10 POUNDERS

[BigTen]

I really don't care how big they are to be honest. Obviously they are great fish, congrats. I didn't say there are NO fish with girths of 18.5", I was saying there are far fewer than people say there are....

Those last two pics are beautiful fish, congrats!

[basssmasher*]

Het I will take a stab and say that fish has about a 15.75 maybe 16 inch girth?? I cant wait to see how wrong I am.. lol Beautiful fish though!!

[kfk]

teejay,

Does a__ have any meaning to you? That's one of the nicest walleyes I've ever seen. Congratulations Het.

[LipRipper!!]

Het...what beautiful fish!!! Holy SOW!!

[Het]

I didn't catch that fish. My buddies, Mike Knippenberg and Ryan Buddy, 2010 MWC Team of the Year caught that 14# 1oz behemoth pre-fishing the Detroit River MWC last season. Ryan caught it on a jig.

[RumRiverRat]

I love length/girth/weight threads.

[james_walleye]

Hey lip....what are the dimensions on your fish. We see a lot of giant females on pool 4 in the spring and I've never taken a girth measurement. I'll have to now out of curiousty.

[bigbucks]

My only contribution to this thread is my son caught a relatively skinny, rough looking walleye on 8/30/09. It was 28 1/2" long a only weighed 7 lbs 1 oz. Fish looked big & looked beautiful, but it wasn't even close to 10 lbs. No idea what the girth was.

[Het]

Every fish caught with your son is a trophy. No weight or girth needed.

[SDPROV]

Nice fish Lipripper! Ya ever get your brother on any of those!!!!

[LipRipper!!]

James- the girth was 19.5 and 18&7/8".

SDPROV- I have invited up a few times but he is usually "TOO BUSY"!! Maybe we should all go this year...if the weather holds the rainy could be alot of fun this year!

Just curious,do you have the same initials as I?

[Ray1]

30.5 inches long with a 18 inch girth out of the Red River. Its the only one i ever weighed that was over 30 inches. This fish went 11.1 on a certified scale.

My son helped reel this one up is the only reason we kept it and put it on the wall.

[SDPROV]

Yep!!!!

[Ray1]

Another look.

[Ray1]

Here is a 29 1/8 inch greenback that had a 20 3/16 inch girth. Dont know what it weighed but it was a nice fish. Let go of course.

[gloomiseye]

Awesome fish ray! According to the walleyecentral weight calculator your fish weighed 12.9 lbs!

[Ray1]

Thanks. To me a trophy also depends on the story behind the fish. But a 10 pounder is not as uncomon as a person thinks. Head to big fish waters for your best chances. Lake Winnipeg, LOTW, Leech, Winnie, Rainy River, Red River, Pool 4 and so on.

[Gordie]

All fish are different the size calculators are just a good tool for a rough estimate of a fishes weight.

I caught a 26 inch eye in April out of the Mississippi that went 10 pounds it wasa foot ball two days later ZI pulled one that was 29 inches that went 11.9 then again 2 days later I boated a 30 incher that went 12.7

Those calculators were just a bit off on those fish.

[gloomiseye]

All fish are different the size calculators are just a good tool for a rough estimate of a fishes weight.

I caught a 26 inch eye in April out of the Mississippi that went 10 pounds it wasa foot ball two days later ZI pulled one that was 29 inches that went 11.9 then again 2 days later I boated a 30 incher that went 12.7

Those calculators were just a bit off on those fish.

Ya they are good for just getting an estimate on your fish. Just curious, but did you plug in the girth of those fish too?

[Fever]

I spend alot of time ice fishing the Mn river and have been fortunate enough to ice several very nice eyes. I've also seen that nearly all river eyes average a much bigger girth. Last sat I iced a 27.75 inch hawg with a 18 inch girth. Used my buddys 8 inch auger rather than my 9 as my blades were dulling from drilling through river ice so often. Had a tough time turning her head against the current and squeezing her up the hole. I estimated her weight to be in the 9lb range.

I agree that the current and hunting mentality of river fish contributes to better girth. They seem to pound the lure better... no tap taps... just a whack! and they are on. The current seems to make them more aggressive when given the opportunity to feed. These variables current and the caloric demand to feed more definantly combined with forage availbility contributes to the "girth" factor of river eyes.

I love the fact that the places I go are rarely over an hour drive and I have a legit shot each time out to ice a giant. Between my brother and I and a couple buddies, over the past 6 or so years we've iced dozens and dozens of eyes in the 7-12lb range. Biggest girth we've measured is 20.5 inches on a 29 inch fish. Longest fish out of all those was 30.75 (and that wasn't the one with the 20.5 inch girth. If memory serves, that one had an 18 inch girth.

River eyes >>> lake eyes. IMO.

