Called “blue pike” which were a subspecies of the walleye. The last (supposedly real) ones were believed to be caught more than 50 yrs ago:

More info below from John Hageman’s Sandusky Register write-up:

> “The blue pike was a subspecies of the yellow walleye that primarily inhabited the cool water layer of Lake Erie’s Central and Eastern Basins, and western Lake Ontario. It differed from yellow walleye by their smaller size, unique bluish coloration and proportionally larger eyes. They were sexually mature at 13” and reached a maximum length of 16” and 2 lbs.

> “They were especially favored by local restaurants for their convenient size that perfectly filled a dinner plate when hog-dressed, cooked and served intact, as was customary. Although their flesh was less firm than that of a walleye, the flavor was described as sweeter, similar to crappies.

> “They preferred deeper, darker water than walleye, so interactions of these 2 species were normally infrequent except in the Western Basin reefs and Islands area over the winter – and through the spring spawning season. The Put-in-Bay State Fish hatchery raised millions of fry some years.

> “In the early 1900s, blue pike populations began to fluctuate widely, with high abundances every 4-6 yrs. This phenomenon was suspected to be the result of cannibalism by the older blue pike which cropped off their young-of-year offspring during their high cycles. As the adult population began to diminish, higher offspring survival would result in another huge year class. This pattern continued without much concern to fish biologists until the collapse of the population began in 1958, after 1954s last substantial hatch.

> “Several related factors have been suggested as the cause of this rather sudden, catastrophic extinction. Most scientists agree that the expanding, low dissolved oxygen dead zone led to suffocation of blue pike. It also reduced their primary food supplies, including burrowing mayflies and cool-water orientated bait fish such as trout-perch and silver chubs.

> “Invasive smelt and alewives increased in abundance during the mid-twentieth century, and preyed heavily on young-of-year blue pike, and may have been responsible for additional declines as populations were already fading.

> “When the schools of oxygen-starved fish concentrated near shore to avoid the low-oxygen conditions, an increase in landings by commercial netters further reduced the blue pike population. Commercial catches ranged from 2-26 mil lbs per yr in the 1950s. The final year that blue pike were sold, 1964, less than 200 hundred lbs reached the fish markets. The last few confirmed blue pike were caught in 1965 from Lake Erie.

> “For the next several years, bluish-colored walleyes were occasionally captured by both sport and commercial fishermen. Subsequent DNA-testing indicated that all of them were in-fact hybrids, apparently spawning with an increasing population of yellow walleyes as blue pike became scarcer.

> “When both species were abundant, they occasionally produced hybrids, known by commercial fishermen as grays, jumbos or mules, which grew larger than blue pike typically did and with blue pike color pattern.

> “A last-ditch effort to capture some brood stock for breeding purposes was attempted by PA and PH in the late 1960s, with several blue-colored fish taken to the National Fish Hatchery in Hebron and elsewhere. Propagation attempts failed and the species was officially declared extinct in 1976 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”

Now you (we) know. But...

While there hasn’t been any actual “blue pike” documented, no doubt you’ve probably seen some blue-ish variations of ‘eyes floating around the interwebz, which apparently are different species than their extinct cousins:

> “In a few lakes in ON and QC, blue-colored walleyes are frequently caught, but DNA analysis has repeatedly shown that they are simply a blue color-phased walleye that is missing yellow pigment and not a true blue pike."

Still extremely B-E-A-Utiful and fun to look at.

Like this one recently posted by Marc Rozon in the Ontario Walleye Anglers FB group:

And wait until you see the ridiculous 29-incher that Tory Whitton dropped in the comments section. 🤯

And so did walleye hammers 🔨 Dylan Maki and Joe Bricko – again! – who had a record-setting 2-day total (10 fish) of 106.24 lbs at AIM’s Minnesota State Championship (full results) on Lake of the Woods!

Which had them at a 29-3/8" average for their 10 fish using AIM's length-to-weight conversion chart:

Joe said they mostly pitched nightcrawlers on jigs (up to 1/2-oz) but also mixed in some slip-bobbers with leeches.

They won 3 out of their 4 possible scorable ‘MN Division’ events this year (Mississippi River, Leech Lake, Lake of the Woods) so their worst finish was just a lousy 5th place at Mille Lacs. 😅😮‍💨 Talk about domination!

Big props on pulling off ‘Team of the Year’ against ultra-stacked fields!

Looks like they’re already trying to set themselves up for next year. 😉

> Joe: “Speaking of support, our greatest sponsors are our wives Andrea and Taylor and our families (Moms and Dads) without them none of this would be possible for us. They pick up so much slack on the homefront when we’re gone affording us these opportunities. Thank you!”

But seriously, no doubt it’s a team effort!

Awesome, feel-good story shared by Katie Corgiat (aka @missfishwhisperer on IG):

> Today marks the 3rd anniversary of my 61-yr-old dad’s passing after a 3-yr long fight with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. I’ve honored him each year by going fishing on his “day,” as fishing was easily our favorite thing to do together. The forecast originally called for thunderstorms all day today, so I opted to head out [solo] this past Monday instead. Boy, am I sure happy that I did.

