Fish ID. Walleye or white perch?

[Black Bear Bowhunter]

Did a 2 Day trip 35miles on the Delaware River. Was epic! Nature is so beautiful.

anyhow is this a walleye or a yellow perch? Measured at 16.5” long I thought it was my first walleye but picture ID states white perch. Didn’t take a weight but guessing I would say around 3lbs. That would be close to a new NJ record but we safely release that fish.

 

Let me know your thoughts!!

Edited April 11, 2023 by Black Bear Bowhunter

[JJFish]

Walleye.   Has to be 18" to keep.  Perch, white or yellow, are quite different.

[Buck154]

Yup Walleye. 

[hemlock]

Definitely a walleye.

[hunterbob1]

I don't know you need to reach your arm out more so I can get a closer look

[MikeStaten]

Sauger?

[fab]

Could that be a sauger.   Skin is blochy 

can’t get a good look at the dorsal fins

[NJTrapper]

I was thinking sauger also.  Walleye tend to have white eyes. Not sure though.

[fab]

So I looked at a few maps and they don’t seem to have distribution in southern ny eastern pa or nj but anything’s possible.   Spots on the dorsal fins usually a give away in identifying them

[Black Bear Bowhunter]

Yeah really think it was a walleye too.

 

Thanks for all the commends

[swamprat142]

If you cannot identify the fish, then you should not be fishing.

[vdep217]

1 minute ago, swamprat142 said:

If you cannot identify the fish, then you should not be fishing.

U must be a fishing God I've caught a few that made me look them up ribbon fish snake head when I was younger.  He didn't keep it he took a picture released it than asked he did nothing wrong

[NotJust22s]

1 hour ago, swamprat142 said:

If you cannot identify the fish, then you should not be fishing.

That’s got to be one of the most ignorant comments I’ve seen here, and there’s been quite a few. 

[Kype]

2 hours ago, swamprat142 said:

If you cannot identify the fish, then you should not be fishing.

this is another reason i dont post here often anymore. 

[Bucksnbows]

17 minutes ago, Kype said:

this is another reason i dont post here often anymore. 

So we point it out as ignorant and we move on.  It is more true for hunting where, let’s say, ducks are involved. You’re either going to pull the trigger or not depending on properly IDing the duck(s) flying at you and presumably kill it or them. With most fish, we can simply release it if it’s not a target species or we simply have no idea what it is. 
 

The fish in question is a walleye. No sauger have been (legally) introduced to the Delaware River watershed in any of the four states.