It was Sunday, April 21st, 2019. My family and I (wife Amanda, children E.V. and M.V.) met up with a family friend (Gibbs) to fish from shore at the Heart River in Mandan, North Dakota. The Heart River is a large tributary connected to the Missouri River. According to satellite imagery and the tools provided by Google Maps, the area where I was fishing is approximately 168 feet across.
The water on the Heart River was high and flowing quickly moving from west to east.
I arrived at the park in Mandan at 1:37pm with my wife and children to meet up with Gibbs who was already fishing at the Heart River. Upon arriving, I called Gibbs and asked where he was at. He explained to me how to get to the shore and where to meet up. My family and I walked over the road to the shoreline of the Heart River and started fishing next to Gibbs.
The afternoon was overcast to partly cloudy and the wind was light.
Witnesses
There were several people lining the banks on the Heart River near where I was fishing. I have listed a few of them below.
- Witness: Gibbs was fishing at the location when I arrived.
- Witness: Amanda Volk is my wife who arrived with me. She recorded a video of me reeling in my record walleye and took several photos while we were fishing.
- Witness: Matthew Knuth showed up at 2:45pm which is less than 15 minutes prior to me landing the record walleye.
- Witness #1: This is the witness who recorded a 4-minute video which was provided to Game and Fish referred to in my blog as the "Witness Video."
- Witness “Quad Rider”: Approached our location on an ATV a couple seconds prior to Gibbs netting my walleye out on the peninsula approximately 230 feet away. This witness didn't want his name to be seen and didn't want to testify in court and therefore did not provide an official statement to Game and Fish.
Gibbs was the only one (of the witnesses listed above) fishing when I arrived. The others came while we were fishing or after I left the shore.
Technique and Tackle Used
The technique I used to catch fish that day was described as: “use a small white jig and bright plastic, cast out as far as you can into the slack water, let the bait sink to the bottom, reel in very slowly, you will feel the bite, set hook quickly before they spit the bait back out.” Because the water clarity was poor, my technique allowed the jig and plastic bait to slowly drift along the bottom of the river in the current giving the fish lots of time to see and bite the bait. It worked. I felt several bites and missed fish throughout the time I was fishing. Both my wife and I lost the tails off our baits which often happens with aggressive fish.
The walleye were aggressive, and the tails were bit off of our baits.
The jig I was using was a smaller Northland Jig baited with a Moxi AuthentX plastic. My jig appears in several photos taken throughout the day. See the image below of the exact bait used to catch the big walleye:
 |
| This image was taken after I caught my record walleye. The hook and bait were not tampered with. The tail was missing and the jig was not bent or straightened. |
 |
| Here is what an original Moxi AuthentX plastic looks like with the tail intact. |
I was casting my jig into a small area of slack water about 100-120 feet from shore behind a small island. As I was fishing, Witness #1 and Knuth showed up and began casting towards the same slack-water hole behind the island as I was fishing.
Other Walleye
I caught several walleye in the short time fishing from shore and so did my kids. My wife had several bites and lost the tail on her bait, but wasn't able to land any fish. *I just wanted to document that in writing. She often tries to claim she is a better fisherman than me.
The size of the walleye we caught ranged from smaller to larger (16" to 26" - if I were to guess). All the walleye we caught were hooked in the mouth. The walleye were aggressive as characterized by how hard they bit the hook and how they bit the tails off the plastic baits.
The walleye we caught throughout the day were hooked in the mouth.
