PAUL SMITH

Smith: The Wisconsin walleye record has stood since 1933. These five waters have the best potential to top it.

Paul A. Smith
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Brad Betthauser, a fisheries technician with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, holds a 17.5 pound walleye caught in 2015 on Lake Wazee in Jackson County, Wisconsin. The fish was 32.3 inches long. It was caught during a DNR fisheries survey of the lake. After it was measured and weighed, the fish was released back into the lake.

On Sept. 16, 1933, Anthony Brothers landed an 18-pound walleye while fishing on High Lake in Vilas County.

The whopper is Wisconsin's biggest ever for the prized-sport species.

It's also the state's oldest fish record, according to information kept by the Department of Natural Resources.

Without debating the record's legitimacy - no photo documentation is on file and the fish's information was presented years after it had been caught - the walleye mark has captivated the interest of Wisconsin anglers for decades.

Walleyes weighing more than 10 pounds are trophies anywhere in North America.

And although rare, marble-eyes weighing as much as 13 pounds are caught in Wisconsin every year.

Could the 1933 state walleye record be topped?

The question gained new traction this month when "gravel lizard" records were broken in two other states. 

Brian Hartman holds the 18 pound, 2 ounce walleye he caught May 5 while fishing on the St. Lawrence River in New York. The fish is the New York record for the species.

On May 5 an angler using a swimbait in the St. Lawrence River in New York landed an 18-pound, 2-ounce walleye. The fish was 32 inches long and had a eye-popping girth of 21 inches. It topped the previous New York walleye mark by 1.5 pounds. 

And on May 18, an angler raised the North Dakota walleye bar with a 15-pound, 13-ounce fish caught on the Missouri River near Bismarck. The catch broke that state's longest-standing record.

To assess the possibility of a walleye in the 18-pound range being caught from Wisconsin waters, I interviewed DNR fisheries biologists, conservation leaders and fishing guides from around the state. 

Neal Leier holds the 15-pound, 13-ounce walleye he caught May 18, 2018 while fishing on the Missouri River near Bismarck. The fish established the North Dakota record for walleye.

Listed alphabetically, they were: Bret Alexander, fishing guide in Green Bay; Mike Arrowood of Fond du Lac, chairman of Walleyes For Tomorrow; Dave Bartz, DNR fisheries biologist in Wautoma; Steve Gilbert, DNR area fisheries supervisor in Woodruff;  David Heath, DNR fisheries biologist in La Crosse; Luke Roffler, DNR fisheries biologist in Kansasville; Josh Teigen, fishing guide in Iron River; Mike Vogelsang, DNR district fisheries supervisor in Woodruff; and Max Wolter, DNR fisheries biologist in Hayward.

Through their collective experiences, data and opinions, it's clear: the Wisconsin walleye record would be extremely difficult to break, but it is possible.

"Well,18 pounds is pretty darn big," Alexander said. "But I'd say it's doable if you had the right freak fish in the right conditions."

What does it take for a walleye to get really big? 

First, it takes time. A walleye that weighs more than 10 pounds is more than 10 years old and could be as old as 20, Vogelsang said. And time of the year is critical - the biggest fish tend to be pre-spawn females caught from March through May.

Next, it takes food. A rich forage base containing species such as ciscoes is a big assist to walleyes growing to outsized proportions.

Water temperature is important, too. Walleyes in warmer water tend to grow faster but have shorter lives and don't get as big as they do in colder lakes, Gilbert said.

Then there's habitat. Big lakes or reservoirs with plenty of deep water are much more likely to harbor big, old walleyes.

This point ties into the fourth consideration, harvest. Big, deep waters can provide refuge for walleyes and help them avoid angling pressure and live to a ripe age.

And finally there's fish density. If the walleye population has a lower density, the potential is greater for individual fish to get really large.

Although genetics is often discussed when considering trophy fish and game, there is no definitive walleye study to indicate a certain area or watershed of Wisconsin has a superior genetic make-up for big fish.

