Taste versus time

[Lee Borgersen]

                        Taste versus time

 
  how true this is

If there's one fish that hasn't benefitted equally from the trend toward catch-and-release angling over the years, it's the walleye.

They simply taste too good. Many of those caught go directly into anglers' coolers if they meet the legal minimum size.

But is that why the state record walleye has gone unchallenged for so long. Are anglers are harvesting fish before they can get huge?

No, said one Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission biologist.

The record walleye — 17 pounds, 9 ounces — was caught in 1980 from Kinzua Reservoir. Only two of the other 31 state records are older. But time rather than taste is likely the reason for its longevity, said Rick Lorson, the commission's area fisheries manager based in Somerset.

Commission research shows that it takes a Pennsylvania walleye 181⁄2 years to reach 9 pounds. There's no telling how much longer a walleye would have to live to virtually double that.

“In theory, walleyes have the potential to continue growing as long as they live. But the reality is they're just likely to die of old age before they get to that size,” Lorson said.

The state record was just a “freakishly large” fish, he said. It will take another exception to the rule to beat it.

“This may be a bit of a stretch of an analogy, but a fish like that is comparable to a Babe Ruth or a Michael Jordan,” Lorson said. “They just don't come along that often.

— Bob Frye



Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3972591-74/walleye-fish-commission#ixzz2TXVKZc2t
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