That is nice to hear that we are starting to get more of these fish showing up here. Not sure where there coming from, but it is encouraging news. If there plan is to eventually stop stocking Chinooks, why not replace them with a boat & shore fishery consisting of perch, walleye, smallies, trout & an occasional Northern

Very cool! Sounds like a healthy fish from the length/weight.

I hope your not suggesting that someone would illegally stock Walleye's into Lake Michigan. That would not be NICE to do.
Ken S.

(NICE to do)

What a thrill it was to hook up with this Walleye
while being in a Chinook frame of mind!
Im totally on board with Mr. Vizzone's suggestion.
A revised stocking effort by the DNR should be
seriously considered.

Thank You Mr. Bowman

p.s. Thank's Ken - Rich R. says HEY!

I keep hoping enough walleye will show up without much stocking effort. And hoping and hoping.
Maybe it is time for some help.
Dale

No doubt it is great to see this catch out of Lake Michigan. Is there any better pictures of the walleye?

Coho Joe give me an hour or so, and I will post a photo that better shows the walleye in relation to Mike. I had been holding the best photo until it ran in the Sun-Times.

Very nice fish Mike. Maybe with a little more interest and publicity we can get a year round boat ramp somewhere near downtown!

Congrats Mike on a great fish, caught by a great guy. You rock !
As far as stocking goes, it's just wishful thinking. The DNR is a mess with no sign of relief.

I'd like to know what happened to the fish? Was it released back into the lake?

As far as I know, Mike plans to have it mounted.

My one regret is that the fish did not survive the trip to Henry's, I really did not have the means to keep it alive. I do practice catch and release when possible.
I hope that my catch could somehow serve as a
catalyst for change with our Great lakes stocking program.
Thanks for the kudos guys
Mr. Bowman, could you check back with Steve on the length? I remember it measuring 28-1/8

Mike
I will. My notes have it as 27 1/8, but as you know there was a lot of discussion during the weighing and measuring while talking to me. I will doublecheck with Steve

Waleye Stocking Program

For years now I wanted to start a orginazation for stocking Walleye's in the southern part of
Lake Michigan. Something like Salmon Unlimited did. Form a large group of fisherman, get donations and pay for them ourselves. The only thing that stopped me was the same thing that first stopped S.U., the DNR. If we had a large enough group we could put enought pressure on the DNR so they let us stock them. I a board member of Perch America and our Wolf Lake Walleye stocking is a great SUCCESS. If we got the ok and let the DNR oversee our stockings my question is? What are your opinions. Pro or Con

Thanks Ken S.

I pulled the comment out and set it up as a separate entry to allow better response at http://blogs.suntimes.com/bowman/2008/09/borrowed_hooks_other_looks_wal.html

That's a great catch, Dad! Way to break the Chicago record... Congratulations!

I've had the pleasure of fishing the lake front a few times with this very knowledgeable fisherman. Finely something good came to someone who deserved it. " Congratulations Mike "

JP SR.

Few years back I was at the Hammond Outdoor show and went to a sminar put on by the guys who own the bait shop on the Blvd in Hammond.Thay claim the lake has a large population of eyes.Said you have to fish the right spot, under low lighting or at night. This is not a surprise to me. Do they come from Wolf, St Joe, or Green Bay? Hard to say, but sure would be nice to count on a few each year from shore. The fotos are great!