My wife took multiple pictures and videos throughout the day documenting the fish we caught. Below are two images taken at 2:49pm as captured by the time-stamp on the photos:
 |
| Here is a picture of my son holding up a walleye with Gibbs in the white hat. Witness Knuth is in red to the right, upstream, in the background. This image was taken at 2:49pm. |
 |
| I am in red, holding up a walleye my daughter helped reel in. Gibbs in on the right, helping my son hold up a walleye he caught. This image was taken at 2:49pm. |
 |
| This is a zoomed in image of the walleye my son caught. It was hooked in the mouth. |
 |
| This is a zoomed in image of the walleye my daughter reeled in. It was hooked in the mouth. |
The 16.59 Pound Walleye Bite and Fight
At approximately 2:53pm (4 minutes after catching the two walleye in the images above), I cast my jig out into the small slack pool referenced earlier. I used the technique described earlier where I let my bait sink to the bottom. I slowly began to reel in my line. The big walleye bit right away. This is the characteristic "thump" or "tunk" a person feels when a walleye sucks in the jig. As you can see in the photo, I use a dark, braided line specifically to increase the sensitivity allowing me to feel for bites. I set the hook quickly before the fish could spit the hook back out. I referenced how my walleye bit in nearly all of my media statements.
The big walleye "bit" my bait just like all of the other walleye.
The record walleye immediately fought, pulled drag, and did the characteristic head-shakes of a walleye. After realizing I had caught a large fish, my wife began to record a video which started at 2:54pm (we will watch this video in a future post). The fish stayed down under water for over two minutes as it fought. I could feel the head-shakes as the fish struggled. I referenced this in several of my media statements. The fish felt large. Here is one of many video clips we will view in my blog It is a series of clips from my wife's video of my walleye fighting showing how the fish pulled drag and conducted head-shakes (sorry for the quality of this clip):
https://youtu.be/7d1njtAZtlg.
At one point during the fight, I made a statement to Gibbs about how the fish appeared to make its way upstream. I tightened my drag and kept looking out into the water to see if I could get a glimpse of the fish.
After about two minutes, the walleye broke the surface. It was at this time the walleye appeared to flare its mouth and turn her head to the side. I was using my string as a guide to see the walleye in the stained water. My string was pointing towards the head of the walleye. When the fish broke the surface, it was close enough to me at that time to see my bait which I believe was in the mouth area of the walleye. Gibbs made reference to this in his official statement when he said, "Tom thought he saw his jig in the mouth of the walleye." I also made reference to this in some of my media statements.
The walleye fought like a normal walleye. It pulled drag, did head shakes and stayed down underwater.
The walleye fought its way back under the water for another 30 seconds before appearing to give up and surface again. I believe the fish turned or angled itself away from me while fighting in the current. When the fish turned in the current, it became more difficult to fight. I referenced how I believed the fish turned "sideways" in some of my media statements.
The shallow water and fast-moving current added to the difficulty of reeling in the walleye. I mentioned in my media statements how the walleye "was fighting so strong. I couldn't budge this thing." And to make it worse, I felt the rod go slack and then do a couple of jerks just before it surfaced for the second time. It felt to me as though the fish rolled or got turned in the current. That along with how difficult the walleye was to fight, it led me to believe my walleye got wrapped in the string. I referred to this in several of my posts and media statements from the very beginning when I said "it rolled or flipped in the current or something. Got wrapped in the string."
The fish fought normal for the first half of the fight before "rolling" or "turning" in the current. This made it feel as though it got wrapped in the string.
I wasn't gaining much ground on the walleye and it was slowly making its way into the faster moving current. I didn't want the fish to get into the rapids, so I began to pull hard on my rod using both hands while holding the string tight to the rod. Gibbs was standing next to me and said, "Don't break your line." Then said, "Don't...don't...break it off." I eased up a bit. Gibbs took off running downstream with the net. It was at this point others began to realize I was fighting a large fish and Witness #1 began recording his video.
I was forcefully reeling in the walleye which would have left damage to the fish where it was hooked.
Gibbs ran down the shore to the peninsula and looked for the fish in the water. The walleye was under the surface of the water and couldn’t be seen.
