Banner Year for Record Walleye

(Editor's note: This article is dated but contains interesting material and so we decided to run it. The current record walleye was caught in 1991 by Jeffery Tanner Provo River on the Provo River. It went 15 lb 9 oz, was 31 3/4" long and had a girt of 20 3/4" .)

Roy Montoya won his court case and was officially recognized for catching the biggest walleye ever caught in Utah a couple of weeks ago. Montoya caught his record walleye (14 pounds 1 ounce) out of the Provo River just above Deer Creek Reservoir early last spring. The DWR received several complaints from other fishermen that the fish had been taken illegally so Montoya's fish was confiscated and he was not given the state record. Montoya decided to prove his innocence and took the matter to court. He pleaded innocent to all the charges and began a long battle in the state's judicial system.

In the mean time, ten year old Jon Ackerman caught a 13 pound 6 ounce fish at Deer Creek and was given the state record. Ackerman's record lasted only about a month and a half. It was broken by Greg Jonas. Jonas snatched the record on October 12th with a 13 pound 8 ounce fish he caught at Starvation.

Jonas' record fell when Montoya won his court case and was presented with both his fish and a certificate for catching the state record walleye. Believe it or not, now even Montoya's record has been broken.

On November 11 at 1:17 a.m. Kelly J. Thomson, of Randolph, caught a 14 pound 10 ounce fish while casting a black and gold crank bait at Starvation, shattering Montoya's record by over 9 ounces.

Thomson had been fishing actively for walleye for about three years. It seems that Eldon Kennedy has to take the credit (or blame) for getting Thomson hooked on walleye fishing. Thomson was even fishing from Kennedy's boat when he hooked the record.

It was about the fourth trip on the full moon that Thomson had made to Starvation this summer and fall. And, he was out to get a big fish. The biggest walleye Thomson had ever caught weighed in at "only" four and a half pounds but he knew there were bigger ones out there.

The record catch made the perfect ending to an otherwise frustrating trip. It was the only walleye caught in two long nights of fishing. Thomson knew the fish was a monster as soon as he hooked it. After a good long battle under the full moon (the moon provided so much light that artificial lights were not necessary) the fish came to the boat. It didn't like the boat one bit and as it broke the surface it threw water everywhere.

Thomson's wife, Lana, netted the fish and the prize was his. Thomson knew the fish was in the state record category, not because the fish was so long, it was only 30 inches, but because of its girth. The big walleye was 22 and 1/2 inches around.

Thomson didn't have a scale so he didn't know the exact weight until he ran into Robert Johnson of Salt Lake. Johnson has a scale that went up to 15 pounds even.

When the big fish was weighed and it took Johnson's scale right to its limit, Thomson headed into town. The fish was weighed at the local IGA store on their certified meat scale to meet the requirements for a state record. The fish is now being mounted.

Thomson's record will probably last until next spring but as soon as the walleye run begins in late March — look out — Utah will probably have another new state record.