10 POUNDERS

[Dark Cloud]

30 inches, 12 pounds Lower Niagara fish in december.

30 inch 9.5 pounder, local small river fish...

I love em all but each fish is diff. I have caught alot of eyes over 26 and been with my dad when he got them up to 31 - those are the ones that mean more to me.

This one was a 28.5 and came out of a well renowned trout river. Probably my most memorable bigger fish. Sorry for the bad photo edit, I was taunting my cousin...

[james_walleye]

....to expand more on my post earlier....I agree with hoffers ideas on rarity. That 30" is kind of the magic number. It's a rarity.

[goblueM]

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

you guys remind me of people on Mille Lacs complaining about catching walleyes that are "too big" just be happy with catching some awesome fish already, jeez guys

[Hoffer]

True!

[Gordie]

This is my 26 inch 10 pound fish. These are all river eyes

This is a 12.7 and 30 inches

The top eye is 29" and 18 3/4" girth and 11.9

[Hoffer]

Great fish Gordie!

[bigbucks]

Man those things are fat. I'd like to catch a big one when we're down there in a few weeks. Haven't caught one over maybe 25" on any of our annual trips down there, but we always catch some fish & have fun.

[JohnMickish]

....to expand more on my post earlier....I agree with hoffers ideas on rarity. That 30" is kind of the magic number. It's a rarity.

I am 100% in agreement that the 30" mark is the magic number for Walleyes, just like 40" for pike and 50" for muskies.

I catch ALOT of big fish every year, but that 30" mark to me means way more than the weight, unless you are talking 14+ pounds. Forget the 10 pound mark, if your going to look for big fish, look for BIG fish.