Looking for a Record Walleye?

Spring walleye fishing isn’t far off and most walleye fishermen dream of catching that huge trophy fish for their wall every time they go on the water. While there are trophies out there, they are rare and hard to find. In this part of the world, the winter months keep our fish from growing all year long so real giants are very few and far between.

The Wisconsin record walleye was caught way back in 1933, by Tony Brothers in High Lake in Vilas County. It was a whopping 18 pounds. For years the World Record was held by Maubry Harper with a 25# fish caught in Old Hickory Lake, Tennessee. This record has been erased from the books because photo analysis by the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame showed that the fish couldn’t have weighed any more than 18 pounds. It was never weighed on a certified scale.

The new World Record Walleye is now a 22# 11oz. fish caught in 1982, in Greer’s Ferry Lake, another huge southern impoundment. Three years earlier a 21# 12 oz. fish was caught in the same lake.
 So if you’re looking for a record walleye, you better pack up and head south; but if you’re satisfied with some good eating fish, you can get all you want right here on the Wisconsin or Mississippi rivers.

Dan Bomkamp
Author & Host of "How's Fishing"

Southwest Wisconsin Real Estate