A Fish With Canine Teeth

[Bill Anderson]

My mistake on the world record walleye....I did some research and confirmed that I was indeed wrong. The 18 lb., 11 ounce Greers Ferry monster is the OFFICIAL world record walleye. It seems a lot has changed for the better in official record keeping over the years. But one story I always loved, was the tale that the late Junior Samples of the old TV show Hee-Haw may have caught a new world record largemoouth bass, but the idiot ATE it before it could be weighed. If true,that would have fit his true character.

[Al Agnew]

Apparently we're still both wrong. In 2010 the IGFA (International Game Fish Association), which is the most credible record keeper, reinstated the Harper 25 pound walleye from Old Hickory Lake as the world record, based upon new evidence, including an affidavit from the game warden who witnessed the weighing, and three photos.

Go to this link to see the story:http://www.chicagonow.com/illinois-outdoors/2010/05/harper-walleye-reinstated-as-world-record/

I gotta say, however, that I still don't buy it. The photo at the heading of the story shows a woman (Harper's wife?) holding the fish. If you look at the width of her hand that's holding the line attached to the fish's head and measure the number of hand widths long that the fish is, it's about 10 hand widths long. Now maybe Harper's wife was a really big woman as well, but I measured my hand width--I'm an averaged size man--and it's about 3.25 inches when holding it the same way she's holding that fish. Maybe you could convince me that her hand could go 3.5 inches, but no way it could be four inches wide. The fish was purported to be 41 inches long. By my math, being generous it was 33-36 inches long. And it was not a very fat fish, compared to the average big walleye nearing spawning season when they would weigh the most. The biggest one I ever caught, a 12.5 pounder, was 30.5 inches long and spawning season fat and full of eggs. A 36 incher, not totally full of eggs, will still go 15-18 pounds max.

So apparently they are going mostly by the game warden affidavit, but how would a game warden who wasn't used to seeing very big walleye (keep in mind that Old Hickory was a fairly new lake in 1960 and there probably weren't a lot of big walleye in that area being caught and actually weighed back then) know for sure the fish wasn't stuffed full of lead sinkers? Although apparently the warden did testify that he personally measured the fish at 41 inches.

[Al Agnew]

Also, I found a recent record of a 25 pound 3 ounce walleye that was caught in the Niagara River. It doesn't qualify as the world record because it was foul-hooked. Other than those two fish--the Harper fish from Old Hickory and the Niagara fish--the next biggest walleye is the Arkansas record from Greers Ferry at 22 lb. 11 oz. It was caught up in the South Fork of the Little Red at the mouth of Pee Dee Creek at 10 PM, March 14, 1982, by Al Nelson. The Missouri record is 21 lb. 1 oz., caught in March, 1988, by Gerry Partlow, in Bull Shoals Lake (actually just below Powersite).

[laker67]

Apparently we're still both wrong. In 2010 the IGFA (International Game Fish Association), which is the most credible record keeper, reinstated the Harper 25 pound walleye from Old Hickory Lake as the world record, based upon new evidence, including an affidavit from the game warden who witnessed the weighing, and three photos.

I am not sure why igfa would reinstate this fish after Harper admitted to adding weight. That was the reason it was disqualified after several years. His own admission before his death. Are they claiming that he was mentally incompetent at the time of the confession? Igfa is pretty hard core, I am surprised at their reversal.

[Fishslayer88]

i catch a few walleye every year in the james when the whites run my biggest was last year @ 18 inches