Missing walleye from stringer

[ehg]

musky/pike all the way a pike or musky will attack it a few times, head shake and then realize they can't swim away with it and then do a death roll and rip the jaw open on the walleye

 

Fish don't do death rolls. Think you are confusing fish with alligators.

 

Fish don't swim backwards either.

 

Have caught hundreds of musky/pike after 30 yrs. hardcore fishing.

Had musky/pike hit walleye while reeling in. They don't leave single puncture wounds or do death rolls.

Usually there rows of teeth leave large mouth shaped cut wounds from rows of relatively small but razor sharp teeth before they let go.

 

The first answer of snapping turtle seems most correct and have seen minks raid stringers as well.

 

Oh well...

[Gregoire]

I had a musky do a death roll earlier this year and a pike do one last week. Not sure about that statement. You're assessment of the thief seems accurate to me though.

[ehg]

I had a musky do a death roll earlier this year and a pike do one last week. Not sure about that statement. You're assessment of the thief seems accurate to me though.

Maybe to shake a hook fish will jump or seem to roll.

Otherwise they are designed to stay upright. Dorsal fins, pelvic fins, etc... are there to maintain this balance.

Basic high school biology shows that a fish needs to stay upright to maintain swim bladder and other vital organs.

 

Alligators do "death rolls". Fish may jump or appear to roll when hooked to save their lives.

 

Basic biology shows the need for fish to stay upright.

 

"death rolls" Geez....

[bare foot wader]

Fish don't do death rolls. Think you are confusing fish with alligators.

 

Fish don't swim backwards either.

 

Have caught hundreds of musky/pike after 30 yrs. hardcore fishing.

Had musky/pike hit walleye while reeling in. They don't leave single puncture wounds or do death rolls.

Usually there rows of teeth leave large mouth shaped cut wounds from rows of relatively small but razor sharp teeth before they let go.

 

The first answer of snapping turtle seems most correct and have seen minks raid stringers as well.

 

Oh well...

 

geeze, lots of biologists around here

 

I have personally witnessed pike grab my walleye on the stringer, head shake like crazy, keep the walleye in its mouth and roll, ripping the walleye's jaw open and swimming away

 

perhaps not an alligator death roll so the biologists can call it whatever you want, it didn't give up the walleye and rolled (white belly upside down in the water) and thrashed around until he got my fish

 

you've never had a musky leave a puncture wound on a fish???

[smally21]

in spite of basic biology fish don't explode when inverted, and seem to do so to get free of something, or to get a better purchase on something, or to rip something up...who hasn't seen a fish invert or shake or whatever...

 

there was no suggestion the musky hovered inverted the entire time

 

what do you call it when pike and musky get the line wrapped around them at the side of the boat..pretty sure the fish rolled around..i certainly didn't wrap the rod around it a half dozen times.

[dave524]

Not a turtle! I see individual punctures of teeth, any turtle I have seen don't have teeth but a sharp beak, they would grab and rip chunks but not leave individual teeth marks. Mink, otter fisher raccoon or possibly a fish but not a turtle.

[Gregoire]

Maybe to shake a hook fish will jump or seem to roll.

Otherwise they are designed to stay upright. Dorsal fins, pelvic fins, etc... are there to maintain this balance.

Basic high school biology shows that a fish needs to stay upright to maintain swim bladder and other vital organs.

 

Alligators do "death rolls". Fish may jump or appear to roll when hooked to save their lives.

 

Basic biology shows the need for fish to stay upright.

 

"death rolls" Geez....

 

 

I don't know why this bugs me, maybe it is your know it all tone, but I have seen pike and musky roll multiple times. While I am not trained or educated as a biologist or otherwise I do watch a lot of swamp people and have caught a fair number of pike and musky in the past few years. In my mind the death roll that an alligator will do in an attempt to escape being caught is very similar to what a musky and pike will do. Instead of arguing semantics, and trying to prove that you are right and others are wrong you could admit that others can reasonably see things differently or that you may have been mistaken. Just my 2 cents.

[ehg]

Fish don't 'roll'. they do headshakes.

They are designed to stay upright. After catching thousands,

I would say 99.9999% came to net in normal upright position.

Sure they did a headshake or jumped. If they rolled they came in belly up which was problematic.

 

 

Anything with teeth would have punctured the eyes of the walleye there,

not squished them down.

Edited July 27, 2012 by ehg

[Gregoire]

Fish don't 'roll'. they do headshakes.

They are designed to stay upright. After catching thousands,

I would say 99.9999% came to net in normal upright position.

Sure they did a headshake or jumped. If they rolled they came in belly up which was problematic.

 

 

Anything with teeth would have punctured the eyes of the walleye there,

not squished them down.

 

They all come in as you described. As they are fighting at the boat they will roll as they meet the resistance of the rod and line. As has been previously mentioned that is why they will get wrapped in the line occacionally and is one reason why many musky anglers prefer to use fluoro or mono leaders, as they will do less damage to a fish when they roll.

 

This is the last I will comment on this topic, as I realize that it is pointless to debate with someone who is never wrong in his mind. Believe what you want.

[grimsbylander]

I'm thinking it's self inflicted wounds from a common walleye suicide attempt. All those years off living in fear of being eaten by a vicious predator and hiding out in dark thick weeds must be depressing. Only to end up on the end of a stringer facing certain death and a stick of melted butter. Just saying...

[cram]

It was colonel mustard in the library with the wrench.

 

 

Still think it was a mink.

[cityfisher]

learned my lesson manny years ago... dont use stringers snapping turtles and musky love an easy meal

[northernpike56]

snapping turtles have stolen my fish 3 times.. from what ive noticed, they usaully go for the slim bodied fish first (had one take 1 small walleye off and only munched on 2 smallies I had on as well.., had one take a pike but leave the crappie, and the other one took a rainbow trout.) It really ticks me off, but now I usaully check my stringer every 15-30 minutes depending on where I'm fishing.

[crappieperchhunter]

 

A mammalian attack would have been loud and obvious. It's possible, if the dock was a ways away from the cottage, otherwise I think the commotion would have been heard.

 

 

 

I have had mink/weasel take fish from me while I'm shore fishing and they are less then 3 feet away. If I had not been looking in that direction and seen the movement he would have got away scott free because he never made a sound. BTW it was a 10 inch perch and I was having a real good day so I just let him have it. Met up with him...I'm assuming the same one again...3 more times that fall and he came up to me and took fish everytime.