What size walleyes do you keep?

[babyranger617]

i live about a mile away from winnebago, on the winnebago system i keep fish from 13-20 inches unless i can tell its a spawner in spring then it goes back, i also fish green bay where i will keep fish from 15-22 inches just for the fact that some days you dont catch any under 22 inches, just wondering where you fish and what size range you like to keep. (please dont make this an argument thread)

[Morton]

I fish (mostly) the Missouri river in SD.
Sharp, Lewis and Clark and the river itself.
Most eaters for me are 17" to 20"
The rest go back unless deep hooked or deep water damage.
Need to keep track of the possession limit, I try not to freeze any.
Most often everything goes back ....

Morton

[AllenW]

If I'm catching for a meal, and if there's no slot limit, usually anything under about 4 pounds goes in the livewell.

Don't generally measure my fish when there's no slot limit, so I don't know how long that'd be.

Al

[ffishman]

16 to 19 seem to be the sweetest tasting. Under is too small, and over, they seem to lose some taste.

[cspierings]

When I was younger and not as good at catching them I kept all I caught that were legal. I'm better at catching them now (note I didn't say competent or even decent or good). I don't know when but at some point I woke up and realized that if I take every fish there might not be any at some point even if I stayed within my limit. I saw a great bluegill lake near my home town ruined by an article in the Post Crescent and I know most of it was done legally.

When it's spawning season I make a guess at the gender of the fish and try to only keep the males and that generally means that they aren't huge fish. Other times of the year if its over about 2.5 or 3 pounds I put it back.

This year that has meant a lot of really nice walleyes went back in the lake. I thought my uncle was going to cry when he saw me let go a 29.75 on Devils Lake. He also went nuts when he saw me release a 28 on the Madison chain and I showed him a half a dozen others in pictures that ran from 25-28 that had been released too.

My son caught a 27 out at Devils Lake same trip as my 29.75 and he didn't bat an eye at releasing it, I didn't have to ask him to think about it, I didn't have to say a word he just did it. Maybe I did teach him one good thing, I guess time will tell.

I know that all my kids put the big girl panfish back. We have never kept a smallie in the WI river, we have never kept a musky and usually the only time we keep a big pike is if it can't be revived.

We do keep panfish, walleye and pike to eat but the real big ones usually go back.

In this neck of the woods you can see what slot limits are doing for the quality of the walleye fishery on Lake Wisconsin. I guess I'm just trying to be a little smarter about what I do keep and maybe my kids will be able to fish their whole lives if they decide they are into it.

So in terms of size generally legal up to about 19 or 20" unless there is a slot limit or other regulation that requires that range to be adjusted.

[Jimmy Jig]

I eat anything over 14" and not much over 22" Most of the lakes I fish are slot lakes.

[T Mac]

If I keep any, generally they are from 15"-to- 19".
But, it totally depends on where I am fishing. What the population is like, what the regs are...lots of variables.

If I am on your lake...I keep any and all.
On my lake.. next to nothing.

..Just kidding. :)

[Dacotah Eye]

Most of the time I keep them from 14" to about 20". They seem to taste best in this range and I don't have to feel bad about keeping the smaller "cigars".

[RJmjZ]

When I'm hungry for fish 17-20" is cool by me and then it’s usually two fish only. Years and years ago, I use to take more than 2 - only to have them stand the chance of getting tossed from freezer burn, or given away to neighbor and friends (now, who hasn’t done this?). Don't try to waste the resource like that any longer. Yes, even giving them to friends is a waste - let them catch their own. I’ll probably get yelled at for this by naysayers here but, by giving them away I feel we are effectually exceeding our limit and circumventing the spirit of the law, not to mention collectively depleting the resource sooner.

Big fish are fished early and late in the year and shallower where/when putting them back is less stress to the fish.

Just a note on bigger fish and how they collect toxins over time: The bigger the fish eaten the greater your risk of eating those built up and sometimes deadly toxins. This actually applies to all bodies of water with the length of time build up being lake specific. Even in so called crystal clear water, don’t take chances. If you are smart enough to know the water/ecosystem quality or perversion called water your fish came out of –and we all should be – then we will know whether to keep any of them, or harvest a few. Regardless, if you happen to keep and eat bigger fish, cut back on portions and eat them over a greater span of time.

[ksx3]

Generally we fish on slotted lakes and keep fish for pan between 16-20". Occasionally on unslotted waters we may keep a few under down to 13".

[westside]

If I could pick the size for the cooler it would be 17ers. Nice filets, nice meat. Hard to hit that number in practice though...also not feasible on Lake Mendota where the min is 18". There I try to hit the 18-20" mark, sometimes easy, sometimes very frustrating. One of the problems we had this spring was catching fish SMALL enough to keep(self impossed standards).

I'm not a complete pragmatist though. If it has been too many nights in a row and the mood is for a dinner it could be dangerous to be 20-23". Get above that 23" mark and you fall into more of a rarified catagory and are probably safe. Unless I have been ice fishing and targeting walleyes with no results for most of the winter...then on a cold, grumpy day the limit might get pushed to 25". Past that I'd just feel too dirty to enjoy the meal.

All of that relates to my home waters and the corresponding size limits. I occasionally fish a stretch of river where 13"s are pretty much all you can take due to slots.

[1625rebel]

Yeah, our lake has no slot. I usually practice a personal 14-20" slot. 12 incher was eaten once because my nephew caught it. The odd 21 or 22" are sometimes eaten when fishing is very slow. I agree that 17's and 18's have the best size and taste.

