A North Dakota angler spent part of Easter Sunday setting a state record with his catch of a 16-pound, 9-ounce walleye.
Tom Volk’s catch on the Heart River replaces a 15-pound, 13-ounce walleye caught by Neal Leier last May on the Missouri River. (The Heart River is a Missouri River tributary.)
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department announced the record-setting catch Monday on Facebook.
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Before Leier’s catch last May, the previous state record had stood for nearly 60 years.
Volk, who caught his massive walleye while fishing from a crowded shoreline in Mandan, told InForum that he’s not confident that he’ll be a record holder for long.
“It might not last this year,” he said. “There are so many big fish in the system right now. So many guys are catching nice fish, I wouldn’t doubt if somebody breaks it fairly quickly. But I’m just enjoying the moment right now.”
Walleye swim from the Missouri River up the Heart River to spawn. The fish caught by Volk, on a plastic jig, was pregnant and bloated with eggs.
Volk’s fishing partner Joe Gibbs netted the walleye after a chaotic fight in a strong current.
Said Volk: “When Joe lifted the fish out of the river, I gasped. I’ve been fishing for 35 years and I’d never seen a walleye like that. It was huge.”
Volk added that other anglers cheered when the fish was safely on the shore.
For the sake of comparison, the International Game Fish Assn. lists as the all-tackle world record a 25-pound walleye caught from Old Hickory Lake in Tennessee in 1960.
