Blueish walleye...?
- Thread starter Slowtrull
- Start date
Minnownite
Well-Known Member
Hair dye. Or scale dye. All the new fish are doing it these days ?
John Kenney
Well-Known Member
It could be a Sauger. We caught a Sauger a few years back out of Port Stanley. Now I've caught blue walleye up on the French River and they were definitely blue.
LMAO good one waldo
Richardscott999
Well-Known Member
Both Walleye, different habitat. Sauger have black spots on dorsal fins. Can’t see tails but walleye have white area on bottom of tail.
Any blue walleye caught in Erie or elsewhere are simply a color variation caused by pigment variations.
Josh
As it turns out, recent studies conducted on preserved 'Blue Pickerel' or 'Blue Pike' as they were commonly called at the time have concluded that there was no genetic difference between those and current 'Yellow Pickerel' stocks. The subspecies that was thought to have gone extinct in the 1950's was never really a subspecies at all. Just a colour variation...
Josh
Josh
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That is a walleye and it's not a blue walleye. There are still blue walleye in the northern lakes ( I have seem one) but they are much different looking than this. Agreed this is just a color variation much like the smallmouth bass can be
The Walleye in northern lakes that are quite blue are also just regular walleye that happen to produce Sandercyanin which is a blue protein in the mucous coating. It has a effect similar to sunscreen and may be a evolving trait.
Josh
Josh
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.
wayneschaefer.blogspot.com
Josh
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
Josh
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Polish-Newfie
Well-Known Member
Very interesting read, this could also be why Sasquatch from all over the world are different colours, perhaps a new Squatchercyanin Protein can be discovered to confirm this!
Hey @Josh Roelofsen doesn't what the author of the article in link you provided not contradict this statement?
Blue walleye of Canada are genetically different than the extinct "blue pike" of Lake Erie. They are albino for yellow color and have blue color in the mucous of their skin. The blue color forms on the dorsal (upper) part of the body and is particulary noticable in the two dorsal fins and the upper part of the tail.
He said:
Blue walleye of Canada are genetically different than the extinct "blue pike" of Lake Erie. They are albino for yellow color and have blue color in the mucous of their skin. The blue color forms on the dorsal (upper) part of the body and is particulary noticable in the two dorsal fins and the upper part of the tail.
That's why I mentioned that the first article was written before the 2014 genetic study. It was more intended to explain the causes of blue coloration.
There was never any genetic evidence of a subspecies as far as I'm aware, just alot of assumptions......if you click on the second link where it says 'an error occurred setting your user cookie' you'll see mention of the 2014 genetic work they did comparing preserved 'blue pike' from Erie to current stocks....
Josh
There was never any genetic evidence of a subspecies as far as I'm aware, just alot of assumptions......if you click on the second link where it says 'an error occurred setting your user cookie' you'll see mention of the 2014 genetic work they did comparing preserved 'blue pike' from Erie to current stocks....
Josh
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.
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.