Ho hum. ...
Social media exploded over the weekend with news that Jared Shypkoski of Dickinson, N.D., had landed a possible state record walleye Saturday, March 13, on the Missouri River south of Bismarck.
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Greg Power, fisheries chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, said a game warden confirmed the big walleye's weight at 16.39 pounds – or 16 pounds, 6 ounces – on a certified scale.
"Not a state record officially," Power said Monday morning in an email. "We'll make that determination in the weeks ahead."
If it's confirmed, the walleye will break the current record, a 15-pound, 13-ounce walleye Neal Leier of Bismarck caught in May 2018 on the Missouri River south of Bismarck.
Neal Leier of Bismarck caught this 15-pound, 13-ounce walleye in May 2018 on the Missouri River south of Bismarck. The big walleye stands as the state's official state record fish – at least for the time being. (Photo/ North Dakota Game and Fish Department)
Behemoth walleyes and potential state record fish in North Dakota have been an annual occurrence since Leier's record catch, which snapped a record that had stood since 1959, when Blair Chapman of Minnewaukan, N.D., caught a 15-pound, 12-ounce walleye from Wood Lake in Benson County.
Steeped in controversy, the Chapman fish was the subject of much rumor and speculation over the years that it wasn’t caught on hook-and-line but instead was found floating in the lake.
Then, in April 2019, a Lincoln, N.D., angler caught a 16-pound, 9-ounce walleye on the Heart River that later was disqualified from state record status after the Game and Fish Department ruled the fish had been foul hooked.
Last spring, outdoors TV personality Jason Mitchell of Devils Lake released ed a 34-inch walleye on the Missouri River south of Bismarck that was a full inch-and-a-half longer than Leier's 32½-inch walleye. Instead of keeping the fish as a potential state record, Mitchell decided to savor the memory and call it good.
“I didn’t want to kill the fish unless I knew for sure,” Mitchell told the Herald in April 2020. “It was an incredible fish I’ll remember vividly my entire life.”
This is a developing story. Check back for further updates.
March 16, 2021 at 03:35AM
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North Dakota has a new potential state record walleye, Game and Fish Department says - Grand Forks Herald
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