Fish-Hawk.Net

Great day to be out on the ice today...Made it out for the afternoon/evening fish, landed a 16.5'' walleye at 3:30, then shortly after lost a real nice one right at the hole. Kept goin though, and ended up landing my biggest walleye of the season around 4:15pm
Now this was a nice BIG female, looked like she'd pop if you poked her she was so full of eggs, so I was in a big hurry to get her back in the hole...luckily, had my handy disposable camera with me, and got a quick picture and put her back in the hole to start the revival process.

I was a bit dissapointed that the bystanders who had gathered during the fight/landing were suprized that I was going to release her
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!'' i heard someone yell "YOUR LETTING IT GO!?'' another guy asked

I explained to them that it was a female fish , FULL of eggs, and she was probably one of the main spawners of that area if not THE main spawner...I didn't measure, or weigh her because I was in a hurry for the release, but from my experience she was a 7-8 lber with that many eggs in her...I hope that by people seeing that, especially the little kids that were around will see that even though I didn't have the fish dead on the ice to show off to eveyone for the rest of the day, I was twice as proud knowing that she was going to have a good spawn this year, and for years to come. (not to mention it probably would of tasted like an old boot)

But they still all looked at me like I had two heads when I let it go
And the worse part is, its not even my normal spot, its theirs!!! well...its my new spot now I think after an outing like today

Congrats on the big eye, and good on you for letting her go
Care to share what tricked the beast?

Congrats on the big eye, and good on you for letting her go
Care to share what tricked the beast?

Good on ya!

Post the pic when you get it, love the big eyes!

I'm gonna have a nice report with all my pictures soon, once I get my disposable developed I'll get them all scanned and make a slide show or something.

As for what "tricked the beast" well its pretty complicated, but I'll try and explain it.. #8 trebel hook, sinker 12'' up the line from the hook set right on bottom...2 medium sized minnows hooked by the tail...and thats it. I use a rod/reel combo, not a tip up, with a wire rod holder. I set the drag loose, and every couple minutes, I clean the hole and lift the pole up really slow...it gets the minnows swimming, and also too it can trigger strikes.

The smaller walleye, and the one I lost were on a small silver spoon with charatruse decal called "the rattle snake" it rattles, and i use a stinger hook ALWAYS with a medium minnow. Jiggin really light these days, even with the mild weather and a full moon on the rise, the bites real slow, not much oxygen down there so they ain't workin for their meals thats for sure


good fishing boys!

FB,

No secret here, I love release (happy) endings.

I can't wait to see the picture. Nicely done!!!!

W.

Hey FB did you say two minnows on one hook??? Sorta like a saimese baitfish

16 inches and 7 pounds must of been really fat then

Sounds like a good outing. Can't wait also to see the pics.

Paul

walleye man wrote:16 inches and 7 pounds must of been really fat then

No, walleye man; he caught the 16.5 incher first and then the big walleye later on. It wasn't measured.

Pic yet?

W.

Good for you FB on the release.

I caught a HUGE 12.5" female perch on Saturday that was also loaded with eggs. I didn't think twice about keeping her, man was she fat....back down the hole she went.

Great catch and even better decission on releasing her! Thats called smart fishing and them kind of smart decissions help ensure the future of fishing! Good for you!

haha ya walleye man that would be fat , like a football lol
but it was probably 28'' i would GUESS
Some people said "9 lbs" i thought maybe 6-7, but we'll call it a nice walleye , biggest I've caught in a couple years anyways!
The pic is comin wolfe, and everybody else, I should have a nice little slide show put together with this camera, I think theres even some hunting pictures on there
I gotta drop off the camera, pick it up, and get my wife to take the time to show me how to work the scanner and upload thepics its like you guys don't beleive me or something I won't dissapoint...

I believe ya, that's why I'm looking forward to the picture.

W.

Thanks for the report.

A big pat on the back for the release and giving the kids an excellent lesson on what shouldn't be kept for the table.

DropShot'r