Last weekend I caught a a 22" that was obviously a female with eggs, so I threw her back. Much to the dismay of my Mom who was visiting. She was a little upset at the campfire when we returned. If they are showing signs that they will be a productive spawner come spring, back in the drink they go.

[Esox Angler]

Here in PA, Minimum size is 15" statewide.
We usually stay in the 15-19 range. On occasion though, I'll keep up to a 22" if I want to feed the family with a special recipe.

~EA

[JT Rod Bender]

Though I keep very little fish. If were planning a meal we keep 14-17".

[walfshmn]

Generally we keep the one's between 16" and 19". Once in a while the fish just are running small so we may keep a few 15" for dinner that day.

[toytowr]

We fish Devils Lake, only keep eaters in the 14"-20" range. Sometimes its tough to let the bigger ones go, but the small fillets always go first out of the skillet.

[C.Nick]

Here in md. the limit is 5 15" up.except in the Potomac river where they have a slot from Jan.1 to April 15 of 15-20.I keep 16-19"I don't feel there's much to a 15in. fish and like to release the brood size over 20".

[User Name]

15 -17" for me. I consider 18" -24" your prime spawners, bigger or smaller go back unless its a trophy, 10# or more. Smaller fish taste better anyway.

[pikeman007]

I fish little bay de noc. I keep everything thats legal. But its not very often I come home with a limit of fish. If the fish is big( my biggest is 26") just cut the filet in half, you can't tell the diff. Just bleed the fish out and zipper the fillet and it good to go.

[Suzuki]

Over 14 under 22 when I am out to harvest. Most of the time I release.

[Further North]

None of them...but I'm allergic to fish.

Anyone who fishes with me can take home a double limit...

[rrrrrrRon]

14-18. Keep enough for a meal every two weeks in the summer and a meal a month in the winter. That means a high percentage get released.

[We Fish]

Here on the mighty Rock River 17" to 20"

[dewyg]

14-18. Keep enough for a meal every two weeks in the summer and a 2 meals a month in the winter. LOTW and surrounding area.

[FullThrottle]

If I keep any, generally they are from 15"-to- 19".
But, it totally depends on where I am fishing. What the population is like, what the regs are...lots of variables.

If I am on your lake...I keep any and all.
On my lake.. next to nothing.

..Just kidding. :)

I hop over the border to catch all of the fish. Mmm. Tasty.

[eye-hunter]

This year was my first real year going after walleyes. I've caught from cigars to 23.5" so far. On lakes with tight slot limits, I've kept as small as 14" (in a group where we were all having fish for dinner). I've never kept one over 18" until today, because all the walleyes I've caught over 18" were on bodies of water with slot restrictions.

Today I got a 21.5" walleye where the only restriction is a minimum of 15", so I kept it and had it for dinner tonight. I gotta say, it wasn't as good as the 14-18" walleyes I've been eating all year. Maybe it was my cooking method, or something else, but I don't think I'll keep walleye over 20" any more. Don't get me wrong, it was plenty good, but I think the fish would have been better served making more fish. I think I'm putting my personal size limitation for consumption at 20" now.

[Backwater Eddy]

17 to 19" on average.

If there is an abundant year class in that range or just above, I'll adjust. It is very rare that I keep any over 23" unless they are unreleasable.

A prime spawning class fish or a large trophy class fish is just as gone if removed be it in the fall, summer, winter, or spring as far as spawning is concerned. So I try to stay in a selective harvest range suitable for that particular fishery.

[Raybob]

17 to 19" on average.

If there is an abundant year class in that range or just above, I'll adjust. It is very rare that I keep any over 23" unless they are unreleasable.

A prime spawning class fish or a large trophy class fish is just as gone if removed be it in the fall, summer, winter, or spring as far as spawning is concerned. So I try to stay in a selective harvest range suitable for that particular fishery.

I agree on all your points :)

I don't care for eating fish, just chasing sUMos 24/7 ...If close friends or family wants some eaters then it's 17-20"ers in my boat...

[AllenW]

This year was my first real year going after walleyes. I've caught from cigars to 23.5" so far. On lakes with tight slot limits, I've kept as small as 14" (in a group where we were all having fish for dinner). I've never kept one over 18" until today, because all the walleyes I've caught over 18" were on bodies of water with slot restrictions.

Today I got a 21.5" walleye where the only restriction is a minimum of 15", so I kept it and had it for dinner tonight. I gotta say, it wasn't as good as the 14-18" walleyes I've been eating all year. Maybe it was my cooking method, or something else, but I don't think I'll keep walleye over 20" any more. Don't get me wrong, it was plenty good, but I think the fish would have been better served making more fish. I think I'm putting my personal size limitation for consumption at 20" now.


Probably the safest way to go, but next time try cutting the pieces smaller on a larger fish, I usually see people making the fillets to big to cook like most people like them.

Barring shallow water in the middle of summer fish, most walleyes under 4 pounds or so, will taste just fine. imho

Type of lake may make a difference too I suppose.

Al

[aceoky]

On the lakes we fish, they have to be > 15" so that is what we keep, though depending on things working as hoped I like to keep them 15"- 18" or so.

I agree on cutting the fillets smaller (rather than two big fillets you should have four or more depending on size of fish) on larger fish, makes a big difference as does "bleeding them" IMO