Record Walleye.....Almost

[PierBridge]

Robert "Walleye Bob" Bruininks is donating his prized catch -- a 17-pound, 6-ounce walleye -- to the University of Minnesota.

It was July 4, 1989, more than a decade before Bruininks became university president. He was fishing on Loon Lake along the Gunflint Trail in extreme northeastern Minnesota when he came upon Minnesota's signature game fish. He battled it for 45 minutes and even had to abandon his boat to land it.

Bruininks has said the fish would have broken the state record if he had gotten it to a scale sooner.

It took him two hours to reach one. In the meantime, the captured walleye started losing moisture -- and precious weight. As it was, it came in a mere 2 ounces short.

"You could fish 1,000 years, 24 hours a day and not catch a fish that size again," he said in a Star Tribune profile published soon after he became U president in 2002.

The state record is held by Leroy Chiovitte of Hermantown, Minn., who caught a 17-pound, 8-ounce walleye in 1979 on the Seagull River, in the same part of the state where Bruininks made his catch.

Tim Goeman, regional fisheries manager in Grand Rapids for the state Department of Natural Resources, said that "anything over 15 pounds is extremely large and unusual."

Goeman sees how Bruininks can imagine that his catch could have set the true walleye record, given that Chiovitte's record-holder was a female caught during spawning and had "a good amount of her weight attributed to egg mass."

Bruininks' fish was landed after spawning season, meaning it "had none of the biomass that could be attributed to egg mass," Goeman said.

"In a sense, this fish was bigger than the state record."

For now, Bruininks displays the trophy fish in his office, but he's leaving office at the end of the month, so the fish needed to go, too.

On Thursday, the walleye will be moved to its new home at the U's Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 SE. Church St., Minneapolis.

At the outset, Bruininks' walleye will be in a high-traffic location in the museum, going on display in late July.

Longer-term plans are to incorporate the fish as a key feature in the aquatics exhibit.

"This is a high-quality mount that includes the gill and mouth structures," said exhibit curator Don Luce. "It'll be a great example for our interpretive staff as they lead families and schoolchildren on tours."

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

startribune LINK

[harvey lee]

Now that's a walleye.

[PierBridge]

Haven't been able to find a length on that fish yet. It sure looks long. It must be pushing 35/36"s???

[jwmiller33]

Beautiful fish. I can't help but think the 45 minute fight is a bit exhaggerated...

[Northlander]

Ya and jumping out of the boat? Some folks just dont know how to fight a fish though. Either way its a beautiful fish. Im looking for 1 just a tad bigger this weekend.

[mrklean]

read that today in the star great article

[solbes]

What a hog, thanks for posting. I've never caught a walleye that put up much of a fight either (not that I've caught anything near that big). But it was back in the day, so I suppose 6 lb mono with light fiberglass rod. Guess she could make a few runs on that type of setup.

[PierBridge]

The fight always seems longer and the years usally add time too...

The last flathead I caught in heavy cuurent I swore it was a 15 minute fight but the other anglers told me it was maybe 5 at best....

[Grum]

Great Fish! and a nice donation to the Bell for all to enjoy. Now the story.. Never met a fisherman that exaggerated, well maybe a little, once.

[Kettle]

Cool beans, good article, thanks for the post Pierbridge

[FisH_SLaYer24]

Whether it was a 5 minute or 45 minute fight, that's a pig any way you look at it. Congrats on that beautiful fish

[reinhard1]

that truly is a fish of a lifetime. good luck.

[Surface Tension]

I've fished Loon many times over the past 30+ years and heard the story back when it happened. I don't recall if a length was given or not.

Before you think of heading to Loon for trophy eyes, good luck because it is rare to even get a walleye out of the lake.

When you do get them they are nice though.

200+" deep and on close to the Canada border, she a cold lake with very slow growth rates.

[Mike_Top]

200+" deep and on close to the Canada border, she a cold lake with very slow growth rates.

That 17.5 lb fish must've been 50 years old!