Gibbs quickly repositioned himself and moved further downstream on the peninsula. He continued to look out over the water for the fish. Gibbs was moving his head from side to side looking all over for the walleye. The walleye was staying under the water as it made its way down the rocky rapids. I was walking downstream with the rod and reel in hand. As I made my way down the shoreline, I remained upstream from Gibbs and from the walleye.
Gibbs repositioned himself again further downstream on the peninsula and continued to look out over the water for the walleye. A few seconds later, he ran to the edge of the water, reached and stretched way out with the net in his hand...he scooped...reached further and scooped again.
Gibbs scooped the net from downstream to upstream in the water. The tail entered the net first.
The head of the walleye was pointing upstream towards where I was standing.
The walleye was thrashing as it entered the net and changed positions several times. My walleye was netted!! Below are screenshots which were zoomed in showing how my walleye was netted:
Because I followed the shoreline downstream while fighting the fish, at the time when Gibbs netted the walleye, I was the closest person to him at an estimated 90 feet away standing upstream. Witness #1 was standing near me still recording a video. My wife and witness Knuth never moved from their original locations. Amanda was approximately 140 feet away recording her video and Knuth was estimated to be 200 feet away at the time the walleye was netted. The witness riding the ATV pulled up a couple seconds prior to the my walleye being netted and was up on the dike, towards the road, upstream, behind my wife. He was nearly 230 feet from where my walleye was netted.
I was an estimated 90 feet away from Gibbs when the walleye was netted.
Below is a picture taken by my wife of the record walleye being netted at 140 feet in distance:
 |
| Image taken of my walleye being netted at a distance of approximately 140 feet. |
Gibbs hoisted up the net with the fish thrashing inside and stated “holy.” Both my wife and I started cheering. Gibbs quickly moved the net off to his side so he could make his way back to shore navigating the large rocks on the peninsula. Witnesses could be heard cheering and celebrating.
Witnesses were celebrating with me when the walleye was caught.
Gibbs placed the net over his shoulder and never stopped to look in the net at the walleye. He just kept making his way back to shore. At the same time, I was making my way back upstream to celebrate the catch with my family. Witnesses were cheering, making comments about how big the walleye was and asked if I was going to mount the walleye.
Witnesses were asking if I was going to get the walleye mounted.
I remained approximately 90 feet away from Gibbs walking in front of him making my way back to our fishing spots. At one point, I felt my line tug and rod bend. I stopped, turned back towards Gibbs and reeled in some line before turning back around and continuing upstream. The entire time we were making our way back to our fishing spots, the walleye was flopping and changing positions in the net.
The walleye flopped and changed positions in the net several times.
Here is another short clip taken from my wife's 4 minute and 25 second video showing how my record walleye was netted and changed positions in the net:
https://youtu.be/gtqJLYUIgQ0. Pay close attention to how many times the fish moves from upside down to right-side up. Also note, the hook could not be seen on the walleye when it was netted. It wasn't in the body, back, fin or tail. The Witness Video (which we will see in a future post) shows the same thing. The hook could not be seen on the walleye when it was netted or when Gibbs was walking with the fish in the net.
The hook was not visible on the outside of the walleye on either side when it was caught and changing positions in the net.
See the screenshots from the video documenting how many times the walleye changed positions in the net as Gibbs made his way back to the shore:
 |
| Walleye upside down. |
 |
| Walleye upright. |
 |
| Walleye upside down. |
 |
| Walleye upright. |
 |
| Walleye upside down. |
Gibbs continued to walk behind me while we were making our way upstream to our fishing spots. It wasn't until
45 seconds after the walleye was caught did he put the net down to look for the hook or my line. At this time, I had my back to Gibbs walking upstream towards my family. Gibbs removed the hook.
