Curious as to your opinion on keeping your one eye over 20".

How many sportsmen on this forum will eat a 20" or above Walleye in the BWCA?

Whether you do or don't, what is your rationale in doing so?

It depends-

If its the only fish I have caught all day and I'm hungry, I'm keeping a 20-23 inch fish. If its bigger than that, its going back.

If I am catching enough fish right and left, its going back. I'd rather keep a 15 incher to eat.

quote minnesotashooter: "If its the only fish I have caught all day and I'm hungry, I'm keeping a 20-23 inch fish. If its bigger than that, its going back.

If I am catching enough fish right and left, its going back. I'd rather keep a 15 incher to eat."

Sounds about right.

If it is the first walleye caught, it's probably kept. So, you say, what if they suddenly start slamming anything and I can't keep the 15-16 inchers off the hook? Well, I suppose then I won't be keeping as many of those since I already killed the 20 inch fish...

quote minnesotashooter: "It depends-

If its the only fish I have caught all day and I'm hungry, I'm keeping a 20-23 inch fish. If its bigger than that, its going back.

If I am catching enough fish right and left, its going back. I'd rather keep a 15 incher to eat."

+1

quote minnesotashooter: "It depends-

If its the only fish I have caught all day and I'm hungry, I'm keeping a 20-23 inch fish. If its bigger than that, its going back.

If I am catching enough fish right and left, its going back. I'd rather keep a 15 incher to eat."

+2 To me 15 in. is the perfect eater.

I'd like to keep a 15-incher, but I rarely catch one.

quote schweady: "

quote minnesotashooter: "If its the only fish I have caught all day and I'm hungry, I'm keeping a 20-23 inch fish. If its bigger than that, its going back.

If I am catching enough fish right and left, its going back. I'd rather keep a 15 incher to eat."

Sounds about right.

If it is the first walleye caught, it's probably kept. So, you say, what if they suddenly start slamming anything and I can't keep the 15-16 inchers off the hook? Well, I suppose then I won't be keeping as many of those since I already killed the 20 inch fish...
"

I'm with schweady on this one. All depends on the time of day, the bite, and the hunger pangs involved.

Our group would only keep 15-18 inch walleyes on trips and we were never lacking fish in that range. Best eating size walleyes.

I love catchin' the big girls but I only eat 14"-20" waldos.

Sixteen inches is the smallest I've caught. I'd probably go with for a 16-18" target.

One of my largest peeves on men's group trips is the glut of fillets that shows up at any given meal since that macho nature takes over and says 'bring everything home.' It's either "just in case nobody else caught any" or "they need to see how many we got"... blah, blah.

I tell 'em "At first, we'll act like we don't believe you. It's part of it. Even if we never come around, you'll know, and that should be enough." oh, and "Don't be bringing home any more than the two of you can eat yourselves."

Take a picture and release.

This sportsman will keep and eat whatever the law allows me.and my rational is ........enjoy yourself. Within the law

When we are in a multi-boat group, we make sure each boat will only catch what it can eat. I have certainly kept walleyes over 20 inches to eat. I usually let them go, but sometimes I feel like keeping them, so I do.

quote yogi59weedr: "This sportsman will keep and eat whatever the law allows me.and my rational is ........enjoy yourself. Within the law"

Very true. But can get overboard when on a multi-day trip away from cold storage.

quote schweady: "One of my largest peeves on men's group trips is the glut of fillets that shows up at any given meal since that macho nature takes over and says 'bring everything home.' It's either "just in case nobody else caught any" or "they need to see how many we got"... blah, blah.

I tell 'em "At first, we'll act like we don't believe you. It's part of it. Even if we never come around, you'll know, and that should be enough." oh, and "Don't be bringing home any more than the two of you can eat yourselves."

Take a picture and release.
"

I was once invited to eat with some folks and they had kept and cooked way too many walleyes, with the result being we had to gorge and even then, fish were tossed. It was sad.

We always have portable radios with us, so we know how many fish to keep, we try to eat the 15-17 inch fish if at all possible, but will eat up to 20 inch if that's all that's biting.

