Winner-Winner, Walleye for Dinner!

Mission accomplished. ‘Momma we made it. I came, I saw, I conquered. There’s nothing better than setting an astronomical goal (catching an abundant fish many people catch) and achieving it. See below for the face of a man who just engaged Gaia (Mother Earth) in a staring contest and didn’t blink:

No I’m not going to show you a full picture until I’ve dragged you through this entire blog – trust me, it will (probably not ) be worth it. As you know, I’ve been tracking one of the baddest fish in the game – the Walleye (wallie for short). I’ve been primarily fishing up and down the Susky, Ozzy, and ‘Nango rivers. All three of these behomoths are supposedly known for smallies, wallies, and pike. You would think places like this:

And this:

And this:

would have made it easy for me to catch a wallie. Well they didn’t. I’ve been grinding like all heck trying to catch one of these monsters and haven’t landed a single one in two months of fishing in central NY. What I have caught is nothing short of spectacular smallies (smallmouth bass for a reminder). I don’t know what it is but around here bass are mean and not-very-lean, take a look at this big boy:

I caught that guy out on the Susky, he was holed up under a fallen tree. I tried using a jig at first and got nothing so I walked farther down shore – BUT…. I was ticked off because I was sure there was a big bass in there so I walked back, switched lures, and sure enough landed him. I was really happy at first, catching big smallies is super fun and a great challenge. But I went to bed that night watching videos of people catching wallies, not smallies (every great athlete watches tape). Well, actually, I tried to go to bed but noticed a certain someone had systematically gathered all of my sheets together in order to make a nest for himself:

Fast forward a week later and I decided that I would fish my most familiar spots on the Susky. I went back to the place I caught a pike (reminder I caught a huge pike that one time) hoping that it’s a place predators frequent. It was super nice out and my hopes were high. After a few hours of fishing these waters:

My spirits were waning. I mean I didn’t think I was guaranteed to find what I’ve been seeking but I figured I’d at least catch another bass. This spot has very slow moving water that is also adjacent to a swift current, so it is actually pretty ideal for a bigger fish to sit back and wait for little guys to come to him. But alas, no bites for me. I decided to head back and stop at a spot I’ve always thought would have a big bass in it but for whatever reason I never had any luck. It was where a release valve for a creek fed into the Susky:

I’ve done nothing but lose lures here but figured I might as well give it another shot before heading home and giving Bubz his dinner. Of course I ended up losing a lure in the tree yet again. I was about to give up but, stubborn as I am, decided on a few more casts. And finally, something bit! It felt strong but nothing crazy at first. After fighting for a bit I figured I had a really nice bass on the line. As I managed to reel it in closer it started to really do some tricky moves – stuff that smallies, as hard as they fight, don’t usually do. The fish got closer and I saw a brief flash of gold, but again, not quite the way a bass looks. Finally, it was close to shore and I managed to land it:

LET’S GOOOOOO! I have been trying to catch this fish for way too long! Walleye are pretty badass, they have massive and very spiky dorsal fins, black eyes as if they are possessed, and teeth you do not want to mess with:

Luckily, this wallie was big enough to take home and everything I’ve read about this fish claimed it was seriously good eating. I decided I’d fry it up in a beer batter for some fish and chips. Beer batters are simple – just some flour, corn starch, whatever seasoning you want, and cheap beer. You want it to have a pancake batter consistency. The key is to put the fillets in flour first, dunk it into the batter, and then put it into some oil for fry. I would recommend also making some tarter sauce to serve with it. Just some mayo, sweet relish, salt, and lemon juice and you got yourself a tasty dish!

Okay, so I fully admit some of the fish I’ve fried up in the past (mainly crappie and perch) don’t turn out so well because its such a small amount of meat. But wallies offer a really good meat yield and it held up really well to the cooking method. I was honestly shocked with how good the dish was. The meat is very tender and flaky – I’d call it the freshwater cod. It was the best fish and chips I’ve ever had, I suppose the benefits of super fresh meat. I prefer white meat when it comes to fish so I wasn’t too surprised that I preferred it to trout (which are very similar to salmon in taste).

So Cheers! Literally:

This is why I’ve fallen in love with fishing. You get to set a goal. And then you get to fail, fail….. and fail some more. But the times things finally fall your way you get to:

a) claim it is all because of your skills

b) text your friend Tommy and make him feel super jealous

c) eat a delicious meal

And, you know, I guess the whole being outdoors, feeling fulfilled, and eager to pursue another goal makes it worth it too. So once again, I suggest you…

Cast and pray,

Jon (bonus complete fail of a picture)