POST 13: April 22nd (4:35pm) McFeely Podcast

Podcast with Mike McFeely

On April 22nd, 4:35pm, I completed a podcast with Mike McFeeley from InForum. I did this knowing the investigator stated earlier the walleye was "under investigation" and asked Gibbs to provide a statement because he was "witness to the violation." Why talk to the media at this point? I did it because I was not concerned about how the walleye was caught. The condition of the fish supported it was hooked legally.

Again, I was excited to tell people how I caught my record walleye and wanted to provide more details, but it is important to recognize my statements to the media were not an official statement and included my perception of events. If my words were pulled out of context, it would not provide the full picture of what I was trying to convey.

In the podcast with McFeely, I made some of the following statements:

• “Caught 10 to 12 nice walleye prior to the big one.”
• “When that fish bit (record walleye), you could feel it.”
• “When I set the hook, it didn’t move.”
• “We caught a lot more fish than anyone else.”
• “They were aggressive. When they bit, they bit.” 
• “Caught the big one around 2 in the afternoon. It was overcast. Guys catching fish all around us. We threw some back. We had 6 or 7 on the stringer.”
• “Very aggressive. You can feel the ‘tunk’ on the jig. Have to set the hook fast. It didn’t move. Stayed down. Felt the big head shakes. Reeling hard. Want to fight it out in the current. Drag was loose. Rolled or flipped in the current…or something. Goes back down.”
• “After about 6 or 7 minutes, it finally gave up. Kind of surfaced. Kind of coming in sideways and backwards so I thought for sure I foul-hooked this thing because it was fighting so strong. I couldn’t budge this thing…so thought for sure I foul hooked it…said must have got this by the tail…I don’t know what the heck’s going on. Got into the faster current and went down the rocks.”
• “Gibbs took off running…ran out 40 yards faster than anyone…jumping over rocks.” “Gave the fish a couple more pulls.” 
• “Saw the look on his face. Silent. Shook his head.” “When he lifted the net, everyone was cheering.” 
• “Thought the scale said something like 16-6 or 16-10 or 12 or something.” 
• “Said I want this to be accurate.” 
• “Was with them for 2, 2 and a half hours.” 
• “So excited, was turning purple. Just had to stop and breathe.” 
• “It was mouth hooked, absolutely. I am probably the one starting that rumor when I was reeling it in because it was so hard to reel in…it was coming in kinda backwards towards the end of the fight. So I’m probably the one that started those rumors…because it looked like to me when I was reeling it in.”
• “You have the hole in the side of the mouth. When I was looking it over to get it mounted, you can see there is a huge hole in the side his mouth where it had been hooked. Game and Fish does a look over on the fish too…wipe it down…took pictures and video.”

You can listen to sound clips of my statements made in the podcast here: https://youtu.be/Fs1F48Ybvuw. The link to the entire podcast is here: https://www.inforum.com/entertainment/podcasts/1009442-McFeely-Mess-podcast-Angler-who-caught-N.D.-record-walleye-was-so-excited-he-couldnt-breathe.

Game and Fish Investigation Report referenced the podcast and statements made

See the image below taken from the Investigation Report:

Comparison

If you read what was in the Investigation Report and compare it to what I actually stated in the podcast, the investigator intentionally left out nearly all of my statements which supported the legal taking of the walleye. My statements such as, "They were aggressive. When that fish bit, you could feel it. Very aggressive. You can feel the ‘tunk’ on the jig. It stayed down. Felt the big head shakes. Rolled or flipped in the current…or something. Goes back down. After about 6 or 7 minutes, it finally gave up. Kind of surfaced. Kind of coming in sideways and backwards so I thought for sure I foul-hooked this thing because it was fighting so strong. I couldn’t budge this thing…so thought for sure I foul hooked it…said must have got this by the tail…I don’t know what the heck’s going on. It was mouth hooked, absolutely. I am probably the one starting that rumor when I was reeling it in because it was so hard to reel in. You have the hole in the side of the mouth. When I was looking it over to get it mounted, you can see there is a huge hole in the side his mouth where it had been hooked."

When my comments were taken out of context, it did not accurately convey my beliefs and did not provide the entire picture of events. 

Some of my statements made in the podcast were inaccurate. The video evidence documented how the walleye's head remained upstream and was netted with the head upstream. The walleye did not appear sideways or backwards. 

I stated several times in the podcast, I "didn't know what was going on." This may be because, I never fought a nearly 17 pound walleye in fast moving water from shore before. I never fought a walleye as it rolled down rapids.

Changes

In the Investigation Report, Game and Fish intentionally left out nearly all of my statements which supported my belief the walleye was hooked legally - such as how it bit the hook, how it shook its head, how it flipped in the current or something, how it didn't appear on the surface until it gave up and how there was a hole in the side of the mouth where it had been hooked. Why did the investigator leave these statements out of the report? 

Information was intentionally left out of the investigation report to mislead. These kinds of actions need to stop.

After listening to the podcast, I can see why there were questions about the legality of my catch. Lesson learned. When I made my comments to McFeely, I wasn't worried about an investigation or how I thought the fish fought.

The physical condition of the walleye supported it was hooked legally. 

There was no damage from a hook in the back, body, fins or tail of the walleye. There was a fresh tear/hole in the mouth from my hook and string burn on the cheek. The only place my walleye could have been hooked was in the mouth.

This is why I stated, "It was mouth hooked, absolutely."

#northdakotaslargestwalleye  #volkswalleye  #justiceforthelargestwalleye