Weren't Exactly a Minnow...

[Big Skyz]

I forgot to post this last week. I normally don't take photos of fish I find dead and washed up on the bank, but I made an exception for this one. For those of you that have ever spent anytime catching walleye this one ought to get yer' attention. It's friggen HUGE! What I would have given to catch this bugger on my rod and reel.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh113/Huntzz/TroyAdamsWalleyeHolterDam4-21-14_zpse02ef153.jpg

[BarryBobPosthole]

Holy crap. Did you get a length on it? Gotta be 34". That'd make it a 14-15 pounder.

BKB

[Bwana]

Wow!

[Big Skyz]

Pretty good guess BBP. I did measure the length. It was 32 1/2". I did not do a girth measurement because the backside was nasty bad.

[BarryBobPosthole]

12-13 pounder then by most formulas. That fish looked a little deeper through the middle than most, so I'm betting the upper end of that scale.
What a waste. Wonder if it died of old age?

BKB

[Big Skyz]

If I had to guess I'd say it was old age. The fins were all really worn and it just looked old.

[Thumper]

WOW! What a shame to lose one like that. I have no clue what the life expectancy is for a Walleye. I suppose I could Google it, but I'm too lazy. Anybody know off-hand? That sure would have been fun to catch.

[Big Skyz]

12-15 years and this fish has to be right in there.

[Thumper]

Well, why didn't you CATCH it last year? You're slippin' boy! ;)

[Big Skyz]

To be honest I didn't even know there were walleye in that particular area, let alone mega-walleye. It's a world famous blue ribbon trout area.

[BarryBobPosthole]

The Okie state record is 12 pounds 3 ounces. And you'll find a lot of big walleyes in trout waters. the tailwater fisheries here always have big walleyes and stripers that come in from the rivers to feast on the trout.

BKB

[johnboy]

That big old girl has probably ate more trouts than you could imagine. I'm really surprised to see one like that in a smallish river. Is there a lake or impoundment downstream (or upstream for that matter)? Looks pretty fat so maybe spawn mortality? Cool find.

[Big Skyz]

Ummm, Johnboy the Missouri River isn't exactly a smallish river...

[Captain]

I've never caught (or even see) a Walleye but that looks like a ton of fun.
You ought to give them things a try of they are around your neck of the woods.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Big Skyz]

Captain, I've caught lots of them and plan on catching a lot more. Never caught one anywhere close to as big as the dead one I found though. I talked to a FWP Officer that used to go with the FWP Biologist when they did their schock counts. He said they would shock up walleye like this fairly often, but never more than just one in a night. So they aren't exactly common. Plus it's at the foot of a dam (tail race) and they have an abundance of food. Fooling one into biting bait or a lure would be exceptionally difficult. Combine that with the fact there are world class trout surrounding you that are far more cooperative, and the walleye factor starts to drop off really fast. I do know the local trout fanatics hate the fact the walleye are in there and they try to kill everyone they can. However, one this size, even if you were trout-crazy, isn't one you'd throw on the bank.

[johnboy]

Ah, ok. Just didn't look like much water from the pic. My bad. :D

[BarryBobPosthole]

A walleye that size swimming in a place where there's a bunch of trout concentrated is like a wolf among the flock. Actually those torpedo shaped 7 pounders are the real wolves because they're fast as shit and are aggressive as hell. I've watched them on the locator come up from 30 feet to 8 feet to hit a crankbait and it's like a line almost straight up.

Man, it's a little over a 100 days until Dogtooth. I'm jonesin' for a big walleye already.

BKB