War Eagle,
Yeah, not one of my shining moments. I need to choose my words more carefully when my blood begins to boil.

But the fact remains pool 4 is very healthy, despite what any of us do or don’t do; it’s all because it’s such an excellent fishery.

Catch and release is a good thing, but it’s not a cure-all by any means because many of the fish die anyway. It’s not good enough to just simply release them, they have to be handled properly, or not targeted in the first place by not fishing the spawn. Those big gals fight their hardest, are exhausted when they’re hoisted out of the water, gulping for oxygen as we try to find the camera, and then we expect them to go back and resume their activities like nothing happened. Sorry, but that’s not how it really works all the time.

I care very much about the health of the walleye population, but I don’t want to feel guilty about keeping one here or there, and I certainly don’t need guys harassing me on the water. Especially when they admit to catching 60-70 fish a day during the spawn.

So yes, I was kinda rude and I apologize for that. And I hope we can all fish happily together.

What a bunch of crap from the pool 4 catch and release advocates. Don’t you agree with the DNR that fishing pressure has NO bearing on the population? And even if it did, you catch and release folks are killing just as many, if not more walleyes than the average Joe (like me).

If all you guys go to barbless hooks, no treble hooks, a single hook per lure, no stinger hooks, no Sonars that snag, no nets, no fish flopping around in the bottom of the boat, no dropped fish by clients with a poor grip, no pictures (the fish are out of the water too long), and can horse every fish to the boat for immediate release in less than 30 seconds (any longer and their survival drops like a rock), keep your fishing to a minimum in the hot summer months, and don’t fish the pre-spawn, spawn, and immediate post-spawn, then I would gladly follow suit. Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Buehler? Yeah, didn’t think so.

And if you really need to tie into a big fish for a fight, try catfish, carp, drum or smallmouth. They make walleyes look like pansies. And if you’re not going to keep them anyway, what’s the difference?

So until that time comes, don’t you dare yell, “Put ‘er back in the water” to me down by the Redwing lock and dam when I pop a 3 pounder into my livewell (yes, the fish-release Nazis actually will do that to a guy).

And if you wanna give advice to your client, keep it to lure color, presentation, location, depth, etc where you’re considered an expert. But don’t guilt a person into releasing a nice fish just because you’ve got a bug up your butt about it. You guys are clearly NOT fish management experts (nor am I, but I’m at least paying attention to the DNR experts).

Bottom line, it’s you killing all the fish, not me.

So happy fishing hypocrites…