The Largest Walleye Caught in North Dakota

My Wife's Recorded Video Another piece of evidence was a video recorded by my wife of me reeling in the record walleye. I was unaware of this video until sometime after my interviews with the media.  Her video is 4 minutes, 25 seconds long and documented the final few minutes of me catching the record walleye. My wife stated she started recording her video as soon as she figured out it was a big fish. At the start of the recording, I was standing approximately 10 to 15 feet in front of her. When the recording ended, she was approximately 140 feet away from where the walleye was netted. The video started at 2:54pm (as recorded by the time-stamp on the video) and is broken down into two parts which were uploaded to YouTube. I have done my best to transcribe the video below. My Wife's Recorded Video – Overview Part 1:  https://youtu.be/A--mcCaz8HM . :00 - Head shakes can be seen in the rod. :09 - My wife, “You guys are giggling…” :18 - Me, “I can’t move this t...

The Review of Images After speaking with the attorneys, I reviewed all my images taken of the walleye. I wanted to see if there was anything I may have missed in those images. Here are some of the images and closeups:   Picture taken at 3:00pm on April 21st right after the fish was caught. Closeup image. There is no visible damage or blood.  Picture taken by AH at the park on April 21st around 5:00pm. Closeup of picture taken by AH.  Picture taken by Game and Fish at the bank of the Heart River on April 21st around 5:00pm.  Closeup of picture taken by Game and Fish. Soft Dorsal Fin Tears As you can see in the images, there is no damage to the back, body or tail - no hole or damaged scales. No blood. There were however, two tears in the soft dorsal fin of my walleye. The tears could be seen in some of the images.  It was later confirmed by the taxidermist the larger tear in the soft dorsal fin was an "o...

Attorney Consultations In my last post, the Tribune reporter just confirmed Game and Fish opened an investigation. Again, I was confused. I didn't know what Game and Fish was specifically investigating or what I should do. I had a lot of questions. At 9:13am on April 23rd, I began contacting attorneys to ask questions and discuss my situation.   I spoke with several different attorneys. I explained my side of events and provided images and videos to those that asked. Each attorney provided their own perspective and opinion, but some consistent points were made:  If I were charged for keeping a foul-hooked fish, and my case were to go to trial, Game and Fish would have to provide direct evidence proving beyond reasonable doubt the walleye was foul-hooked when it was caught. There would have to be a picture or video documenting the exact location of the hook at that time. The condition of the walleye supported it was caught legally.  All attorneys advised...

Bismarck Tribune contacted me. On April 23rd at 6:46am, the Bismarck Tribune contacted me and asked if I could talk about my walleye. I stated to the reporter I was hearing rumors of an investigation and Game and Fish wanted to  “ reverify my walleye. "  I told the reporter I didn't want to speak until Game and Fish had completed this process. The reporter respected my decision and ended the conversation.  This was the same language I later used with my taxidermist who requested I ship him the walleye as soon as possible. Here is a picture of that email to the taxidermist:  My email to the taxidermist stated, " Game and Fish wants to verify the fish one last time . There are rumors that I foul-hooked it. I'm saving the fish for them to inspect. Once they are done, I'll contact you."  I emailed the taxidermist and stated I was "saving the fish" for Game and Fish to inspect. I wanted them to inspect it.  Bismarck Tribune contact...

The First Recorded Walleye Inspection  At five in the morning on April 23rd, I had an idea. The idea was to take the walleye out of the freezer and record the condition of the body. The thought was to post the video for the public to view. I climbed out of bed and took the walleye out of the freezer. I placed the fish in the bathtub in warm water to thaw it enough to remove some of the frozen towels it was wrapped in. At 5:30am, I recorded a video of my walleye:  https://youtu.be/2eBO8fLR-Eg . My inspection showed there were no marks or damage on the fish near the back, body, tail or fins. All the scales were in place and there was no identifiable hole to be found anywhere on the outside of the walleye. (This was later verified by the taxidermist.) Here are some screenshots taken during the recorded inspection of the record walleye: Screenshot from the Inspection Video showing the back near the soft dorsal fin of my walleye (right side).  Screenshot from...

