# 30" 12lb. Zander C&R



## MossyMO

http://www.in-forum.com/Outdoors/articles/140733
Three months ago on North Dakota's Spiritwood Lake, Tonya Fehr caught a fish very few people knew existed.

"It was like catching a dinosaur," Fehr's taxidermist told her. "No one has ever seen one that old and that big."

At least not in North America.

Fehr, an avid angler from Lisbon, N.D., reeled in a 30-inch, 12-pound European zander in the lake northeast of Jamestown.

It's a fish that is believed to have been part of a batch that was stocked in Spiritwood Lake in 1987. But due to considerable protest, the zander program was ordered scrapped.

The zander record in Holland, where North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials originally acquired a batch of eggs, is 44 pounds. The zander record in Finland, where another batch of zander eggs were purchased, is 40 pounds.

Because Spiritwood is the only lake in the continent known to have zander, Fehr now unofficially holds the North American record. Zander are not officially recognized as a species in North America. But the North American Fishing Hall of Fame is expected to review the catch this winter and may add the fish to their record books.

Gene Van Eeckhout, Game and Fish fisheries biologist based in Jamestown, says he really has no clue about the zander's origin.

"It might be from the original stocking," Van Eeckhout said. "If it's from that first stocking, it's either an Adam or an Eve. We assumed there weren't many that survived."

Game and Fish officials were originally going to stock Spiritwood Lake with a batch of 100,000 zander eggs from Holland. But when it was learned the fish might be carrying a disease contagious to northern pike, the fish eggs were eradicated.

One year later in 1987, Game and Fish officials purchased 500,000 disease-free zander eggs from Finland. A little more than 1,000 zander went into Spiritwood.

After protest and controversy from surrounding states, the program was ordered stopped by then Gov. Allen Olson. Even so, Van Eeckhout said there have been a few zander catches during the year - including the 26.6-inch, 6.6-pound one caught in 2004 by Bruce Shanenko of Valley City.

"There was a successful introduction and now they are established," said Van Eeckhout, who said documentation has shown reproduction has occurred.

Van Eeckhout said there is concern that the zander could reproduce with walleyes, even sauger - creating fears among biologists as to the purity of those species in the future.

"We're not promoting the establishment of any new species," Van Eeckhout said. "We'd like to know more about these fish."

That's why Van Eeckhout stresses that any anglers who catch zander should turn them into the Game and Fish Department. Tonya Fehr and her husband Keith weren't aware of this request when they released their record zander back into Spiritwood Lake.

"Our split second decision was to err on the cautious side and return the fish to the water after photographing it," Tonya said. "We normally practice catch and release and if it had been a 30-inch walleye, we would have put it back."

Walleye is what the Fehrs were fishing for on Saturday, June 17. Fishing jigs and leech combos from a boat positioned in about 15 feet of water, Fehr felt a big yank on her line.

"I knew right away it was a big fish &#8230; it felt like a log," Fehr said.

Unable to see the fish during the nine minutes Fehr had to fight reeling in the fish, her husband figured it was a big walleye. After landing it in the boat, Keith knew it wasn't a walleye because there was no white tip on its tail.

"It had a much heavier body than a walleye," Fehr said. "It had a 20-inch girth and looked like a walleye on steroids."

The Fehrs sent the photo to Van Eeckhout. Two days later, he verified it was a zander - confirming that zander still exist in Spiritwood Lake.


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## northdakotakid

That is a special fish... WoW. I am glad that there are still people that release large fish... if that would ahve been in the spring in Devils Lake that thing would have gone on someones stringer next to the 3-4 others.


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## Invector

That was reported a few months back in dakota country. Todate 2 fish have been found in test nettings they have done both were small fish of 14" and less. Two fish have been reported as being caught by anglers. It shows the possibility of a growing population in that lake. It is suggested to put any Zander back into the lake. Also right after that fish was caught you should have seen the lake. You could not have gone form one end of the lake to the other without runnning into a Zander happy fisherman (if you want to call them that.)


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## R y a n

A better enlarged pic...

[siteimg]5101[/siteimg]
Photo caption: Tonya Fehr of Lisbon, N.D., caught and released this 30-inch, 12-pound zander June 17 on Spiritwood Lake northeast of Jamestown, N.D. According to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, this is the largest zander ever caught in North America.

That is a damn nice fish! I sure hope they have a thriving reproducing population at Spiritwood soon! The lake has no outlet so all of the fish in the lake do not migrate....

Ryan


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## 94NDTA

Wasn't there a Zander populatuon introduced into Brewer lake too? From my knowledge no one has ever caught a zander out of brewer.


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## MossyMO

94NDTA
If they were introduced to Brewer, all of the damn cormorants most likely got them.....


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## 94NDTA

MossyMO said:


> 94NDTA
> If they were introduced to Brewer, all of the damn cormorants most likely got them.....


bastards....


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## Horsager

I'd pay $100 for a ND resident Cormmie liscence with two provisions.

1. The money was designated for PLOTS ground

2. I could use a rifle.


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