> In addition to witnessing one of the most gorgeous sunrises I’ve ever seen on the water...

> ...the fishing was consistently awesome. Walleye, sauger, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and drum kept me busy, as I tried various spots and techniques throughout the day.

> I switched to a deeper spot on a current break, and on my first cast there, the drag on my reel started screaming!! I fought the mystery fish for about 5 minutes, and up comes a 2-lb smallmouth on one of the hooks of my lure, and the biggest walleye I’ve EVER seen on one of the other hooks of the same lure! 🤯 Sadly, the walleye shook off before I could net it, but I did manage to catch the smallie. 😭 I was so bummed.

> 10 minutes later, just as my lure hits the bottom in about 30’ of water, I feel a huge thump. I set the hook, and the battle was on!!! A few adrenaline-filled minutes later, this PERSONAL BEST 27.5” TROPHY walleye made it into my net, and I just about lost my mind!!!! She was released to be another lucky angler’s fish story.

> While we no longer are able to fish together on this earth, I’m absolutely convinced that Dad made all of that fishy magic happen for me...and it’s something I’ll never forget.

No doubt he was there with you that day 🙌 congrats on the fish of a lifetime and a memory of equally-big proportions!

Some interesting info (no matter where you’re at in the walleye world) in this Erik Jacobson Mille Lacs Messenger write-up:

> According to a study by UW-Madison the answer is yes. Martha Barta is the lead author of the study and told Kare11 that walleyes have encountered a timing problem where spawning and available food are growing out of sync. “By that time the walleye hatch, their food resources are already gone,” said Barta, referring to years where spawning isn’t catching up with early ice-outs. “We are seeing these extreme years are more frequent and more severe over time, and this is associated with lower survival to adulthood of baby walleye.”

> According to the MN DNR “Male walleye move into spawning areas in early spring when the water temperature may be only a few degrees above freezing. The larger females arrive later. Spawning reaches its peak when water temperature ranges from 42 to 50 degrees.”

> Around this same time, Phytoplankton begins to form as well, giving the zooplankton something to eat, and they become food for the newly hatching fish. The study looked at 194 lakes from MN to MI and found that the changes in spawning dates are not biologically lining up with the varying ice-outs of the present.

> Although Mille Lacs was not part of the study, it definitely has had varying ice-out dates as of lately, including a new record on Mar 16 of this year. That surpassed the old record of Mar 26, 2012.

> Longtime local fishing guide Matt Treno told Kare11 “Mille Lacs is one of the best natural reproducing walleye lakes in the country. We’ve had our ups and downs both with population and sheer volume, change is hard, it always is.” he said.

> Treno has seen the blame cast broadly: Invasive zebra mussels, spiny water fleas, political harvest battles and walleye cannibalism. “Nothing eats more baby walleyes than walleyes.” He says. Despite a mistrust between some anglers and biologists, this study has his attention.

> Brian Nerbonne, regional fisheries manager for the Minnesota DNR chimed in as well to Kare11 and said “I think this is going to be hard news for some people to think about, obviously this is our state fish.” He said that most lakes in the lower two-thirds of the state have walleye because they are stocked, and if naturally reproducing walleye lakes in the north see declines, those changes can ripple across the state.

> “There are limits to how much we can produce. I don’t think we are going to be able to stock our way out of this problem,” Nerbonne said. “We are the land of 10,000 lakes. We’ve got a lot of places where people want to walleye fish, and we may have to make priorities about where we can provide that opportunity for people.”

> Nerbonne concluded that it’s key to study what’s working and not working in naturally reproducing lakes, like Mille Lacs, Leech, Winnibigoshish and Lake of the Woods.

> According to Nerbonne, a separate study from the DNR found that zooplankton production in some large Minnesota lakes has declined by up to 80% due to the introduction of invasive species like zebra mussels and spiny water fleas.

> Barta said that essentially they’re seeing a mismatch between the date of walleye spawning and the date of when the ice melts on the lake, and this is creating some sort of trophic mismatch. That’s where we see the baby walleyes are not always around at the time of the peak of their food.”

> Basically what they’re saying is the changing in spawning dates is not biologically keeping up with the changes in ice out dates. “By the time the walleyes hatch, their food sources are basically gone., and this is associated with lower survival rates of baby walleye.” Barta said.

> This is exactly what the DNR has been saying the big lake's problem has been for years. There have generally been good spawning years to start out, but the survival rate has been the key to an actual year class surviving past year 0 (their first year in the lake), and having a good chance to make it to maturity.

Just something to chew on....

1. MI. NWT championship, Lake Huron, Sept 4-6.

> The top-41 pro anglers from 2024 Progressive Angler of the Year points will be competing for over $300K in cash and prizes in the no entry-fee event to crown a new NWT Champion.

Also, the AOY race is still up for grabs – Hunter Nitti has a 7 point lead over Dylan Nussbaum.