Other Complaints to Game and Fish When the media started airing the stories about my walleye and the 12-second video clip started circulating on social media, Game and Fish received a few more complaints. Here are those complaints:  Cameron Rants Rants made his conclusion my walleye was foul-hooked on the 12-second video clip from the Witness Video which was recorded 45 seconds after my walleye was caught and flopped in the net. The witness video did not document where the hook was located prior to the fish being caught, when the fish was caught and prior to Gibbs walking with the net over his shoulder for 45 seconds.  Darin Miller Miller stated he had "no doubt...the fish was snagged" and based his conclusion on the same Witness Video clip which was recorded 45 seconds after the walleye was caught and flopped in the net. Miller expressed his frustration about the "Wood Lake record walleye" and how that was a controversial record. Todd Blotsky...

A Short Clip from the Witness Video Unknown to me at the time, there was a short video clip circulating on social media. It was a 12-second clip from a much longer video taken by Witness #1 who was the young man fishing next to me who came a short time before my record walleye was caught. The clip can be viewed here:  https://youtu.be/Np3c2PTOS_g . The short clip was in poor quality and was a clip from a much longer video. What we will see in an upcoming post is, this clip took place 45 seconds after my walleye was caught, flopped and changed positions in the net. The witness video clip did not document where the hook was located at the time the walleye was caught and netted. On April 22nd, just before 10:00pm, I came across the short video clip on Facebook. I immediately posted a link to it on my Facebook page. Below is an image of my Facebook post. I stated in my post, "I'm not sure if this is my record fish or not in the video but Joe is giving his statement...

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. ”...

Gibbs Contacted by Game and Fish At 12:21pm on April 22nd, Gibbs's place of employment was contacted by Scott Winkelman, the investigator for Game and Fish. Winkelman stated he was " investigating " the walleye and Gibbs was " witness to the violation. " The investigator asked for Gibbs to provide a statement. These actions by Game and Fish were documented in the investigation report published by Game and Fish. Image of the Game and Fish investigation report stating "witness to the violation." Changes Because the Game and Fish investigator stated my walleye "was under investigation" and Gibbs was "witness to the violation," I had to seek legal advice. Game and Fish didn't contact me to ask for more information and didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt. Instead, it was implied a "violation" occurred. Up until this point, I had been providing evidence and information to Game and Fish and even ask...

Media Request from Mike McFeely with InForum After the press release was published by Game and Fish, it wasn't long before I was contacted by media outlets. Mike McFeely from InForum was one of the first to call. McFeely asked if I would be willing to talk for a few minutes about the walleye, and I gladly agreed. I was excited to tell people how I caught my record walleye and to provide more details, but it is important to recognize that 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. Here are some media statements published after speaking with Mike McFeely: "We probably caught 10 or 12 fish before that, and some good ones, before the big one. I cast my jig out and felt that nice thump you get when a nice fish takes it. I set the hook and knew right away it was a big fish," Volk said.  The walleye bi...

Text and Picture to Game and Fish On the night I caught my walleye, Mike Anderson with Game and Fish requested more information about how it was caught to write an article for a publication. At 9:20am on April 22nd, I sent him the following text message and attached a picture of my son holding up a walleye. Text message sent to Mike Anderson with Game and Fish with an attached image.  Attached image to Anderson of my son holding up a walleye hooked in the mouth with Gibbs in the white hat and Witness Knuth in red. Nearly everything I stated in my text message could be proven true with direct evidence. For example, My jig and Moxi bait appeared in several photos taken throughout the day. I did feel the bite of the fish and lost the tail off of my bait. In the video my wife recorded, the walleye did fight for a long time (over 4 minutes).  My wife's video also documented how the walleye fought under the water, conducted head shakes and the head remained upstr...

Jacob Magnes Contacted Game and Fish On April 22, 2019, Jacob Magnes left a "voice mail message" for Game and Fish as documented in an email to Greg Power. Scott Winkelman Returned Magnes's Call Scott Winkelman, the investigator for Game and Fish, returned Magnes's call. Here is the recorded conversation between the Game and Fish investigator and Jacob Magnes:  https://youtu.be/JW2_S3KBuCA . After listening to the statements by Magnes, he admitted he was NOT a witness to me catching my walleye. The investigator asked,  “I’m assuming you weren’t down there when it was caught?”  Magnes replied,  “ No. I was not. ”  In the Game and Fish Investigation Report, it referenced Magnes as an "Involved Person" and "Interviewed." The report also included two of Magnes's statements where he said,  "Was fishing that spot for 3 days and had not seen a fish over 20” actually bite…saw 8-10 fish over 27 inches caught that morning and all of ...