Thread: Mississinewa Spillway - Walleye

All good points FishingHat and thanks for your answer. I can't argue with anything you said and frankly I would probably have kept her myself. I fish in Eagle Creek Reservoir often and have only caught one 'eye that was legal (barely 14") when fishing for crappie. I definately understand your Catfish Hunter analogy.

So, if your fish was middle age I can only imagine what other monsters are lurking. Whoa!

Since the upper wabash reservoirs are more or less a put/take fishery, its really no harm to harvest a fish of that size....i generally release most of my walleye of 25 inches or more just because i would rather eat the 18 to 21 inchers......and i think the greatest meat to fish size ratio are from fish in the 16 to 22 inch class.....it seems like the bones and head size on fish any larger are much thicker and the quality of the meat goes down.....though it is still better than most fish......to put it in your mind of what releasing a fish of that size may lead to, i know of 3 eyes over 30 inches (around 10lbs) caught down there.....i caught one that was 30-3/4" last fall around 2:30 in the morning in december

I would love to get my hands ona 30" fish. This one stands as the biggest I've ever landed. I guess with so many this size being taken, there are good enough numbers that it's plenty ok for me to have taken her.

very nice eye man!

You could always get a replica mount and release... I agree with crappieman's statement about larger fish lacking in taste, plus they carry more pollutants in the belly fat. Furthermore, bigger fish usually have better genes and make more fry. However, you (Fishing Hat), put in the time, caught the fish legally, and deserve to do whatever you decide... just my opinion. Very nice fish!

I'll be back out at the spillway late tuesday night for sure and possibly Wednesday if anyone will be there....I drive a black zR2. Look for my fishing hat. Hahaha.