the ice out of Gladstone and Escanaba, MI targeting large fish.

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Here are a few more photos!

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Its a great fishery up there

One thing is for certain. They all hold fish the same way.

oh just great! another thing to put on the ice fishing bucket list!! Awesome looking fish.

Very nice.

Wow … very nice . I guess I might have to make a trip states side soon .

Wow.

You know…now that I think about it, Escanaba isn’t all that far and I have a contractor over there. Hmm…I’m thinking I need to spend a couple days going over their business systems real soon.

One thing is for certain. They all hold fish the same way.

Reminds of my grandpas perch that was 8 inches long that we managed to make look 19 inches. Great fish regardless..

Can’t you guys just say something nice and just leave it at that…or better yet and if can’t seem to say anything nice…just say nothing…….Jealously is such a wasted emotion !!!!! Nice Walleyes Guys !!

I wonder how big those fish are? They look big, but with the intentionally exaggerated poses, it is really hard to tell. If you pose with fish like that, it is generally for attention and ego-stroking, so you open the door for criticism, IMO.

But yes – they appear to be nice fish – and I would be happy to catch those! They definitely appear to have a great bite dialed in.

woody-1961 wrote:

Can’t you guys just say something nice and just leave it at that…or better yet and if can’t seem to say anything nice…just say nothing…….Jealously is such a wasted emotion !!!!! Nice <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Walleyes Guys !!

woody-1961 wrote:

Can’t you guys just say something nice and just leave it at that…or better yet and if can’t seem to say anything nice…just say nothing…….Jealously is such a wasted emotion !!!!! Nice <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Walleyes Guys !!

I think I have finally accepted that I am getting old and my views on many things are evolving. As I look back at pictures of fish that clients, my kids, and myself have caught, many don’t do the fish justice. Why? Because too much emphasis was on the over-all composition of the picture and not the fish. Isn’t the fish, the deer, or what we pursue the primary focal point? It’s one thing to post a pic of a 22″ walleye with a skewed pic and claim its 30″. Its another thing to pay tribute to a 25″, 27″, or larger walleye and display it as the beautiful specimen that it is. Plus, I look at the fish and not the barbaric person holding them.

Great looking fish. They’ve obviously held a lot of big fish before. Good job guys. Thanks for sharing, Nick.

For me, its all about the proper perspective and if I hold a 30″ walleye as far away as possible from my body for a picture, there is no true perspective as to just how good a fish it really is.

IMHO, regardless of whether its a 25, 27, 30 or bigger walleye, they’re all very nice fish and I totally understand being proud of that fish. To take a picture of it with the intention of trying to make it appear bigger than it actually is, that does not do the fish justice at all.

I also realize this is a touchy subject.

It may very well be a gradual process of realization for many anglers. As we get older, we no longer care if a fish looks like the true 27″ fish that it is and we are just happy to have had the chance to catch, photo and release that fish. And the photo I take revealing its true size is as important to me as the memory of the day I caught it and the people I was fishing with when I caught it.

X2 Joel.

Looks like the pictures were taken either with a GoPro or a GoPro type lens which helps but it is blatantly obvious these are some giant fish and I would assume these guys put in some hours and work into finding and landing the fish. Nice job and great fish!

I think the idea is to portray the up close beauty of a fish while also getting yourself in the picture. I have no issue with it and I do it all of the time. I think it makes for a better picture. But that’s just me.

Alex Welter wrote:

I think the idea is to portray the up close beauty of a fish while also getting yourself in the picture.

I’m curious. How does holding the fish further away from your body enhance the “up close” beauty of the fish?

Joel Ballweg wrote:

I’m curious. How does holding the fish further away from your body enhance the “up close” beauty of the fish?

In my case, I have been told because the fish is far better looking…. holding it out makes for a better photo.

Back to the original topic of the thread… beautiful fish. Looks like a great place to fish some day in the future!

I like what you had to say about it Joel!

Im on the fence on this one. I hold the fish out away from my body, but not 3.5 ft away. Its natural to hold it away from you, you dont hold it against your body slimming you clothes up. I dont care if people hold it out 4 ft or not, you can still tell when its a big fish. I only laugh at folks who hold a 1lb perch or sunnie out 2in from the lens making it look like a 50lb perch. Lets just call it the “Jason Mitchell” technique. Come on. haha

no question these are giant walleyes. Put that location on my list.

sktrwx2200 wrote:

I like what you had to say about it Joel!

Im on the fence on this one. I hold the fish out away from my body, but not 3.5 ft away. Its natural to hold it away from you, you dont hold it against your body slimming you clothes up. I dont care if people hold it out 4 ft or not, you can still tell when its a big fish. I only laugh at folks who hold a 1lb <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>perch or sunnie out 2in from the lens making it look like a 50lb <em class=”ido-tag-em”>perch. Lets just call it the “Jason Mitchell” technique. Come on. haha

no question these are giant walleyes. Put that location on my list.

Very well said!

sktrwx2200 wrote:

I like what you had to say about it Joel!

I’m on the fence on this one. I hold the fish out away from my body, but not 3.5 ft away.

Holding a fish to close to your body doesn’t make for a very good picture either. There is a happy medium. I agree with what James Holst has said on this topic many times:
About elbows length from the body is the perfect distance.

To each there own though and yes, I agree those are some very, very nice walleyes!

Nice fish no matter how far away and what type of lens. Its a shame that they are killing them though, could be released to get caught many times again.

I was up last weekend.

Please remember to practice CPR.

Way too any big fish being killed up there.

Talked to creel census guy and he is SEEING alot of 10’s doing his surveying.

We had just 3 walleyes in 4 hours. Saw more on the camera, just didn’t want to bite.

Everything we caught was on something purple.

Hey Ryne! Yup these are nice fish, and simply have a wide angle effect on them because they were photos taken by Jordan and his friends with a GoPro. Being a media guy myself, I love it!

You can hold the fish how ever you want, most of those are tanks!there is no denying that.look at the shoulders on most of those eyes. They don’t get the “hump back” until they are usually 26″or bigger. And they are kids. Awesome job guys!!! Keep it up. Just remember when you get trophy caliber fish like that you don’t need to over embellish the photo. And no matter how you hold your fish there will always be critics, Good and bad.

Great point! Thanks @tomhopkins