Looking at the pictures here I notice a lot of large and dead walleyes

[v-bay gord]

Originally Posted by Danger Dan

It's legal..........and the bigger walleye are NOT the best or most prolific breeders,,,,,,,a well known fact.

Not true........they may not be the most "prolific" based on numbers of big fish vs the number of average fish, but they have the most eggs per fish, and they carry the genetics of a fish that can reach a large size. Your theory is just "spin" to justify the keeping of big fish.......just say you keep them because you want to.

[Yarhcaz]

My wife just caught a 28.5 inch walleye over the weekend. We were fishing a small tournament so we had to keep the fish. I also caught a 45 inch Pike (going on my wall). The walleye also came out of 57 feet of water which would make releasing her touch and go anyway. All that being said...anyone that goes fishing has the right to keep any fish they catch (with in the restraints of the law), now people that have have caught numerous big fish over the lives normally let them go (like me, anything over 24 I normally let go if I feel that they will survive). I subscribe to the theory that genetics plays a role...so big fish pass on big fish genes.
I would never say anything to anyone that keeps a big walleye to mount or to eat. This last trip of ours we used around 70 gallons of gas between the boat and suburban...Some people can only go on a couple trips or even just trip per year, let them have their fish. As long as some people let em go that is the best we can ask for....just my humble opinion.

[4JawChuck]

"Get in my belly!"

Austin Powers.

[oldschooltiller]

Another thing I'll add. Walleye are a unique fish in that they are fished for sport, yet everyone wants to eat them.

That alone makes it extremely difficult to establish fisheries in smaller lakes in this area. Guys want to complain about the numbers of walleye in local lakes, yet they keep every one that's legal size they catch.

[SinOrSwim]

I don't understand keeping the big ones either? Mount it? Have you seen how that is done? So they put the skin of that fish on a foam insert and then paint it anyway. Take a picture and have a replica made and nobody would ever know it's not the same fish.

There is a reason many of the best fishing lakes in Canada we have been to have their own conservation rules where NO big fish can be kept. That is the reason people like us keep coming back to catch big fish. We know it's more probable because other groups have not been allowed to keep the big ones. More fun for everyone.

I live by Big Creek in Central Iowa and our local bait shop encourages people to bring their big fish in and take a picture? Why not take it on the lake and let it go? Actually said once the guy was picking up some ice and were going to take the fish back to release it? Really????? lol whatever.

Originally Posted by v-bay gord

Not true........they may not be the most "prolific" based on numbers of big fish vs the number of average fish, but they have the most eggs per fish, and they carry the genetics of a fish that can reach a large size. Your theory is just "spin" to justify the keeping of big fish.......just say you keep them because you want to.

True - but the genetics never changed and that fish has procreated many times before being killed at an old age.

That limit of 17 inchers you just killed may very well contain a few fish that have AWESOME genetics.

FWIW - I don't feel the need to justify anything. As long as I remain legal, I will not apologise or make an excuse for ANY fish I choose to keep.

[v-bay gord]

Originally Posted by anon

True - but the genetics never changed and that fish has procreated many times before being killed at an old age.

That limit of 17 inchers you just killed may very well contain a few fish that have AWESOME genetics.

FWIW - I don't feel the need to justify anything. As long as I remain legal, I will not apologise or make an excuse for ANY fish I choose to keep.

True, but that 30 incher could likely procreate many more times before it tops out at 32-34 inches and finally dies of old age.

FWIW....no need to justify anything, but the reality is the reasons to kill a trophy are few considering the option of a replica mount, but like you say if it falls within the legal limits then that is your choice.

[SinOrSwim]

You might be within the law but more than likely the reason you were able to catch that big trophy fish is because someone else caught it at 29 inches and let it go for you to catch at 30 inches. Now you BOTH have the pictures and experience. But, then your selfishness took the fish home and nobody else will ever have that chance.

Doesn't seem like rocket science the more big fish in a lake increases our odds of catching one. Why decrease that number?

In addition, I would guess the bulk of those "big" fish don't ever get mounted. THey probably get eaten.

Originally Posted by v-bay gord

True, but that 30 incher could likely procreate many more times before it tops out at 32-34 inches and finally dies of old age.

FWIW....no need to justify anything, but the reality is the reasons to kill a trophy are few considering the option of a replica mount, but like you say if it falls within the legal limits then that is your choice.

[Hawkfan]

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteNorth517

If some body spends the time, money, and effort needed to catch a great fish and catches it legally, they have every right to mount it. I have never in my life gone fishing and caught a graphite replica. I'm pretty sure the companies who make them would sell you one whether you caught a fish or not. It's called making money.

You've probably never caught a few patches of pale, colorless fish skin before either, but that is all that is left by the time the mount is made.

[eriksat1]

What sport is in catching walleye anyway? I catch them to eat them, they are about as much fun catching as reeling in a dead stick off a tree branch from the bottom of the lake. For sport I like smallmouth bass, muskie, pike, trout, salmon, now they will put up a fight. And the only reason people say the big ones don't taste good is because they don't know how to prepare them. If the fillets are real thick I slice them into thinner pieces.