Big Fish

[Steely-Head]

It amazes me when I hear reports of big walleyes (8lbs or more) caught in downtown Saginaw during the ice season. It's strange to think that a fish that big got by all the fishermen on the bay, everyone packed on the ice in Bay City, everyone on the ice near the Z-bridge, only to finally decide to bite some fella's jigging rapala right in front of the Bean Tower - it passes offerings from hundreds of fishermen and finally gets caught. I've developed my own little theory based on pure speculation: The fish are pretty much always moving, and they feed heavily during first and last light (as anyone out there during those two times knows). I figure the biggest ones make it as far as they do because they keep happening to be in an area with low fishing pressure during those heavy feeding times. Finally, it just so happens that they're sitting under 80 guys when the bite turns on. Or perhaps they only move at certain times and by the same random chance they are again near no fishermen when that bite hits.

Other thoughts: You might think that the biggest fish have learned to stay away from lures, as bass in heavily fished waters do. The difference is that 99 out of 100 keeper sized walleyes that get caught aren't released, they go into a pan. In THEORY, then, most keeper sized fish, including those big ones, are biting a lure for the first or perhaps second time ever. That seems to make it even more amazing that the big ones can get as far as they do.

These are just random thoughts and are based on nothing but speculation. Just thought I'd share....and I'm curious to see what others think. I also have no clue how many of those fish are RESIDENTS that are always in the river and didn't come in from the bay. I always assumed the biggest fish came from the bay.

[woodie slayer]

a eight pound walleye is prolly 7 or 8 years old ..full of belly fat,not to mention higher in mercury,pcb's and god knows what other chemicals..i throw them back and eat the 15-21 inches..

[jeremy L]

.full of god knows what other chemicals

Sounds like any food we eat, water we drink, and air we breath.

[dr.duke]

You are right Wood. I always wonder about these guys with 6,7,8 pound walleyes laying on the ice and they are happy as clams. They are some great fish, but those big uns are loaded with chemicals, especially out of the Saginaw River or even the Bay. To take them home and fry them up for the family is crazy. They may as well give their kids packs of cigarettes when they put them on the bus in the morning.

[Matt3ddsteel]

You make it sound like there are only a handful of fish that size that enter the river each year. There is a ton. Not everyone of them is gonna get caught by anglers. Each time you are out fishing there is a lot of fish that just swim by you without even stopping because they are not interested in the offering. You just have to be lucky enough for one of them to be interested in your offering when they swim by you.

[Raf]

8 pounder 7 or 8 years old? thats crazy i would have thought maybe 4 years old.

[Backlash]

It depends on what body of water the walleyes are in and what they have to eat for thier diet,which in turn plays a factor on how fast they grow. If I'm not mistaken Saginaw Bay eyes grow one to one and a half inches per year. If I am wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.

[dr.duke]

Diet and water body are the most important factors. The further South the eye is the faster they grow and the shorter their life span. Here is a link to a study on fish age v. size on the Mississippi River. Just to help visualize.

http://www.in-depthangling.com/articles/stears_growth_rates.html

[Ralph Smith]

8 pounder 7 or 8 years old? thats crazy i would have thought maybe 4 years old.

Either 4, 8, or any years in between, not only do they have to get by all those people on ice in Bay City and the bay before getting to saginaw, they had to do all those other years before too, including the spring,up to spawn, then back out to bay, the summer trollers, etc. Thats alot of time(each year) to not see a bait at some point. They must have some kind of sense of whats real and whats not:confused:

[stinger63]

Eating those big fish from that river system will turn you into walking glow stick thermometer:yikes:

[chamookman]

Realease those bigger fish ! But give Me two or three 15 1/2"'s - MMMMMM:corkysm55 ! C-man

[The Whale]

I will gladly accept all of the legal size Walleyes you do not wish to keep. 2lbs., 4lbs. 6lbs. etc. Thank you very much. :D

[walleyeman2006]

i laugh if you wont eat em i will ...my grandmother ate ever fish she caught including carp catfish sheephead land lived to be 89 years old the bay had a lot more garbage in it back then...i dont think eating a big fish here and there is going to hurt any one....no different then an old buck whos been eating agricultural spays for years lol ande every one wants to eat one of them.....living inthe area i do the round up will get me long before the pcbs and heavy metals out of the fish i eat lol.
.
. oh and letting those old females with unviable eggs go back ,,,not sure if thats a good idea any more..for trophy fish yes,, for the total health of the walleye population not sure....

walleye reach sexual maturity male 2-3 years or 12 inches and female 3-5 years and around 14 inches ...


those big fish that are way up the river may be native fish that live in the river year round

[Steely-Head]

Okay, okay okay. Regardless of how bad it is to eat the big ones ( I don't, they just don't taste as good) or how long it takes them to get big, anyone have any thoughts on my original topic? It is a valid point that some people release the big ones, but I still believe 99/100 keeper sized walleye that get caught hit the pan, whether they're 15 inches or 10 pounds.

