Blueish walleye...?

[Wave Runner]

Oh and if you talk to some of these oldtimers I'm sure they would say it may not be scientific fact but it is actual fact there was a real blue walleye. LOL! ?

 

[jerk bait]

I wasn't stating an opinion, it's scientific fact! There is no genetic difference between any 'Blue' pickeral and our everyday 'Yellow' pickeral. There isn't and there was never a genetically seperate subspecies. Despite lots of genetic data being compiled from many hundreds of water bodies there has been no evidence of any seperate subspecies.

Along with blue phase Walleye there are also quite common blue or 'silver' variations of pike along with blue perch. There's also many examples of 'golden' or yellow colour phases in different species, namely the 'Palimino' Trout which is essentially and Albino Rainbow Trout.

There are a few reasons Walleye can take on blueish hue. The one pictured in this thread, being more silverish is likely albino in regards to yellow pigment but lacks the Sandercyanin protein.

Many lakes including some large clear Muskoka lakes and others in NE Ontario and western Quebec in particular have darker Yellow/Green Walleye that will have a natural darker blueish tinge, particularly in the tail which again is just a colour variation without the presence of the blue protein.

Then there's the Sandercyanin producing fish which can be both a typical yellow Walleye that produces the blue tinged mucous or a more vibrant blue varient that is both albino in yellow pigment and secretes the blue mucous.

And of course Lodge owners will do whatever they can to drum up buisness

I'm not sure what you mean by pigments not becoming extinct? Colours aren't something that can really go extinct!?

Perhaps a couple articles will explain the phenomenon better than I have here.

NOTE: the first article below was written before the 2014 genetic studies that confirmed the 'extinct' lake Erie blue pickeral was genetically identical to current stocks.

The Story of Our Research

SCIENCE OF THE BLUE WALLEYE OF CANADA by Dr. Wayne Schaefer As a fish biologist and university professor, I had worked with walleye ...

wayneschaefer.blogspot.com

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Josh

Apparently there are others who disagree. Interesting article about 2 different fish altogether with data from the university of Wisconsin I believe. There are several states that list the blue pike as extinct and not a simple variation . I am no scientist but I would tend to think it's something to do with the walleye evolutionary lines. Still recognized as extinct by several sources . Regardless the one I witnessed had a noticeable hooked jaw compared to to her walleye from same river. Locals called it the extinct blue walleye.

 

[Josh Roelofsen]

I'll take science over opinion every single time....I'm not going to disagree that there was blue colored walleye in Erie that shared unique defining traits. It's the same as the differences between a tall, fair skinned group of people from Denmark and a shorter darker skinned group from Indonesia. Same species, very different appearance. The only difference is in gene expression which allows for differing phenotypes.

Josh

 

[spincast]

i think it has more to do with their environment. On the lake the fish below came from, 99% of the eyes are this colour. It's lake with few weeds, and lots dead leaves at bottom. Only source of fresh water is rain and run off from the shield hills. So water is dark, bottom is almost black.
We caught a couple gold ones - but notable, they were all small, young fish. The darker colour of yours may mean nothing more than it came from an area that wasn't a sand bottom, I've had a couple just like that out of E over the years, . Definitely not sauger.

 

[SIX-GRAND]

So far I have Caught 10 of them blue/silver baby's this year out of nanticoke.
it Sounds like there was so many of them back in the day and so few now.
I know old timmers(80+ years old) in the Bay of quinte area that also say there was many "blue walleye" in the old days. I could concider my self lucky if I get to see 1 in my life time he tells me. They too favoured the blue walleye over the yellow walleye in Quinte for what ever reason.
Where does the "scientific facts" lay on the lack of them in the waters this day in age?
Why are there so few now if there of the same line as yellow walleye. As we all know walleye are booming in Erie yet blue's are still scarce.

Im sure the alleged "facts" on the subject will change again as all "scientific facts" tend to do so often in the years to come as new scientists have a different opinion, belief or view then that of there predecessor on a subject and they want the world's people to believe THEM and there findings or more like there BELIEFS.

They look like a walleye. Fight like a walleye, eat like a walleye,catch them in the same school as walleye.. Must be a walleye..BLUE WALLEYE. The "Great white buffalo" of walleye.

 

[Josh Roelofsen]

A population genetic window into the past and future of the walleye Sander vitreus: relation to historic walleye and the extinct “blue pike” S. v. “glaucus”

Conserving genetic diversity and local adaptations are management priorities for wild populations of exploited species, which increasingly are subject to climate change, habitat loss, and pollution. These constitute growing concerns for the walleye Sander ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Another, clearer summary that includes the 2014 findings....