I never saw the hook when the walleye was netted. I never saw the hook when it was removed. And, no one expressed any concerns about how the fish was caught or where it was hooked.
 |
| This is a screenshot from the Witness Video just before Gibbs reached into the net to look for and remove the hook. I am in red, back to Gibbs, walking upstream. |
After Gibbs walked with my walleye in the net for nearly a minute, he was finally able to hand it to me. I looked down and then looked back up. I was in shock! I had been fishing for a long time and never saw anything as big as the walleye I was holding in the net. I knew at that moment, I was holding a potential state record and immediately started yelling "HOLY SHIT! That's a state record!" I normally don't swear in front of my young children, but at this moment, I couldn't contain myself. My wife snapped the image below just before my phone died.
There was no damage on the outside of the walleye as documented by the images.
 |
| This image was taken by my wife at 3:00pm showing my record walleye in the net. |
 |
| Closeup image of the record walleye in the net shortly after the hook was removed. There is no damage to the back, body, or tail. |
Witnesses were congratulating me, cheering and telling me I had to "mount that fish." They were also saying things like, "that thing is huge," "holy," "nice catch" and "that will be close to state record..." I kept stating, "We got to go."
Gibbs and other witnesses were telling me I "had to get the walleye mounted."
Someone walked in from further upstream and asked, "You done with that spot?" I responded, "Ya, but Joe's still got his spot there...you can take mine." The person responded, "Awesome!" I believe this person was the witness "Quad Rider" who pulled up behind my wife a couple of seconds before the walleye was netted.
Witnesses were asking if they could fish my spot on the shore.
I kept saying to my family, we had to go..."have to go now." Then someone stated, "put it on the scale man." Gibbs held out a digital scale to weigh the walleye. I untangled the walleye from the net and placed it on Gibbs's digital scale. A witness stated, "You got it..." I replied, "This has got to be a record. That's the biggest walleye I've ever seen in my life." Gibbs asked, "You going to get it mounted?" I replied, "Ya. It's going on the wall." I started yelling out the weights to the small crowd that gathered as the scale was locking in, "15...16-3...16-6!"
Again, no one voiced any concerns as to how the walleye was caught or where it was hooked. And, nearly everything described so far was captured by images and two separate videos.
After weighing my walleye on the digital scale, I wrapped it up in my Carhartt jacket and left the river with my family.
We made our way up the dike upstream and walked past an ATV. We crossed the busy road and made our way to the parking lot of the park. It was decided, I would take the walleye to get it verified while my wife would stay at the park with the kids.
No one voiced any concerns about how the walleye was caught, and no one tried to prevent me from leaving with the walleye.
Questions
If anyone was concerned about how my walleye was caught, why didn't they say something to me at the time? Why did the allow me to leave with the walleye? Why did they ask to take my spot on the shore? Instead of confronting me at the time the fish was caught, the only witness who provided an official statement waited over seven hours after I left before he spoke out. Why? Was he unsure of what he saw? Did he become upset? Did he take time to corroborate a story? Did he become jealous? Has jealousy always been an issue for Game and Fish?
Potential changes
This blog was
NOT written or created to get people on my side about how my walleye was caught. What I am asking you to do is please review my situation and identify any areas for improvement. If you identify areas for improvement, request and advocate for changes. Let's make it better for the future generations of anglers.
In this post, I am explaining my side of events. I am pointing out how the walleye were aggressive biting the tails off of our plastic baits. We had already caught several larger walleye which were all hooked in the mouth. When I caught the big one, I was
NOT concerned about how it was caught. I
NEVER saw the hook when the walleye was caught and
NEVER removed the hook.
NO one told me where the walleye was hooked. There were a lot of people on the shore who witnessed me catch the walleye and
NO one expressed any concerns as to how it was caught. There was
NO damage on the outside of the walleye and
NO indication it was foul-hooked - no blood and no hole. Witnesses celebrated with me and asked if I was going to get the fish mounted. I was excited and screaming out to the crowd how the walleye was a "state record." It was one of the happiest and most exciting times of my life.
Because of these facts, I chose to leave with my walleye.
