what size would you mount?

It would take a 10 pounder and then it would even be a real struggle to kill her. Too many people that I see in pool 4 are keeping 3-7 pound walleyes because it is what they have done there whole lives. I am in favor of shutting down pool 4 to keeping fish during the winter to help out numbers. I’m not sure if it will help or not, but too many people are keeping fish in the above mentioned range especially during the spawn. As you can tell it makes me a little angry to think about it. anyhow, good luck and let em go.

labsrule

for Larsonlawyers, You know that’s not what I meant. most serious fisherman who understand catch and release, Will release not only most of the fish they catch, but also just about all of their trophy fish. Occasionally keeping a couple 16-17″ fish for a meal is a good idea, fish taste good and are good for you. When a fisherman does catch that lifetime fish I really don’t have a problem on getting it mounted. Hope you get your lifetime fish soon. Jack.

Well I am a serious fisherman and I do understand catch and release. I know the number of fish that a 10 pound walleye can produce, but then again most of the fish that we do keep have no eggs in them, if they do they go back in the water, but when I go out with my buddies, we keep what we want and we know people that want fish so not only do we catch for ourselves, but we catch for others as well.

you can keep plenty of fish in the 17-22 inch range to clean and bring to people. You don’t need to keep fish bigger than that. It takes a long time for a fish to get to that size and taking it out of the water seems unfair to me. We all like the opportunity to catch a big fish and taking fish bigger than the above range in my opinion lessens the chance at a big eye.

32″ or 13 lbs. And then I’d opt for the replica because the skin mounts just look like poo in a VERY short amount of time.

wow alot of opinions on this subject.

I don’t keep anything near 22 inches because the meat is just bla. It isn’t as good. All the fish that we keep are 15-21 inches, the closer to 15 inches, the better they taste cause the meat is more firm.

I keep telling myself that a 30in or better would be a wall hanger. I’ve caught a few and just can’t do it. Take a picture and let em go.

i draw the line at 150

For me it would have to do with length. In the spring you can catch a 10+ lb fish that is less than 30″ and full of spawn. Keeping a fish in this state just wouldn’t be right in my eyesand out of the Mississippi, I don’t think I could keep one. I would say it would have to be a 30″ plus fish before I would put it on the wall. Like some one else said in another post over 30″ they are reaching the end their life span. I have been fortunate enough to catch a 32.25″ walleye out of spawn and weighing in at 11lbs 13oz. She is displayed in all her glory on my wall. You know – I will never put another walleye on the wall – one is enough- I have reached my goal. The best part about it that makes it even more interesting is that I wasn’t even fishing for walleye when I caught it. I was fishing MUSKIE with a 10″ jerk bait when she hit. Oh and by the way she was caught in Canada.

My biggest while concentraiting on walleye is only a 28.5″ 9.5lbs gal that is still cruising the mighty mississippi.

I fished LOTW a few times this winter, and had more luck than any man should be entitled to. I always thought I’d mount one if it was over 10lbs. So, when I caught an 11, yeah I kept it. Then I thought it would take one over 12 for me to keep it. Guess what: Next day I get one 12.5. So I took them both to the taxidermist. Now what? 14? Nah. Two’s one too many for me. I landed eight over 10lbs. in three trips. Releasing fish that big makes me sick and happy as hell at the same time. All I want now is a northern over 45″. Then I’ll never mount another fish unless it’s some sort of state or world record or something. Also, the replies that really interested me on this topic are ones from the guides because they probably see more big fish than most of us. I was especially surprised by H2O’s reply.

Just my $0.02.

Mark

mwchiefs

You have my curious nature working this AM, what about my reply surprised you?

Well, I’m new to Red Wing and fishing the Miss. I’ve done tons of inquiries as to who the most knowledgeable people are in regards to walleye/northern fishing. Your name ALWAYS pops up. Some responses: “Holst is ‘the man’; Dude’s got it made, he knows absolutely everything there is to know about catching big fish; if you’re looking to catch big ‘eyes/slimers, you need to fish with Holst.” I hear all of this and I can’t help but think that you must have caught a few that are at least 32″, 13 lbs. If not, I’m sending you some pictures and taking you icefishing on LOTW with me next winter. HAHA!! And if you can get me some big northerns, I’m soon to be a customer of your’s!

Mark Ward

Hi Mark

I don’t know a single person who has EVER caught a “on the scale” 13 Lb walleye. And I’ve not heard of one that big caught by anyone on pool 4 in the last 2 seasons. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It does mean its a mighty rare thing indeed.

I’ve personally caught a handful over 10 Lbs. Including a couple in the 11’s. Hougie and I won a USFA tourney 2 years ago with a 12.45 Lb eye as part of our bag. But…. most of the better fisherman/tournament anglers I know well have not caught an honest 10 lb fish on the Mississippi. Truely. I’ve just been darn lucky I guess.

Now don’t take this wrong, the river is a great place to fish when looking for a huge walleye. But they’re darn hard to catch. And I’m talking honest weights here…. and that makes a big difference because there’s an awful big number of 8 lb class fish that get dubbed 10 lb fish, if ya’ know what I mean. Most will fish the Mississippi River their entire lives and never see a true 10 lb walleye.

I’ve caught some piggies on LOTW myself. Trolling in the summer out in the basin of the lake. My mounting size might change depending on where I was fishing. Like out on the Columbia River, I’d upsize that minimum size considerably. But on the Miss., the magic mark for me is 13#. Because its pretty much semi- unattainable in the short-term. No easy goal here. And I don’t want a fish on my wall that bad (something else to dust!) so when a replica gets made, it will be of a real dinger.

Caught my largest walleye last week upon the Rainy River topping out at 11lb. 2oz. Took a couple of pictures and put her back. Would have loved to put her on the wall, but she had a mission she needed to complete to ensure the future fishing would continue to be as good. Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to a good place to get a replica made??? (what is the going rate these days…$10/in.??)

thanks.

I agree that it does depend on where you’re fishing. For example, to mount anything under 11 or 12 that came from the Columbia River is foolish, in my book. Also, I can’t see myself mounting another one from anywhere unless it has some unique quality, such as an extreme length or girth to it, and I mean EXTREME, because I’ve already obtained the magic 32″ a few times.

Mark

That 32″ mark is a tough one to reach on the river. When you speak of incredible girth, that’s what we have with our fish here. A 32″ river walleye, pre-spawn, would weigh 13.5 – 14 Lb’s in my guess-timations. They run a heck of a lot heavier than typical lake fish. Almost to the piont of looking proportionally impossible.

I agree with James on this one…I caught a 27 incher if you pinched the tail..That was the big fish at the Treasure Island Casino Tourney..A few years ago…This fished weighed 9lbs 4ozs…..This was a September fish…It was a football from the head back…I take a couple like that this weekend..lol

Well Greg I hope ya do. And I would too.