Lake Winnipeg is home to giant walleye

[Anonymous]

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So how big are the fish?



"I believe the current ice-fishing record is about 35, 36 inches [roughly 90 centimetres] and I think there's some fish that size out there," said Nolan, adding so far, the biggest one he's caught was 32 inches (81 centimetres).



"They're very healthy, girthy fish.... It's probably the best walleye fishing in the world right now for large walleye," he said.



"We've got a good shot at breaking a world record up here this year, I think. There's lots of people catching fish of a lifetime out there right now."



Walleye weigh roughly one to two kilograms (two to four pounds) in a normal year, said Nolan. This year, they're seeing seven-kilogram (or 15-pound) fish.



alleye in Lake Winnipeg have always been big, said Kevin Casper, the province's regional fisheries manager for the Central Region.



"Lake Winnipeg has big walleye — there's good food sources in the lake for the walleye, so they're able to grow to a very large size. It's been like this for a while. This isn't the first year that anglers have been catching big walleye.



"[It] probably exploded in 2010, and since then, that 2000, 2001 age class has grown larger and larger every year, so the walleye being caught by recreational anglers has been getting bigger and bigger."



Because Lake Winnipeg is such a large body of water, walleye have ample opportunity to spawn on sandbars and reefs, said Casper, and if the temperatures don't drop in spring and the wind stays calm, it leads to better spawning years.



International anglers

Travel Manitoba has a program allowing anglers to submit their walleye catches to qualify for a master angler badge, said a provincial spokesperson. Walleye have to be at least 71 centimetres (28 inches) in length to qualify.



While the numbers are only from those who have submitted their catch, they've risen from 135 qualifying walleye catches in 2012 to a high of 438 in 2016. Last year saw 203 walleye submitted.



In the meantime, the secret is out around the world and thousands of people are heading out onto the lake every weekend, said Nolan.



"For years now, there's been thousands and thousands of people from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota — actually, all over the world.



"I've fished with a guy from Los Angeles, people from Australia, from Europe — there's literally thousands of people coming up to ice fish here on weekends. On a typical weekend we have 2,000 to 3,000 people up fishing on the lake."



"It's great for local towns and businesses and communities surrounding the lake," said Casper. "It brings a lot of people into the area. It gets people out of Winnipeg and enjoying the outdoors."



It hurts to see police crush these auto treasures

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/lake-winnipeg-ice-fishers-reeling-in-fish-of-a-lifetime-thanks-to-1997-flood-says-veteran-angler/ar-BBIktb5?li=AAggNb9&ocid=mailsignout">https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/la ... ailsignout">https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/lake-winnipeg-ice-fishers-reeling-in-fish-of-a-lifetime-thanks-to-1997-flood-says-veteran-angler/ar-BBIktb5?li=AAggNb9&ocid=mailsignout

[Anonymous]

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So how big are the fish?



"I believe the current ice-fishing record is about 35, 36 inches [roughly 90 centimetres] and I think there's some fish that size out there," said Nolan, adding so far, the biggest one he's caught was 32 inches (81 centimetres).



"They're very healthy, girthy fish.... It's probably the best walleye fishing in the world right now for large walleye," he said.



"We've got a good shot at breaking a world record up here this year, I think. There's lots of people catching fish of a lifetime out there right now."



Walleye weigh roughly one to two kilograms (two to four pounds) in a normal year, said Nolan. This year, they're seeing seven-kilogram (or 15-pound) fish.



alleye in Lake Winnipeg have always been big, said Kevin Casper, the province's regional fisheries manager for the Central Region.



"Lake Winnipeg has big walleye — there's good food sources in the lake for the walleye, so they're able to grow to a very large size. It's been like this for a while. This isn't the first year that anglers have been catching big walleye.



"[It] probably exploded in 2010, and since then, that 2000, 2001 age class has grown larger and larger every year, so the walleye being caught by recreational anglers has been getting bigger and bigger."



Because Lake Winnipeg is such a large body of water, walleye have ample opportunity to spawn on sandbars and reefs, said Casper, and if the temperatures don't drop in spring and the wind stays calm, it leads to better spawning years.



International anglers

Travel Manitoba has a program allowing anglers to submit their walleye catches to qualify for a master angler badge, said a provincial spokesperson. Walleye have to be at least 71 centimetres (28 inches) in length to qualify.



While the numbers are only from those who have submitted their catch, they've risen from 135 qualifying walleye catches in 2012 to a high of 438 in 2016. Last year saw 203 walleye submitted.



In the meantime, the secret is out around the world and thousands of people are heading out onto the lake every weekend, said Nolan.



