Walleye vs. Bass

[Pherris]

I am participating in an Annual Bass fishing tournament this summer with my new in-laws. They are all hard core "Bass Fisherman" while walleye is my fish of choice. So as you can imagine I am taking a lot of heat and ribbing. You know the old "Well the bass might see you are in your walleye boat" and that type of nonsense. While I do respect the sport of Bass fishing and do not deem it a lesser sport in any way I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to defend the great walleye in this type of ongoing exchange? All ideas appreciated.

[Jim W]

Pherris,

If I had to eat a fish raw, I would rather eat a walleye and use the bass as a paper weight!!

That is if we are talking largemouth bass?

I love my smallmouth fishing. A real toss up between them and walleye fishing. On thebass's side, you don't see tooo many walleyes performing airial(sp?) displays!!!

Jim W

[Guest]

Pherris,

Judging by your post, I'll bet your great at picking fights, too. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to argue with your in-laws?

I'll put my head on the chopping block, though...

Bass over walleye any day (except meal day), especially those smallies!

FLB

[wastewaterguru]

Well, I'm not a Minnesota native. Therefore I wasn't raised on all the walleye hype that goes on up here. However, after having partaken in several well prepared shore lunches, I have to lean toward the walleye for eating enjoyment. I have to say though that for the enjoyment of fishing, the bass is more aggressive, more abundant, and only slightly less appetizing.

[guideman]

The main reason people fish for bass is that they can't catch any walleyes.

Any kid with a zebco 202 and a spinner can catch a bass.....it takes a skilled
angler, to be a good walleye fisherman.

How's that?

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Terry Sjoberg
Ace guide service.
Beautiful Lake Vermilion.
www.aceguideservice.com

[Guest]

You tell 'em GuideMan! Besides...aren't bass relatives of the carp?

[brian6715]

No bass are not cousin of the carp you moron! They are cousin's of the bullhead!
geez some people...

[Guest]

I think this is how the term "bottle bass" came around.

How do you guys put all those smily's on the posts? I wanted to use the one that sticks his tongue out for this post

[Guest]

Guideman hit it on the head. There isnt much skill needed. Sunscreen,Hawian shorts and shirt,shallow boat,johnson rod and reel that cast's a country mile,and of course that bubblegum flavored plastic worm. Then head for the nearest dock or submerged good-year. Bass are also known as "Grass Carp".... Smallmouth are different because they are much smarter and harder to catch, i do like chasing them bronze backs. Bigguns: When you post, click on the smiles legend on the left side of the reply box

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MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[Rippinlip]

Hmmmmmmm,
Bouncing around in 4 ft. waves, working a gravel hump the size of a small living room, almost losing your lunch to see a 14" wally gator come to the net.

On the other hand flying across a lake with a boatful of tackle and more rods than you know what to do with, pulling up to a dock and looking at all the beautiful eye-candy trying to get the perfect tan

Just ribbing, I just love to fish. For myself I love catching ANY fish.

[Guest]

It all depends on what kind of mood I'm in. If I fish a lake heavily populated with walleyes than I'll fish walleyes. Lake of the woods is a good example, but I would prefer to hunt those smallies instead. Largemouth fishing can be fun if you fish the right lake at the right time. All in all, I enjoy fishing for any species.
Good Fishing, Matt.

[Guest]

Guideman and D-Man hit the nail on the head.

Bass are great fun to catch, and if bluegills or crappies aren't available, are an easy way to introduce children and newcomers to the sport of fishing. As their skills develop, they can transition over to learning how to catch walleye.
On the minus side, bass (like other rough fish) are not as good-eating as are most of the true game species. Unless they are "wiggling fresh", bass must be dressed up with sauces and marinades to make them more palatable.
If you are a duck hunter, think of bass as the hooded merganser of the fish world - fun to get, pretty to look at - but would decoy into a bunch of pop cans on the water, and aren't the best of table fare.

[basser]

This is a dangerous subject I fish for walleye if thats all thats available, or if I am hungry. Nothing beats a Bass for pure fun catching, a 2lb bass fights better than a 5lb walleye. Also the Bass is a member of the sunfish family,I wish they were classified as a rough fish then I could fish for them year round To Everyone that thinks they are so easy to catch you should join the Bassmasters tour, lots of money for first place Seriously though, when I fish I dont care what I catch, unless theres money on the line. Any fish is a good fish. Keep fishing

[Guest]

Ace your reply was awesome! You could not of summed it up any better. I'm glad there aren't many of those things swimming around in Vermilion.