So what Wisconsin waters have the best odds of producing a "super tanker" walleye that could top the state record?

Here's the top five:

Green Bay (Lake Michigan)

The Wisconsin waters of Green Bay, including its tributaries, was considered by most of the experts to have the best chance in the state to produce an 18-pound-plus walleye.

Not only is the system large in size, but it has rich forage, including gizzard shad, lake whitefish and yellow perch.

Alexander, who has fished the bay for more than four decades and worked there as guide for 15 years, has had walleyes in his boat in excess of 14 pounds. The longest, which wasn't weighed, was a 34.25-inch spawned out female.

Considering the 18-pound, 2-ounce walleye caught this month in New York was 32 inches long, that 34-and-change walleye released by Alexander is an indication of the long, old fish in Green Bay that could challenge the Wisconsin record.

St. Louis River estuary (Lake Superior)

The St. Louis River hosts the primary spawning run of walleyes in western Lake Superior.

Each year some of these fish, which travel in from the greatest of the Great Lakes, are in the 15-pound range.

"A walleye that gets out in the big lake and starts eating smelt and herring, that wouldn’t surprise me if a fish like that could top the state record," Teigen said. 

Teigen has had walleyes landed on his boat as long as 31 inches.

The biggest walleyes on Lake Superior may elude anglers for much of the year, though.

"Probably the guy fishing trout and salmon in deeper water has the best chance to catch a really big walleye," Teigen said.

Big Green Lake

Wisconsin's deepest natural lake, Big Green has a habit of producing very large fish of many species.

When it comes to walleyes, one of the biggest is on display at the Goose Blind Grill and Bar in Green Lake. A plaque attached to the mounted fish reads: Bill Snyder of Green Lake, 17.3 pounds 34 inches, Oct. 2, 1985. 

At that size the walleye would have had to eat just one more juvenile lake trout to push it into record territory.

Bartz said DNR fisheries crews have caught walleyes as heavy as 14 pounds in Big Green during spring surveys.

"Could Big Green produce an 18-pounder?" Bartz said, pondering. "Never say never, I guess. The lake is very deep and has the right forage base, there's no doubting that."

Lake Geneva

The biggest and deepest natural lake in southern Wisconsin, Lake Geneva has a good number of walleyes in excess of 10 pounds.

The biggest walleye handled in recent years by DNR crews was a 14.2 pound fish in 2015, said Roffler. The survey also turned up numerous walleyes in the 12- and 13-pound range.

"By the end we were, oh, it's just another 12-pound walleye, no big deal," Roffler said. "Those fish are fairly common in comparison to other lakes in the area."

Wazee Lake

This lake, an old iron mine that filled with water, makes the list because of a surprise finding in a 2015 DNR fisheries survey.

A crew was looking for ciscoes in the 350-foot-deep lake. But they caught a walleye of jaw-dropping dimensions: 17.5 pounds and 32.3 inches long.

If that fish is still alive, it could well be big enough to set the state record. 

Wazee is stocked periodically with trout, and a cisco introduction project was started in 2013. And due to electric motor-only restrictions, the lake doesn't get much fishing pressure.

Based on leading factors, those five Wisconsin waters arguably have the best odds to produce a state record walleye.

Could one emerge from somewhere else?

"There’s always that unicorn out there," Vogelsang said. "We do surveys on some small lakes and say, 'Wow, what’s that huge fish doing here?' "

A case in point was provided by Wolter, the DNR fisheries biologist in Hayward. After he scoured DNR records, he found a crew captured a 36.1 inch walleye on Moose Lake in 1949. 

Will another name replace Anthony Brothers in the Wisconsin fish record book?

Only time will tell.

I know this much - I'm ready to write the story! Good fishing to you. 

And remember to practice selective harvest to allow more fish to reach trophy - and perhaps even state record - sizes.