 

[Josh Roelofsen]

A link to this article just showed up in my email, figured it would be an interesting read to ad onto this thread

Rare “golden walleyes” are a real thing! – Target Walleye

by Brett McComas Pics or it didn’t happen! These snaps are the ONLY “golden walleyes” I’ve EVER come across after yeeeeaaaars of scouring the interwebz! Hope you get to see one in real life some day, but in the meantime, enjoy! 1. The golden ticket Craig Orf was lucky enough to punch his golden...

targetwalleye.com

Josh

 

[Perch Hound]

I've read the articles claiming what you mentioned but what they don't mention is what anglers from the day consistently believe, that they definitely were a different subspecies than the yellow. I've seen much so-called scientific fact that has turned out to be total BS during my lifetime so I tend to take much of it with a grain of salt.
I remember my father-in-law telling me when he was a kid they caught tons of blue walleye off the Stanley pier in the spring and fall before the commercial fishing wiped them out. He also said what many other oldtimers say that the blue was much tastier eating than the yellow. Many of them say these so-called blues being caught today with blueish pigment in the mucus are not the same fish at all as a true blue. There's lots of unanswered questions regarding blue walleye caught now such as are they a just cross from a true blue that may still exist in small numbers and a yellow etc.? I'd love to ask an old retired commercial fisherman who caught lots of blues back then and what he had say was different between both. Hey maybe the yellow is actually a subspecies of the Blue??? What's intriguing to me is what many from that era of fishing say which I find interestingly contradicts what I know to be true about yellow walleye. This is what Oldtimers including my late father-in-law who actually caught these possibly extinct blue walleye back then consistently had to say about them.

1. The blue walleye's max size topped out at 20 inches.
2. They prefer even colder/deeper water than yellow walleye.
3. They were black and white/silverish in color with a 'blue' tinged slime coat - particularly evident on the dorsal fin and often on the white underbelly.
4. They had larger eyes than yellow walleye or sauger and did not have the white tips on the anal and lower caudal fins seen on yellow walleye.
5. They tasted better than yellow walleye whereas most anglers then typically threw yellows back keeping only the blue.
6. Even the flesh of the blue had a different texture than a yellow.

Caught a blue walleye of port franks back in the 90s top half blue bottom silver pretty fish about 5 lbs was good to eat

 

[JohnPK]

I think we should move on to the topic of Climate Change and how our precious PM's Carbon Tax in Canada is going to change the whole world ! After all....Scientists know ! Ok...maybe we'll leave this topic until later.

 

[jeffya2]

I've read the articles claiming what you mentioned but what they don't mention is what anglers from the day consistently believe, that they definitely were a different subspecies than the yellow. I've seen much so-called scientific fact that has turned out to be total BS during my lifetime so I tend to take much of it with a grain of salt.
I remember my father-in-law telling me when he was a kid they caught tons of blue walleye off the Stanley pier in the spring and fall before the commercial fishing wiped them out. He also said what many other oldtimers say that the blue was much tastier eating than the yellow. Many of them say these so-called blues being caught today with blueish pigment in the mucus are not the same fish at all as a true blue. There's lots of unanswered questions regarding blue walleye caught now such as are they a just cross from a true blue that may still exist in small numbers and a yellow etc.? I'd love to ask an old retired commercial fisherman who caught lots of blues back then and what he had say was different between both. Hey maybe the yellow is actually a subspecies of the Blue??? What's intriguing to me is what many from that era of fishing say which I find interestingly contradicts what I know to be true about yellow walleye. This is what Oldtimers including my late father-in-law who actually caught these possibly extinct blue walleye back then consistently had to say about them.

1. The blue walleye's max size topped out at 20 inches.
2. They prefer even colder/deeper water than yellow walleye.
3. They were black and white/silverish in color with a 'blue' tinged slime coat - particularly evident on the dorsal fin and often on the white underbelly.
4. They had larger eyes than yellow walleye or sauger and did not have the white tips on the anal and lower caudal fins seen on yellow walleye.
5. They tasted better than yellow walleye whereas most anglers then typically threw yellows back keeping only the blue.
6. Even the flesh of the blue had a different texture than a yellow.

About 60 years ago our family ate a ton of Blue Walleye. My father worked for Ontario Hydro @ Queenston. They guys would take home Blue Walleye that they could scoop up that were caught up in the penstocks. We ate fish 2-3 times a week which were the best eating fish I ever had. All yellow walleye were returned to the water. I have no opinions on there origin but perhaps were so tasty as the fed on Blueberries @ waters edge????

 

[Wave Runner]

About 60 years ago our family ate a ton of Blue Walleye. My father worked for Ontario Hydro @ Queenston. They guys would take home Blue Walleye that they could scoop up that were caught up in the penstocks. We ate fish 2-3 times a week which were the best eating fish I ever had. All yellow walleye were returned to the water. I have no opinions on there origin but perhaps were so tasty as the fed on Blueberries @ waters edge????

The blueberry theory is interesting one. LOL! However I don't believe the zillions of blue walleye in what used to be a fantastic fishery in Erie before the commercial fishing destroyed it had that kind of access to blueberries. ?