Quinte Fishing

How can I tell the difference between a male walleye and a female walleye, without killing it and cleaning it? (Serious replies only please. Lol)

Al, there is no way to determine sex without fileting them. Other than that, during or close to spawn you can tell

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Pure Fishing Ambassador

I agree with shark. I have seen plenty of fish cleaned at the fish cleaning station that we thought were males and ended up having eggs in them.

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Dan Elliot - A bad day on Quinte is better than a good day at work !!!
http://www.quintefishing.com

Thanks guys. I was sort of hoping that there was some sort of indicator. Just really hate to clean a female.

I guess I can stop talking dirty to them now.

Big_Al...

An interesting question for sure and more so a dilemma for anybody trying to keep males and release females or vice versa. And for the sake of a strong fishery a question deserving a serious answer.

I did some snooping on the internet after you posted and of course as previously mentioned the filet knife tells all and is how I would go. I did however find an interesting tidbit from a biologist statement: The female will have a keyhole shaped anus while the males are more round.

A theory to be tested this fall I am sure...sorry fellas I was on a few different sites and went back to find it again so I could post the link but was unable to find it, memory serves me it was a forum type thread were a biologist chimed in. The thread did have a more serious overtone which led me not to doubt the statement.

Surely we have some fish biologist types that can chime in on this forum for us...I would certainly like to hear the answer and put it to good use.

Steve
WalleyeWon

Would be great to find out for sure. I cleaned a couple of Pickies at the end of August this year from the Bay that were about 2.5 pounds, and was surprised that one of them had eggs. It would've went back for sure if I would've known.

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There's something wrong with that rod.
It has a bend in it!!!

From that website




Examine the walleye's posterior. The anus on a male is circular while the anus of a female resembles a keyhole, and the female's will become larger once it is time for her to lay eggs.

4


Examine the weight of your walleye. A male will weigh less and look slimmer than a female, with a more streamlined appearance; female walleyes are rounder and plump



Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_8539534_tell-be ... leyes.html

Don't know if it's true or not but i've heard that walleye/trout eggs don't actually hatch during the fall?? They either don't hatch at all or they hold them all winter and hatch in the spring?

Is this right...anyone know?

Walleye spawn in the spring

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Bob MacMillan
Owner/Operator
Kingston Sport Fishing
https://kingstonsportfishing.ca/

Yeah, i know they spawn in the spring! (So do trout)

They also carry spawn in the fall too...not sure if these one's actually hatch though?? That's what i'm asking?

The eggs are all spawned in spring. They take almost a year to develop

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Bob MacMillan
Owner/Operator
Kingston Sport Fishing
https://kingstonsportfishing.ca/

You can tell a female by the size of its ovaries. BATMAN

most spring spawners will have their eggs in them by now, they are a lot smaller at this point but they are there.

Off topic I know, but for the record it's only rainbow trout that spawn in the spring. Lake trout, speckled trout and brown trout all spawn in the fall.

More towards the topic, the good thing about trout (salmon) is it is easy to tell male vs female by the hooked jaw of the males. So far it doesn't sound like walleye have a similar distinctive characteristic to go by.

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