"For years now, there's been thousands and thousands of people from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota — actually, all over the world.



"I've fished with a guy from Los Angeles, people from Australia, from Europe — there's literally thousands of people coming up to ice fish here on weekends. On a typical weekend we have 2,000 to 3,000 people up fishing on the lake."



"It's great for local towns and businesses and communities surrounding the lake," said Casper. "It brings a lot of people into the area. It gets people out of Winnipeg and enjoying the outdoors."



It hurts to see police crush these auto treasures

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/lake-winnipeg-ice-fishers-reeling-in-fish-of-a-lifetime-thanks-to-1997-flood-says-veteran-angler/ar-BBIktb5?li=AAggNb9&ocid=mailsignout">https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/la ... ailsignout">https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/lake-winnipeg-ice-fishers-reeling-in-fish-of-a-lifetime-thanks-to-1997-flood-says-veteran-angler/ar-BBIktb5?li=AAggNb9&ocid=mailsignout

That is a huge fish in the first picture.

[Anonymous]

Lake Winnipeg is renowned for big pickerel, but that is a monster.

[Wazzzup]

Lake Winnipeg is renowned for big pickerel, but that is a monster.

I wonder how long it took him to fight it?



B iggest fish I ever caught was a 2 foot salmon (i think that's about 65 cms in Canada) it took about ten minutes to bring him in.



I'm better at snagging things.  I snagged a fairly large turtle on its foot, that took a good twenty to thirty minutes to bring him in, and another time I snagged a seagull in its wing.

[Anonymous]

Lake Winnipeg is renowned for big pickerel, but that is a monster.

I wonder how long it took him to fight it?



B iggest fish I ever caught was a 2 foot salmon (i think that's about 65 cms in Canada) it took about ten minutes to bring him in.



I'm better at snagging things.  I snagged a fairly large turtle on its foot, that took a good twenty to thirty minutes to bring him in, and another time I snagged a seagull in its wing.

It's not too bad using a 20 lb test line.

[cc]

Ha. I caught a gator on spinning tackle - don't recall the test # but it wasn't high - a large  pond in Florida



I had a  large mouth bass on a lure with several hooks - our "cracker" friend spotted a gator slowing moving toward the bass who was constantly out of the water and tail-walking along the surface



He convinced me to not bring him fast and sure enough the gator swallowed him and hooked himself.



Took an hour but got him to shore - real gentle with light line - He was about 4 1/2 ft long - the cracker took him off the hook and after showing us how to make a gator sleep, let him go

[Anonymous]

Ha. I caught a gator on spinning tackle - don't recall the test # but it wasn't high - a large  pond in Florida



I had a  large mouth bass on a lure with several hooks - our "cracker" friend spotted a gator slowing moving toward the bass who was constantly out of the water and tail-walking along the surface



He convinced me to not bring him fast and sure enough the gator swallowed him and hooked himself.



Took an hour but got him to shore - real gentle with light line - He was about 4 1/2 ft long - the cracker took him off the hook and after showing us how to make a gator sleep, let him go

 

[Frood]

Lake Winnipeg is renowned for big pickerel, but that is a monster.

I wonder how long it took him to fight it?



B iggest fish I ever caught was a 2 foot salmon (i think that's about 65 cms in Canada) it took about ten minutes to bring him in.



I'm better at snagging things.  I snagged a fairly large turtle on its foot, that took a good twenty to thirty minutes to bring him in, and another time I snagged a seagull in its wing.

I remember catching a salmon like that years ago on a trip to the US. The boss chartered a fishing excursion boat and threw a lunch and drinks day.



It took forever to get it to the surface. They used huge lead balls on wire to get the lures deep enough.

[Anonymous]

Lake Winnipeg is a big lake, but fairly shallow. It's known as a good trophy fish lake.

[Bricktop]

Are they edible, or do you throw them back...

[Anonymous]

Are they edible, or do you throw them back...

Pickerel is chicken from the lake. It's frickin delicious.

[Bricktop]

Feed a lot of people with those suckers, then.

[Anonymous]

Feed a lot of people with those suckers, then.

They usually do not get that big. Man, I could go for a feed of walleye, washed down with copious amounts of barrel wash.

[Anonymous]

Are they edible, or do you throw them back...

Pickerel is chicken from the lake. It's frickin delicious.

They are very tasty fish.

[Anonymous]

Are they edible, or do you throw them back...

Pickerel is chicken from the lake. It's frickin delicious.

They are very tasty fish.

I know people who are not fresh water fish fans that like their walleye.