Walleye weight vs. Length?

When it comes to bass… I can give you a pretty close estimate. But when it comes to walleye… I have no clue. Here are two pictures of walleyes I caught this fall. The first is a 26″ fish that weighed “6 lbs” on my scale. The next is a 28-1/2″ fish that weighed “7 lbs” on my scale. I was thinking the 7 lb fish should have been more like 8, but didn’t question it. However, now that I think about it, I’ve had some fish lay on that scale that didn’t seem right to me. After turning off the scale and re-weighing the fish, I’ve had different results. So tell me. Looking at this fish (second & 3rd picture) what SHOULD a 28-1/2″ walleye with solid fall girth weigh?

Thanks,

Cade

oh, and also, guess where I was.

7 to 7 1/4 pounds is about right for that kind of girth. Nice fish none the less

Don’t you just cut your line when you have them next to the boat Cade

As a VERY general rule, I usually put a walleyes weight with the last number in the length… 26″-6LB. 27″-7lb. 28″-8lb. On that lazy mans scale I’d put your walleye at 8.5 lbs. Funny though, if you would have claimed 10 lbs. I wouldn’t have doubted it. If you said 7lbs, again, no arguement. Pics are strange that way. The pic of new Ill. state record recently caught blew me away. No way I would have put that fish at 13-14 lbs. or whatever its weight. Looked more like 11 tops. Not disputing the weight by any means but pics are deceiving that way.

PREDICTION……..You will be fishing walleye tournies within 5 yrs

Location is easy, you were fishing “It’s cold in here hill”

I fully agree with Mr. Jensen’s general rule. It’s surprisingly accurate most of the time but there are exceptions to all rules. One exception is pre-spawn female walleyes. They tend to weigh more than the rule would imply
where as post spawn walleyes can tend to weigh slightly less than the rule implies.

Your 28-1/2″ fish, I would put that fish right at 8lbs.

Nice fish regardless of what it weighed though!

a 28-1/2″ Eye can range from 6lbs to 11lbs depending on the fish and time of year. I caught a 29-3/4″ on pool 8 that was wide across the back and a really healthy fish, still she weighed exactly 9lbs (caught in June).

My dad has one mounted at 29-1/2 which wasn’t as wide across the back but was full of spawn that went 10lb 10oz. I caught a 22″ eye that went 5lbs 3 oz, and have caught 28″ eyes that barely broke 6lbs. This is the main reason that I measure walleye size by length first.

I’ve found that the digital scales are usually pretty accurate. Regardless of what it weighs, it’s a nice fish. Just tell everybody you caught a 28-1/2

In all 3 photos you are holding the fish out towards the camera. That will always make the fish look larger. I use the formula length x girth squared divided by 800. It clearly shows the importance of girth in estimating fish weight. While the relationship between length and weight is linear, the relation ship between girth and weight is exponential. I caught two 28″ walleyes in Canada one day that only had 14 1/2″ girths and weiged in just over 7 lbs. I had a 28″ on LotW on a March trip with a 16″ girth that went over 8 1/2 lbs.

I think the Max weight of a walleye caught in a bass boat is 2.2 lbs…

A bass guy not lippin his fish??

Cade, do yourself a favor and get a 0-12# or 0-25# Chantillon (brass) scale which are certified accurate and quit guessing, because length and weight including girth can alot of times really fool you…..

I agree with Joel…
Mississippi River fish are heavier per inch than the Walleye I catch in Bays de Noc… A Little Bay de Noc 29″ fish will generally be 8 to 8.5lbs (max). But those fish are more nomadic, chasing alwives and shad for miles.
Pre Spawn girls can have huge girths and top the charts…

This is my PB Walleye from P-4. It measured 30.5″ but pulled the Rapala Digital to 11 lbs 11oz… I didn’t have a tape to measure the girth but she was really fat with eggs.

Looks like it was the skinny period of the year which was no help, I’d say those weights are pretty damn close for both fish, catching them pre-spawn would of increased your weight quite a bit. Very nice fish though just bad time of the year to catch em.