near record walleye

[Guest]

So how big would you all guess the one on my Avatar is? LOL

When Rick first put it up on the site after our trip up to Crow Lake, I am not kidding here, I got over a dozen emails from people accusing me of holding the fish out to make it look bigger, some emails were down-right mean. Now, I had a TON of witnesses to how big the fish actually was and although you can't see it, my arm is bent and the fish is held close to my shoulder. Rick, Toad, Jeff Beckwith and his son, a good friend Chris Chiakia, WallEYEs, T-Bone and a few others were all there and saw it. Never measured it, just took a few quick pics and down the hole she went. Notice the Angle Eye in the mouth for reference.

I guess my point is, not all fish that appear to be held out are, so be careful with assumptions. But I do have to agree, either that guy has elaphantitis of the fingers or it is way smaller than what is claimed. Still a nice fish though.

[30 inch eyes]

The mans name that caught this fish is Al Zwach from New Ulm. He put up a picture of it at Marvs Sport Center shortly after catching it, stating it was 30 inches long,weighing 14lbs.. It has since gained 2lbs. when pictured in the journal(that's where these pictures come from). He is a pro fisherman sponsered by northland tackle and frabil. He stands about 5'8" on a tall day. He is a very nice guy, but that is no 16lb. walleye at 30inches long.

[Brother Bro]

I know him....his name is Al Zwach from New Ulm .... Al is a vivid fisherman.....He also works for Northland Tackle... If anyone recalls from Outdoors weekly (Jan 10th 2003 ) from last year... there was a picture of him holding 8 lb 8 oz smallie also.....Good for him CPR the walleye back into the MN River..... Lots of jealous FM'ers

I guess some of us should be fishing the river instead !

[Duffman]

Tom....

The DoubleFinn Twins!! Ya gotta come up with some better eyewitnesses than TBone and WallEYES!!!! lol

I remember that day, wish I could have seen your fish firsthand, but I was to busy catching this;

It's all about hiding the hands!!!

[WallEYES]

Cripppppes Duffman der yous go again and cut us up nort brodders again, known as da double finn twins! We can fish and exagerate real well!

Tom H's fish was a nice one and no tom foolery photograph. I estimate the fish at 29-1/2 inches and close to 10 lbs and that fish went back in the drink almost as fast as it came out....Good catch Tom!....and you too Duffy...goot trout!

[DARK30]

Never hold a fish at arms length for a photo. Keep it close to your body as I did with this near record 8 lb crappie. Nobody can say its closer to the camera than I am right?

[hanson]

WOW Dark!

I'm not going to argue with that one. That is bigger than most largemouth bass in the state.

[Corey Bechtold]

Dark 30, now either you're 3'6" and have a 13" Crappie or that is truely a monster! What is the real size and weight of that fish? I'm assuming that she's on the wall or at least you have a replica?

Just curious,

Corey Bechtold

[Scenic]

Yes Tom that was a great fish. I took that picture and there was no holding out on that Angel Eye eater. That was one fun trip up there.

Also nice fish Duffman caught there too!!

[LEECH21]

Wow Dark, awesome fish...really how big?

[fishface5]

Dark Awsome crappie! The W. EYE Is a SCAM! Fingers man! Good luck Chuck, Ya right.

[Ed Carlson]

Uf-Da Dark...that bugger is as big as a sand spade!

[Guest]

Yea, that was one NICE laker! Great pic of it too!

Hey Dark,

How did you catch that crappie? Was it susspended?

[duckbill]

Dark,

That is an awesome crappie. Any details on the weight of that fish? Was is caught in MN? That thing looks huge. Nice fish.

Duckbill

[Matt Johnson]

DARK,

That fish is awesome!! Very nice!!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[CrappieJohn]

Compare the size of the mouth to the hand on that crappie the Dark is holding. It is darned hard to make a mouth grow on those fish. What he is hanging onto is one big crappie!

