Look at these two beauties! (And the fish are pretty nice too.)
Who says the best fishing is in June? It must have been Lunker Week at the lodge this past week with the two largest walleye of the season, each 32″ long, landed days apart.
Now we all know that walleye like these are fish of a lifetime—not the size that one should expect to get very often. But with the current conservation measures in place on Lake Kipawa, we are sure that each year we will see more trophy fish like these ones caught. Both these walleye were released back into the lake unharmed. They may breed again, they be caught again, they may be released again, and they may become your fish of a lifetime.
In place for two years now, the 20.5 inch size limit for walleye will assure that the genetically larger and stronger fish remain in the gene pool. I know some anglers would prefer to have the regulations permit a “one over” allowance, like in Ontario, but if that were the case, once-in-a-lifetime fish like these might be removed. I have seen it happen: at my former outfitting business in Ontario, fishermen were entitled to keep one large fish of their 4 fish limit. What ended up happening was each member of the fishing party would take a “one-over”, regardless of who caught it. In the end, few of those quality fish made it back to breed again.
The 6 fish limit of 14.5″ to 20.5″ walleye that we have on Lake Kipawa is generous enough to provide ample food for a fresh fish fry for the gang; the other day we fed sixteen hungry campers on fish caught during one evening and morning of fishing—with plenty of leftovers for breakfast.
Conservation never tasted this good. Cheers!