If I could go back in time, would I do some things different? Absolutely. Next time I catch a potential record fish, I will most likely hit it over the head, stuff it full of rocks, sink it to the bottom of the lake and call in a nuclear strike to vaporize the entire area. OK, I'm kidding...a little bit. Honestly, I don't believe I will ever turn in another fish for a record until things change. But, I have some recommendations for you if you believe you caught a state record fish.
For starters, don't assume anything and document everything. If you aren't able to net your own fish, get as close as you can, pay attention while the fish is netted and specifically watch for the location of the hook. Ask to unhook your own fish. Ask for names and contact information of all potential witnesses. Ask if anyone had concerns as to how your fish was caught. Ask if anyone took pictures or video and request copies. If you have any doubts, any doubts at all, measure the fish and throw it back. If there are any concerns, it is NOT worth it! There are NO royalties or endorsements for catching a record fish. The box stores take the published measurements and create their own replicas. There is NO money in it for you. All you get is short-lived fame and your name on a website and some printed materials.
Contrary to what many believe, there is NO benefit for catching a record fish other than bragging rights.
The current regulation (as of January 2020) states,
"A foul-hooked or snagged fish is defined as any fish hooked or caught in any area from behind the gill covers to the tail. Any foul-hooked or snagged fish must immediately be returned to the water regardless of condition. Possession of foul-hooked fish is illegal."
There are so many things wrong with this regulation, I don't even know where to begin. For now, I will state one thing which we could change for the better. It is as simple as adding one word. This word, would make all the difference in the world and would be the single best thing Game and Fish could do to make changes for the better.
Like many of our state laws, the current regulation needs to include the word "knowingly."
For example, the regulation should read
"it is a (noncriminal) offense to knowingly keep a foul-hooked fish." This simple word change would protect a lot of innocent people. People who had no concerns and kept a fish, but later couldn't prove where the hook was located. People who caught a fish legally, but the fish spit the hook before a picture or video could be taken. People who kept a fish but never saw where it was hooked because they didn't net it or remove the hook.
The word 'knowingly' provides the angler and citizen with the benefit of the doubt.
The word '
knowingly' supports the principle of "innocent until proven guilty." The word '
knowingly' would make the regulation citizen-focused.
You know what keeps running through my head, what if I would have handed that fishing rod to my son or daughter that day to reel in the big walleye? I often do this as you can see by my images. If my child would have reeled in the fish, he or she would have been considered the criminal because they ultimately "caught" and "kept" the fish. Should a child, or anyone for that matter, be considered a criminal if it were proven they unknowingly or unintentionally hooked a fish in the wrong spot?
There is no reason for this regulation to have a criminal penalty with the potential for jail time.
What if? What if you caught a fish and had no concerns as to how it was caught. Then later, an upset witness lied to an investigator and an investigation was opened. What if you never saw the hook when your fish was caught, never removed the hook and couldn't definitively prove your innocence even though there was a lot of evidence to support it was hooked legally? Should you be considered a criminal for keeping the fish? Have you ever upset someone while fishing? Maybe you got too close to another boat. Maybe you crossed someone's line while casting. Maybe you got to the good spot before others did. Maybe you kept a fish others felt you should have released because it was full of eggs. If any of these things happen while you are fishing, you better be able to prove, without a doubt, every fish you keep was hooked in the mouth.
The current regulation does not give anglers the benefit of the doubt.
There are a lot more things that need our attention and resources than criminal penalties for unintentionally hooking a fish in the wrong spot. How about Game and Fish spend more resources and time on enforcing and investigating trespass violations? There are a lot of angry private land owners out there who would love to see some consequences for the disrespectful hunters who trespass on private land and threaten their livelihood. These landowners are so upset, they are begging for changes in our state laws. How about Game and Fish step up enforcement in this area to assist those land owners? To me, this would be a more beneficial use of time and resources.
In my next post, I will explain how my walleye was "verified."
#northdakotaslargestwalleye #volkswalleye #ndrecordwalleye
Comments
Post a Comment