Walleyes are worth their weight in gold: Outdoors column

I am not big on proclaiming the best or the greatest of anything.

Not the best or greatest football or basketball player, the best or greatest restaurant, the best or greatest shotgun, or best or greatest movie.

I used to be that way, but not in a while. I finally figured out that if I love something or someone, you don’t have to. And vice versa.

It doesn’t matter.

For example, I loved watching former Atlanta Falcons running back William Andrews. I’m betting most don’t remember him. I do, because he hit the hole like a bundle of dynamite, ran like a wild horse, and was a very good receiver, too.

He put the fear of God into defenders. He had several terrific seasons, then was badly injured. He played tight end for a year, then was done.

Andrews is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but to me he is an all-time great. As the Roman’s said, “De gustibus.” There is no accounting for taste.

This idea goes for fish on the table, too. For many decades, walleyes – also known as yellow pike, blue pike, pike perch, and pickerel (in Canada) – were a huge Friday tradition in many parts of Upstate New York.

That was especially true in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area, where it seemed every tavern and restaurant – and there was one on every other corner – advertised pike dinners each Friday and welcomed scores of diners each week.

There are other favorite fish – perch, bluegills, brook trout, haddock, catfish. You might prefer one of them to all the others. Great. Still, none seem to generate the devotion that walleyes do, even today.

A plate of walleye fillets still is worth its weight in gold.

That’s why New York State spends the money to produce many thousands of these fish for planting in waters across the state, and why many thousands of anglers will be out on May 1 trying for their limits. The annual egg-taking program at the Oneida Fish Cultural Station – the Constantia Fish Hatchery – was completed earlier this month, part of the effort to keep walleyes available for many years into the future.

Bill Evans, the longtime hatchery manager, said his crew began setting nets on March 20 and brought in the first walleyes the next day. As many as 18 people worked to handle 11,593 adult walleyes and took more than 262 million eggs through April 5.

The egg-taking came earlier than usual. Evans said that was anticipated, and that the run seems to be coming earlier each year. Walleyes were in tributary creeks a week before the season ended March 15, and Evans said no one could remember that happening before. (We saw several photos of limit catches taken during that time.)

Earlier runs don’t necessarily mean earlier hatching and stocking, however, because the water often will stay cool. Evans said that doesn’t appear to be the case this year.

In any event, there will be plenty of walleyes available for stocking across the state. Once restricted to the Great Lakes, the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers, and the Allegheny River, they can now be found in 140 lakes and rivers in New York. Lake Erie’s fabulous walleye fishery is based on natural reproduction, but most others are supplemented by fish from Oneida.

You can catch walleyes almost anywhere now, including Oneida Lake itself, Lake Delta, Canadarago Lake, Otsego Lake, the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers, Chautauqua Lake, and most of the Finger Lakes.

Again, I am not sneering at panfish or trout or any of the above-named species, freshwater and saltwater. I think they all are terrific, and I will fight you hard for the last fillet on the plate – unless you are way bigger than I am. I wish I could try them all on a regular basis, kind of rotating them.

We should remember that New York State maintains fish consumption advisories and that recent research says all fish contain lifetime, not-terribly-healthy chemicals. Not to scare you, but four meals a month of fish caught in New York is the maximum recommended.

It’s one meal a month for pregnant women, children, and certain other groups. I know there are plenty of people who go way, way beyond that, and I suspect the state is being conservative on these numbers, but still. the advisories are worth paying attention to.

Those e advisories recently have been updated and restyled, and they are kind of depressing. For example, it is recommended that you eat no more than one meal a month of walleyes longer than 19 inches.

That information can be found here on the Department of Environmental Conservation web site: https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/fish/health_advisories/regional/statewide.htl.

There also is a list of advisories for specific waters across the state. For example, for many years, it has been recommended that you eat no trout or white suckers taken from Sauquoit Creek between the silk mill dam in Chadwicks downstream to the Mohawk River. Advisories on specific waters can be found by county at https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/outdoors/fish/health_advisories/by_county.htm.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury are the contaminants most often cited in advisories. PCBs are linked to developmental problems in children, and mercury is implicated in damage to brain function, and problems of the central nervous system and cardiovascular system. Sorry to spoil your appetite. None of this makes me want to stop eating walleyes or any of the other fish named above. Just not in high quantities.

Write to John Pitarresi at 60 Pearl Street, New Hartford, N.Y. 13413 or jcpitarresi41@gmail.com or call him at 315-724-5266.

NOTEBOOK

Locals among Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame honorees

The New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame will induct nine new members Sunday, including five local people.

Tim Furner, Michael Kochanowski, Environmental Conservation Officer Steve Lakeman, Dick Trost, and the late Bill Wheatley will be honored at the annual banquet at Theodore’s Restaurant in Canastota.

Furner organized the Madison County Strutters affiliate of the National Wild Turkey Federation and has mentored many women and youngsters in hunting. Kochanowski is a long-time officer of the Cassety Hollow Rod and Gun Club who has volunteered in a variety of outdoor programs. Lakeman, a longtime ECO in Oneida County, has mentored at women’s and youth turkey and goose hunts for many years, and is a long-time hunting education instructor. Trost was a tour guide at the Oneida Fish Cultural Station in Constantia for more than 25 years and was the president of the Vernon Rod and Gun club for many years. Wheatley was president of the Sauquoit Creek Fish and Game Club for 20 years and was a leader in the annual cleanup day on the creek and the club’s wood duck house project.

John Bianco passes on

John Bianco died recently at age 88.

Bianco was one of the early influences in my flyfishing career, more than 50 years ago. He loved the sport, for sure. He helped me out in many ways, and he did the same for many others.

I don’t think we fished together, but he let us in on some good stuff. That included a great spot for shad fishing on the Delaware River. The exact right spot, really. Bob Lewis and I went there, and we got into a couple of those rockets.

Thank you, John, for helping us enjoy and value a lifetime on the water. Rest in peace.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: New York State working to put walleyes in the waters