One-Eyed Survivor

[Fishnwire]

Last year I caught a decent-sized walleye out of my lake but one of the trebles on the plug I was using got deep into his eye and and when I extracted the hook, most of the eye came with it. This was a good sized fish (4-5 lbs) for the body of water so I released it as soon as possible to breed .

 

Afterwards I thought about it and wondered if maybe I just should have just harvested the fish. I was worried about it dying from infection at the eye or slowly starving to death, it's new handicap preventing it from catching regular meals. I posted a topic here saying as much. Several members chimmed in to assure me the fish would survive just fine. I wasn't 100% convinced.

 

Last week I was throwing a Spook at a small rapid's edge and "SMASH!"...I tie into something with shoulders. I real it in and net it. It's a long FAT walleye...a particularily good catch for the water I'm on. I have a closer look and realize it's missing an eye. It's the same fish! This is not a large body of water, there are not a lot of walleye to start with and even fewer big ones. The eye socket has scarred over nicely. His colour was excellent and his belly full. That answers my question about whether or not a big walleye can survive (and thrive) with only one eye.

 

I hope some of you got as big a kick out of that as I did. Sorry no pics...when I turned on the camera it said "Change the Batteries" then turned off.

Edited July 7, 2010 by Fishnwire

[Raf]

Proof that C&R works! Well done. A fish, no matter how wounded, has a better chance at survival released than in your frying pan.

 

Reminds me of One-Eyed-Sid, a Niagara River muskie missing a goggle that a few anglers have caught & released over the years.

[Roy]

Good story with a happy ending....

[alexcba]

nice! resilient little buggers those fish are

[Dozer]

Awesome story, you didn't accidentally gauge out his other eye did ya? He's sorta screwed then, I think

 

Just playin'.

[LucG]

Good story! I'm sure it made you feel that much better about C&R huh?

[Joey]

So how did it taste

 

That's pretty cool!!

 

Joey

[Terry]

that is cool

[alexcba]

lol anyone remember the carp with no tail bob izumi caught? fish dont need much to live. they just need a chance after their caught.

[capt bruce]

A real good friend has a cottage on a small lake outside bancroft and invites me there a few times every year . Four years ago I caught a 2 1/2- 3 pound bass off his dock at night , it had only one eye . I thought wow he lived this long with one eye , so after some thought I let him go , let nature take its course . I have caught this bass 5 times since and its now close to 5 pounds . Been up there twice since opener and have not as yet seen him but hopeing hes still around . He lived at least 3 years that I know and maybe more , heres hopeing I will catch him again this year and hes still alive and well . Fish are not as delicate as we believe as long as you dont rip out their gills I think they do ok , catch and release does work , just take care at how you handle them and keep your hands out of their gills .

[bare foot wader]

I always thought vision played a minimal part in their feeding efficiency...always thought that scent and lateral line were the two dominant tools used for tracking down prey.....always cool catching the same fish and seeing how much they can grow in a year....cool story.

[lunkerbasshunter]

i caught a fish that had was deep hooked before. It had a really rusted hook in it. Not sure if this is the so called "disove process" but it was cleary still feeding and a good belly on it so yeah I believe fish are pretty hardy, or at least more then most would think

 

CHeers!

[timmeh]

You're right C&R works.

 

I've caught the same bass 3 seasons in a row now. He's missing his right eye. First year he was 14", last year he was 16.5", and last week when I got him he was 18". He's been sitting roughly in the same pool for a while now.

 

The interesting thing is I usually find right after the opener but every year I've looked again in the fall and can't figure out where he's holding up. I wouldn't mind finding the overwintering pool he's moving to in the fall.

[Leecher]

Amazing story.... with a happy ending