[Cyberfish]

Hey, any kid with a zebco 202 and a spinner/w nitecrawler and bottom bouncer, or perhaps a rapala pulled behind a boat can get a walleye.
For a bass, the kid would have to learn how to CAST

Cyb

[Cyberfish]

Interestingly, I think smaller walleyes are harder to catch than smaller bass, I usually can get a limit of 2 pound bass pretty easily, but i can't say that about walleyes.
but as you get into bigger size, that all changes.
I think getting a 5 pound bass, or a 5 pound walleye is equally challenging, and when you get up to 7 pounds, the walleye is easier by far. 10 pounds is a good possibility for walleye, for bass it would be highly unlikely in Minnesota to get one that big, though i don't doubt that there could be a few out there.

As for eating, walleye can be fantastic, but I have had some that taste rather muddy, especiallyif caught in weedy areas.

Bass, yuk! I call em sewer trout. I just as soon release em all. Smallies taste pretty good, but I hate to kill em, they are too fun to catch.

For eating, I prefer gills and perch, crappie out of cold water, brook trout, and burbot.

Cyb

[berfish]

I dont think there is anything more exciting than watching a largemouth or smallmouth bass nailing a buzzbait on the surface. To anyone that thinks walleyes are harder to catch I would agree to a certain point. I have seen many walleyes hit musky lures twice there size and topwater lures as well. I would just rather fish for something you dont need five depth finders, two GPS's, and live bait. Bass are more fun and better, bottom line.
bf

[OLY]

For all you walleye guys who believe bass are so easy to catch I invite you to join my bass club. FFC bassmasters located in the south metro. I cant even count how many walleyes I have accidently caught fishing for bass, and every time I go to Mille Lacs they seem fairly easy to catch. I also go to eagle lake in ontario every year and can catch walleyes 10 to 1 over smallies, even though it is a tremendeous smallmouth lake. The bottom line is this a solid 3lb bass is very hard to catch, I am not talking about a 12 incher. I believe it takes much more skill to catch a quality bass then it does to catch a quality walleye.

[GullGuide]

Oly,
I have to dissagree to a point.
It all depends on what lake you are fishing for one, and two, how good your knowlege is about bass and bass fishing.
I feel VERY confident I can go on ANY lake and catch quality bass, the same cannot be said for walleye.
If you know what to throw, when to throw it and WHERE to throw it, big bass are really not as challenging as walleye.
But that's just my opinion

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Gull Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/gullguide
Brainerd-Mille Lacs-Willmar
Bemidji-Ottertail

[guideman]

Hey Guys,
I had the pleasure of spending a few days pre-fishing with some of the guys
on the Minnesota Pro/Am bass tour.
Believe me, those guys could fish. My remarks on the earlier post were just a
shot at a harmless debate.

As some of you know, I am a smallmouth freak, I fish for them whenever I have the chance. In my opinion, I am a good
multi species angler and on a bad day I
catch maybe 10 smallmouth.

On a bad walleye day, you may be lucky to get a limit of keeper fish...That is
of course only my opinion.

Anybody can catch walleye or bass when it's easy, the guys that catch them all the time rain or shine, day or night, during cold fronts, or mayfly hatches.

Those anglers have skills and what kind
of fish he targets is erelavent.

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Terry Sjoberg
Ace guide service.
Beautiful Lake Vermilion.
aceguideservice.com

[tjwierz2]

Catching a bass on a topwater (large or small) is quite a thrill. There isn't much better than topwater fishing....EXCEPT for watching a slip bobber disappear when a walleye is on the other end.

My favorite types of fishing:
1) Slip bobbering walleyes
2) slowly drifting with a lindy for walleyes
3) topwater bass fishing.

[Guest]

The man was asking for ways to politely rip bass fishermen.
Seems to me that since no one seems to be keeping or eating the bass, carp might actually be a better target. They grow quite large, are plentiful, can be tough to catch, and fight like crazy.

[Guest]

if ur walleye fisherman u really never fish for bass. yeah bass are fun to catch but not really worth the time. if u bass fish its like fishing for pike and muski and there much funner than bass not putting bass down but in my opinin i dont like to bass fish

[Sheephead]

Yeah, catching bass probably isn't as much fun as going to school learning how to spell, but it looks like you've really never tried either one! Sorry, but bass fishing is a blast and who really cares which one is is the better fish, to each his/her own! Yeah, walleye taste great, but give me a 4lb bass any day over a 4 lb walleye, you'll just have to throw them both back anyways!!

[Guest]

Walleyes and Bass are both EXTREMLY easy to catch. When I catch a 5lb. walleye i take it home for mama to cook for the kids. When I catch a 5 lb. Bass I club it like all the other bullheads.

Those fish keep messin with my Tallywacker. Once you catch a 50 inch muskie you'll forget all about those other bait fish

Ahh, now I don't have to call my brother tonight and give him his weekly dose of "your mama wears cowboy boots".

just in case there is a sensitive bass fisherman out there, I'm kidding about the club.

MT