Last year I was on Basswood lake and we pulled up to a empty campsite and in the fire pit-grill was numerous fish cooked fillets that had to represent many fished. They just dumped them there and moved on.
A waste and also potential bear problems created.

Actually I think big walleye don't taste as good, texture is more coarse,that said if fishing is slow I will take and eat a walleye over 20 inches,but a extremely large fish I will throw back.no matter how hungry. Also if it is a old male vs a healthy female fish makes a difference.

We rarely, very rarely keep a 20" fish or bigger. I have limited the group to keep 3 fish for 2 people and it works well to feed a group. Don't like having extra filets and if someone insists on more, they will eat the cooked filets the next day for snacks.

I often wonder if there is a correlation between age / experience and the size of walleye one is willing to put on the stringer.

Of course, the DNR sets laws / limits for a reason and as long as you are operating within the laws, no foul. It is a curious topic in that there truly isn’t a correct answer aside from; follow the laws for that body of water.

It has been my experience that the older the sportsman or the less experience, the more willing they are to put a 20 “ + fish on the stringer. I’m not sure why this is; just my personal experience and it could be an incorrect assumption.

I’ve been stared at by fishing partners when I instantly return 20” + fish when there is nothing on the stringer yet. My buddy (who isn’t an experienced an angler) caught a really nice 24 “ walter from shore last year early in the morning and I netted the fish for him. Took his picture and then asked him to release it… he was surprised. After explaining to him why the reproducing fish should be returned he didn’t seem to mind as much. However, when the rest of the camp rose and heard the story, we had a healthy debate about the issue.

At a fish camp I go to up in Ontario every year I’m always amazed to come across 20” + fish, sometimes great big females that are literally 25” in the gut bucket after a group of old timers leaves the filet house. If you were to ask my late grandfather, he wouldn't think twice filleting up a 25” fish. Perhaps this is simply because of the sheer numbers that used to be able to be harvested and the assumption that nothing has changed.

I’m always interested to review the slot changes or experimental regulations to certain bodies of water set by the DNR; particularly, the waters that are known to be historically great walleye fisheries (Leech, Mille Lacs, Vermililon, Rainy, LOTW). Cleary the DNR also experiments which makes me think even they don’t always know the correct answer.

quote Simmy32: "Took his picture and then asked him to release it…"

Go ahead and be disappointed, but when it's their fish, it's their call.

of the 400 to 600 fish we generally average on our trips we keep and eat about 4-6 per trip. To answer your question we will keep one 20-22" walleye as opposed to 2 15-19" depending on how/when their caught. A 20-22" fish is just as good as the smaller teen fish plus you only have to clean one.

I don't think it is an over generalization to say it is generational. My grandpa (who would be about 95 if still alive) fished to feed his family: wife and 9 kids. A few 20+ inch walleyes could go a long way to provide for his family.

In turn, my dad learned from his father and was conditioned at a young age (in the 40's and 50's) on harvesting practices. When I was young. my dad would actually say, fishing "puts meat on the table". We did not need to fish to feed the family. That was his view on harvesting fish however.

The difference between my dad and I is that when I was a kid I knew we had food in the freezer and fridge at home. I did not correlate fish to sustenance as my father did.

Today, when I catch a fish and throw it back (big or small) my dad thinks I am bonkers. My reasoning for tossing the bigs back has to do with a variety of reasons: taste; sustaining current populations; PCBs and mercury content; etc. are all reasons I don't keep the biggies.

Release is not always the best answer, however. Go fishing on Mille Lacs in July and August. Lots of eagles and gulls are eating fish in the slot limit. Fishermen pull slots up from the depths, measure them, release them and they die. The only winners in this scenario are the wildlife that feed their families with the expired fish.

I definitely try to target the smaller walleye to eat and prefer 14-18 inch fish, but often only catch walleye between 20 and 28 inches. I do not really consider a 20 incher a large fish in the larger lakes where we do most of our fishing.If you fish leeches you can usually catch all of the little guys you want, but large swim baits or crank baits catch larger walleye. We never bring leeches anymore.