POST 8: April 22nd (9:01am) - Announcement of the New Record

Official Announcement of the New North Dakota State Record Walleye

It was Monday morning, April 22, 2019 - the morning after catching the walleye. At 9:01am, I received an email alert from Game and Fish with the announcement of the new North Dakota state record walleye. A press release was attached to the email. See image below.

The press release stated, "Tom Volk's 16-pound, 9-ounce walleye caught on April 21 broke the record that was set nearly a year ago, and prior to that had gone untouched for nearly 60 years. The Lincoln angler reeled in the 32 and one-half inch fish from shore along the Heart River in Mandan, besting the old record by three-quarters of a pound that was set last may by Neil Leier of Bismarck while fishing the Missouri River."

Even though I NEVER filled out the required application to be recognized for a state record, Game and Fish announced my walleye broke the state record. 

Changes

Game and Fish should NOT have published a press release stating my walleye broke the state record considering I NEVER filled out the application to be recognized for the state record. The fact that they published this announcement and then later retracted it, opened me up to public hatred, contempt and ridicule. This is especially true considering they intentionally withheld the fact I NEVER submitted the application to be recognized for the state record. How many of you knew I NEVER filled out the application to be recognized for a state record?

Even though I believed (and still believe) my walleye was caught legally and believed (and still believe) I could prove that in a court of law, I did NOT fill out the application to be recognized for a record nor do I want to.

My walleye became controversial and it was not in the best interests of the angling community to submit for a record.

I believe Game and Fish has since changed the practice of announcing records without the required paperwork, and I believe they have now implemented a 2-week waiting period before making a new record announcement. This is a good change, but it can't be the only change.

#northdakotaslargestwalleye #volkswalleye #justiceforthelargestwalleye