[Granny]

Dark,

Did you use the photo editor on that? It looks like you are standing no where near water but I see the lure and fishing line in the picture. Now either you put the bait into the mouth for the picture or you added the fish into the picture. Holding a bass or crappie by the mouth is very easy to enlarge and put into a picture. Nice fish either way.

Granny

[Northlander]

I give that fish about 10#-11#. Its tuff to get much bigger at only 30". Not even close to 16#! Especially if that guy is as small as stated. Still a nice eye though. They just dont have much color down that way.

[Guest]

FINALLY!!!

Granny, kudo's to you!

I've been busting a gut ever since Kevin posted his pic and how everyone seemingly believed him

I know the story, but I'll let Dark tell it.

This has got to be one of the best threads in a long time

[Granny]

Let me do a little work on the pic. I will get back to ya in a little bit.

Granny

This is a little more like it.

[Duffman]

Here's another MN River monster, my buddy is a very tall drink of water and goes about 6'8" -6'9", even Northlander would be looking up at this dude. From the evidence provided, any guesses on weight?

[Bubbadust]

Alright, here's my guess about the crappie picture:

It looks like there is fishing line horizontally across the picture if you look close, possibly suspending the crappie in the air. Dark posed quite a ways behind it and they found the right angle from which to take the picture. Am I close or am I crazy???

[Guest]

BINGO!!

[Scott M]

Going back to the walleye. There are some monsters in there. I got a 33" Walleye about a quarter mile off the access adjacent to 7 Mile Creek Park. Had quite a bit of fight in her.

[thaJman]

What a JOKE!!! I can't believe the Outdoor News published this crap...on the front page nonetheless! If you read the article in the ON it says he or is son pulled a 36" eye out of the same spot last year. HAHAHAHA. I wonder how much the 36" weighed? 50 pounds?

What a bonehead.

[fishbouy]

ya it sure is a nice walleye!!!... but after fishing mille lacs for the last 5 years and catching some nice 27-28" walleye i have always found it hard to imagine a fish near 14lbs much less 17 lbs. I was lucky enough to catch a few pike in the 33-35" range this last summer and i thought those were huge. i however have turned some pics of 17" walleye into looking like a world class catch (just hold it in front of you as close to the camera as possible) i always carry a measuring tape with me and usually a camera in the car so i can get a picture to scale.

[MRWALLEYE2005]

I heard Al also claimed he caught a state record Smallmouth Bass last year weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces and then released it. Id guess that walleye is about 9-12 pounds, still a nice fish but hard to believe 16 pounds! I dont know about them Northland guys, they sure tell the stories.

[kato811]

guess ill just throw my scale away an put a pic up so everyone can tell me how much it weights LOL

[Ice-9]

I like fish pictures as much as anybody but there's a break here. A picture stands alone. If you're going to take pictures and release fish, you can't expect to get hard credit for the size of the fish; you get a different kind of credit for putting a fish back alive. If the angler in the photo caught a "near state record walleye" in my book he gets credit for a big walleye but nothing more. THe fact that this happened before--an 8-2 smallie?--makes it even more questionable. Why release an eight pound smallie? It's past reproductive age, probably in its last season, and literally worth more dead--as a state record, as a subject for the DNR guys to look at, as an icon of hope for all smallie anglers, yata yata--than it is alive. If the walleye weighs over 15 pounds all of the above also apply. Carefully and properly weighing a large fish, and taking good photographs, risks that fish's life anyway. I have a friend who released all big fish immediately and rarely took pictures because he got all the pleasure from the catching and found everything else hollow...and we were guides who stand to profit from the mojo of a big fish. I thought that was the purest way to play it...but I haven't found the guts to emulate him yet.

ice

[Cyberfish]

Ah the magic of a wide angle lens!

Heres a whale of an eye I got that shattered the state record! Unfortunatly I got her in Ontario, so back in the lake it went!