[Hoffer]

I have always just counted the length of my walleyes as a measure of a nice fish...never really cared about weight that much. The reason is that i figure the longer a fish is - say a 30 inch walleye at 8 pounds is a more "Rare fish" than say a 28 inch walleye that weighed 10 pounds but just ate half a school of ciscos or was full or pre spawn eggs. Maybe I am way wrong on this - and certain bodies of water would produce a 30 inch fish much easier than other bodies of water would produce a 28 inch fish. But for my purposes I will continue to judge my trophy walleyes by length not weight. I figure if I caught a 31 inch walleye post spawn Mid July that weighed in at 8 pounds - and I would have caught that SAME walleye late fall after feeding like crazy - it would have weighed in at 12 pounds. Trophy walleye in my books - either case.

[LEECH21]

I feel the EXACT same way Hoffer. I care more about length than weight.

[Fever]

I completely dissagree. A fat 28-29 inch river fish with girth is a heavier fish not just because it may have eatin prior to you catching it, but rather - it has much more muscle. A long 31 inch fish that weighs 8 lbs looks sick, frail, disproportioned, and weak. A 10 lb 28 inch fish looks heatlhy, virile, and strong.

I can't imagine at all how a person would rather catch a longer,skinny lighter fish by choice. A lighter fish will most likely fight less and for less time as it has less muscle. A skinny fish is likely much less healthy and weaker. River fish have more muscle and are forced to eat more because of their caloric intake demands of swiming into the current everyday. I'm quite sure the vast majority of upper mid west Walleye anglers spend the vast majority of their time on lakes. This most likely explains the posts about rather catching long skinny, lighter fish, than catching heavier fish. You don't see long and skinny ever on the river.

Catching fairly long female walleyes after their spawn around opener is quite common. I think most people's longest walleye probably comes around may-late june.... but those fish are usually skinny as they've lost the mass of their eggs and are starting to feed heavily to catch up on their strength. (this is exactly why people catch them then). Conversly - Your heaviest fish of the year will come from a river and they will be caught in Feb.

Give me a fish with shoulders / girth please.... Not much for the long skinny / sick looking fish. I'm assuming that the guys that posted the length over girth have never caught a toad out of the Mississippi, Red, or Minnesota rivers. I could be wrong though. We can agree to dissagree, that is ok with me.

[james_walleye]

You mean like this fever? My friend caught this 29" Saturday when we were on pool 4. We both agreed, awesome fish, but we would take a 30" that weighed less. And yes I've caught multiple fish myself over 28" on the river. I'm with the other guys. Length is my measuring stick.

[Hoffer]

Fever-

We are more on the same page than not.

Dont get me wrong...nothing wrong with catching a big fat 28 inch river fish...love it - and have been there and done that.

You are comparing the thrill of catching a big fattie in the river vs. the less than thriliing (possibly) 31 incher that is thin and tired out of a lake in mid july.

Again...i do not disagree with that at all.

However, my comment about what I call a "trophy fish" was more about "rarity".

Again, I may be generalizing as I am sure in some bodies of water or some rivers...a 28 inch eye might be considered more rare than a 32 inch eye in a another body of water. But in GENERAL...all things being equal - to me a 30 inch eye is going to USUALLY be more "rare" than a 28 inch eye- and that is what in my book counts as a "trophy".

let me use another example. Lets use the bench mark for a Muskie. Most Muskie fisherman would put the benchmark for a trophy Muskie at 50 inches. Its been my goal for a long time...come close but so far no cigar. I would take any day of the week a 50 inch Muskie in Mid July that was sick, thin and tired and weighed 25 pounds compared to a 46 inch Muskie in late Fall that weighed 35 pounds. Heck, I would take that 50 incher over TEN 46 inchers.

I have caught many big fat and mean fighting 46 inch Muskies...but have never broke the benchmark 50 inch Muskie.

I have caught 3 eyes that were at 30 inches - so now my benchmark for an eye would be 31 inches.

Give me a 31 inch eye in the Summer that was tired and feable that weighed only 8 pounds - and I would be a happy camper. Give me a 28 inch inch fattie in the river in the Fall that weighed a good 10 pounds or maybe more and I would be happy too!!! - but not AS happy as the 31 incher. Because with the 28 incher - I have been there...done that!

Of course...the 46 inch, 35 pound Muskie or the 28 inch, 10 pound eye is going to be a much more thrilling fight and more of a fish to handle - but I am just saying for "trophy" sake - for me its the benchmarks of length that I am after. A 50 inch muskie, a 30 inch eye, a 20 inch smallie or a 40 inch Northern for example.

of course...in a perfect world - my 31 inch walleye would be caught late in the fall and would be a fattie that weighed 12 plus pounds