[Southend517]

10lbs+ -ers they go on the wall.

[walleyeman2006]

sorry to go off topic a bit...but ive caught 8-10 pound fish in river systems in july and august...if theres feed and oxygen fish sometimes come in to spawn and never leave....some strains of walleye never leave the bay either they spawn on shallow structure in the spring..basically any month of the year in a river system like the saginaw there are walleye present of all sizes....even pulled a few eyes out the sebewaing river in august in a hole 3 miles from the mouth...and that river is tiny ditch compaired to the saginaw

[Ralph Smith]

Okay, okay okay. Regardless of how bad it is to eat the big ones ( I don't, they just don't taste as good) or how long it takes them to get big, anyone have any thoughts on my original topic? It is a valid point that some people release the big ones, but I still believe 99/100 keeper sized walleye that get caught hit the pan, whether they're 15 inches or 10 pounds.

I'd say your just a little off. 100% of the legal walleye I catch go to the pan.:lol: I don't fish for walleye enough to stock up in the freezer and catch and release. If I ever do get enough, I'll target a different species to supplement my freezer smorgesborg:D

[slammer00]

Steely-Head, I have to agree with you. It amazed me like last year when we were fishing out of boats in the river all the guys were like "we whacked them" holding up 6-8lb fish just before the season closed. They would asked how we did when we came off the and we would normally have a good box of fish nothing over 3-4lbs and they would laugh at us. We would tell these people, that we release any fish over that size and would laugh at us to. Now to me whats the point of keeping a 6-8lbers when you can catch 5 or whatever say 15-20in and be alot better eating and at the same time letting those bigger fish go to spawn. Me personally I really dont get amazed at any walleye I see over 10lbs and I wont put one on the wall unless it is over 11lbs. I am not trying to bash anyone hear for keeping bigger fish, but it wouldn't hurt to let a few go to grow and produce more fish.

[patcheroo]

Here are my theories:
I don't believe that every fish will feed every day with the water this cold. I believe that if a 6lb fish eats a couple of 4 to 5" shad it's going to be quite a while before it feeds again. I agree with you about them being on the move a lot but I believe that, at times. they will move more at night which does not put them in front of hardly any fishermen on this river system. If they feed in the Bay the next time they decide to feed they could be in Saginaw, Freeland, Sanford or on the end of my line :lol: :yikes: :evil: ...................Patch

[Matt3ddsteel]

I personally release all females over 6 pounds. Like slammer said.. if you can easily get a limit of 2-4 pounders why keep the big females? So they can go brag and show their buddies I guess. That's what a camera is for.

[joeleone]

I've let hundreds of legal walleye go from big to small you keep the five you like usually like everyone else I prefer to keep the couple pounders and when I get my five I stay and have fun everyone after that gets let go!

[riverboy]

Ahhhhh talk of the Saginaw River during the winter. It brings all kinds of old fishing buds togther again! Hi Steely, Whale, Slammer, Patch, Chamook. Wheres Weezer, Scotty, Flyrod, Hoffie, and When's the outing?:D

I agree keep the 15"'s to 20"'s!! Get some cajun batter! Yummmmmmmm!!

Maybe see some of ya out there!!!:)

[jig head]

Riverboy
you brought it up, when is the outing?

[pilatusbahn]

I'd much rather keep and eat a 15-17"er any day. If I catch anything over 6lbs. (unless I'm in the Shiver on the River) it goes back. Especially right now when the eaters are so plentiful. Those big girls need to reproduce and keeping one is fine, but keeping more is wasteful to their regeneration and continued fishing on the Saginaw Bay and its river systems!

[Splitshot]

Art,

At this time no one can tell for sure why, how, or what motivates the fish, but your observations seem reasonable to me, especially if you add in what Patch had to say.

I doubt much thought was put into the glow stick comment. lol The bigger fish have more fat and that is why they don’t taste as well as the smaller fish if you just fry them. If you bake them however especially after trimming the belly fat in a condenses milk recipe you can’t tell the difference.

By the way, it makes no difference to the fishery if you keep all the spawning females or not according to a Lake Erie fish biologist as the total percentage of fish harvested by sportfishing is insignificant. Before you start to debate this, I did not say this applies to all lakes and rivers and if it makes you feel good by releasing them, please continue to do so.