2. OH finally naming walleye the state fish. 😎

> The Ohio House passed House Bill 599 in June with a vote of 93 to 4 to designate sander vitreus, commonly known as the walleye, as the state’s fish. Though OH has memorialized other symbols, like tomato juice as the official beverage and white trillium as the formal wildflower, the state is 1 of 3 along with IN and IA that remains symbolically fishless.

> “The walleye is responsible for about $1 billion in economic activity in our state, is the fish that nest the most charter boats in OH, and the Ohio Walleye Trail is the draw of about half of the 1 million anglers in our state. Walleye – I cannot think of another that would be better fit to be the official fish of the state. To consider any other fish is a red herring.”

3. WV: Two record crappies caught the same day.

By fellas who were fishing together at Woodrum Lake:

> Lindell Marker caught a 17.36” black crappie. Marker’s catch tied the existing weight record of 2.85 lbs. Later, Dwight Priestley caught a 17.76”, 3.15-lb black crappie that surpassed Marker’s shortly-held record and set new records for length and weight in WV.

4. Bill Carson inducted into The Legends of the Outdoors HOF.

5. MN: Park Rapids ice derby is no more.

> Ron Pierzinski, the legion’s new commander, and Kasey Krautkremer, the former commander, told the Enterprise it’s nearly impossible to break even on the community event.

> “The biggest reason is the cost of everything is going up so high. To draw people in, we have to spend over $150K in prizes to actually get people in the door,” Krautkremer said. “We don’t really want to keep raising the price of our fishing derby because people don’t want that anyways.”

> “After COVID, all the numbers went up,” Krautkremer continued. Trying to acquire a pickup for the grand prize last year was “insane. The cost of them is nuts.”

> Donated fishing and raffle prizes have diminished “because nobody has the extra money to donate something cool. Everything’s tight.”

> “I know the community always sees the amount of people on the ice and at the legion, but I don’t think they realize the amount of money that we have to put into this to make all this happen – drilling holes, moving snow, putting up signs. All that stuff, it all adds up.”

6. MN: Apply for DNR advisory groups.

Including Fisheries Work Groups and the Mille Lacs Fisheries Advisory Committee (MLFAC).

7. MI: New Bass Pro Shops coming to Lansing.

8. Brunswick announces organizational changes.

> Aine Denari is named Executive Vice President and President, Navico Group, and Brunswick Chief Technology Officer.

> Brenna Preisser is named Executive Vice President and President, Brunswick Boat Group, succeeding Denari.

> Will Sangster is promoted to Senior Vice President and President, Business Acceleration, succeeding Preisser....

9. DC: Cassandra L. Elrod = new ORR Program/Administrative Dir.

10. IN: LARE grants to benefit 18 lake and stream projects.

11. Waypoint TV earns position on...

...Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies.

> Companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2020 through 2023.

12. GA: 13th-annual Becoming An Outdoors Woman Workshop...

...happening Nov 1-3 at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center.

> BOW is an educational program offering hands-on workshops to women (18 or older) of all physical ability levels. It aims to break down barriers to female participation in outdoor activities by providing a supportive learning environment.

> “Women from all backgrounds are given the opportunity to develop outdoor skills such as backpacking, fishing, shooting sports, outdoor cooking and nature photography all while in a safe and structured environment. The atmosphere is positive and non-competitive where all participants can feel confident and have fun,” said Kim Morris-Zarneke, CEWC Program Manager.

13. MI: DNR catches largest sturgeon in survey history.

The Lake St. Clair giant was 75.2” long and weighed 125 lbs

14. WY: Unlimited harvest of small lake trout begins Oct 1...

...on Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

> Effective Oct 1, lake trout in the WY portion of Flaming Gorge will be classified as nongame fish, and the creel limit for lake trout 28” and under will be unlimited. Anglers will only be allowed to have 1 lake trout over 28” in their possession. The creel limit for kokanee will be reduced from 4 to 3.

> A recent population estimate suggests there are approximately 143,000 lake trout under 28” in Flaming Gorge, over 3x higher than estimates completed in the 1980s. There is also concern regarding the number of kokanee these predators consume. A biologist caught a 22” lake trout this spring with over 50 kokanee in its stomach, and two others caught that evening had 25 kokanee fingerlings in their stomachs.

> Because of the sheer number of small lake trout and their appetite for kokanee, it is imperative that as many small lake trout as possible are removed from the reservoir prior to kokanee stocking in the spring of 2025. The regulation changes will provide opportunities for anglers to improve the fishery and fill their freezers with tasty fish.

15. WA: Spawned out, dead shad clogging salmon ladders.

16. TX: Careco is hiring a Creative Media Specialist.

How to find and catch suspended walleyes.

Casting and catching suspended bruisers with fish-head TJ Erickson. 🎯The type of fish you previously only could have caught by aimlessly trolling for miles....

"Won't be long!"

- That's Jesse Johnson already pacing the shorelines LOL:

Looks like it’s almost ready for truck travel. 😂🥶

It was ‘National Dog Day’ yesterday, so here’s a fishy pic of a pooch out for a rip with NWT pro Max Wilson.

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH

Target Walleye LLC

422 Laurel Street

P.O. BOX 541

Brainerd, MN 56401

 (218) 824 5026