Any spawning fish can bruise, walleye like riprap and current to keep the eggs from being covered with silt. From what I've read there's little natural reproduction on pymatuning.

Nice fish......4 million Walleye stocked every year in Pymy that definitely helps what nature lacks !  

Why would you think deep water? Less than 5 percent natural reproduction. It's put and take since the beginning of time. Nice fish CS. I've caught a ton of eyes really shallow in the spring like 3-4 fow when there feeding even from a boat.

, drift the stump fields  7 fow or less  yep even brite days i got em in less than  5 ft  BUUUUT nice chop does help bigtime

Boated another eye in the first 5 minutes I was out this afternoon and thought it was gonna be a good day. Then the wind became nonexistent. Spent the next 3hrs catching small cats. Oh well, it was a nice day to be out and at least I had some action, although I'm thinking about changing my screen name from crappie slayer to something more appropriate like catfish crusher :). Overtime is calling my name at work now so it's time to make some $$, although I'll be spending the free time I do have holding down the waters of NWPA. Good luck out there. It's starting to pick up from the few others I've talked to.

Catfish hunter.lol I've threatened to fillet those small cats 15-18" but never have. When I was in my younger days my grandfather always made me keep those Pymy cats. Funny I don't ever remember eating them. My dad love those huge lake Arthur cats  I caught trolling for eyes but again I don't ever remember eating them. People buy them at the supermarket,I see them seasoned in Cajun at the Giant eagle.

My dad always told me they taste like the bottom of the lake, but my uncle finally got me to try it this year BT. Told him thanks, but there's too many good fish out there.

By the way, small today meant 5-8" cats not 15- 18. Those little sob's were hungry

CatfishCrusher [you started it 😒] and Big Tuna you guys serious?

Neither of you guys have eaten catfish?

Mercy sakes, YouTube catfish filleting with electric knife then whip up your favorite fish coating and go catch a 😻fish.


In other news, it was beautiful on Pymie this evening. Wind was SE pushing the FishHawk just under 1 mph until about 8-ish when the lake went flat.

I remained on the water till I went flat and put the FishHawk back on her bunks around 9-ISH.

No doubt I gave up too early but I'm getting to danged old to stay out past beddy bye time.

Oh well, as they say in the old country, "we'll get em next time".....😜 stupid fish!

No BTDT,never ate cats. More a Perch,gill,eye,crappie guy in that order. I did eat smoked Pymy carp once,not bad. I caught a 100 quart cooler full at the spillway years ago for a friend,he fillet the top part of the fish from head to tail,brined it and smoke it many hours. I remember putting a chunk on a Ritz cracker and washing it down with a few cold ones. I'd catch a lot of big cats a lake Arthur and give them to my dad. They where big 8-14 lbs,he keep them in big plastic 55 gallon barrels with the hose running,sometimes for days them fillet them. He loved them. He brought me a cook piece once and I put a small piece in my mouth,and it tasted exactly like weeds to me. I couldn't get it down. I'll stick to my choices. I'll will tell you this,I never ate pike till maybe 10-12 years ago,and although I don't target them much,I catch a handful every winter ice fishing and once you learn the YouTube Y bone removal trick they are really good eating. My sons favorite fish. I Canada a shore lunch included eyes and pike fried,a can of baked beans" in the can" placed on the edge of the fire,and a second black cast iron skillet full of home fried potatoes. I don't know how we ate that meal for 7-14 days straight be we did and enjoyed it without ever tiring of it.lol

The whole "Fish X tastes like" thing has always amused me.  Those exact same fish are farmed like crazy across the South of the US.  If your fish fillets are tasting that badly you are handling them wrong.  Most likely the filleting part.  People will say that blues (ocean fish) are fishy, muddy, blah blah.  If you fillet them properly and only cook the white meat they are very good.  Sure, they don't freeze well and should be eaten fresh, but that's the case for most oily fish.  
 
That aside feel free to keep throwing them back.  They are fun to catch and great eating; I'll be happy to use your share.