North Dakota angler Tom Volk caught a 16-pound, 9-ounce walleye on Easter Sunday that beat the weight of the previous state record for largest walleye by 12 ounces.
Volk’s haul was posted on Facebook by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department the following day, announcing him as the new state record-holder. The publicized picture caused witnesses to come forward, which prompted the Game and Fish Department to open an investigation.
The investigation found that there was evidence that the walleye was foul-hooked, which disqualifies the catch from state records. Volk insists that the fish was not foul-hooked and therefor not an illegal catch and plans to work out “an appeal process of some sort” with the help of a lawyer, according to the Billings Gazette.
