LeRoy Chiovitte’s long-standing state record walleye shouldn’t be thrown back

When I was a kid, my dad occasionally made reference to people “rolling over in their graves.” I had been to a couple of funerals by then and for a long time was transfixed by this notion, and curious, too, about the physics of just how this could be possible.

In time, of course, I understood my father was speaking figuratively about people who had passed away and who — were they to become aware of a present-day wacky circumstance, or perhaps an injustice — would make a flip-flop or two in their resting places.

In this respect, I worry that LeRoy “BoBo” Chiovitte, a lifelong Duluth resident who was 83 when he died in 2019, isn’t finding the peace he deserves.

Chiovitte was a standout high school athlete, Marine Corps veteran and bona fide good guy who came to the public’s attention in May 1979, when he landed a 17-pound, 8-ounce walleye, a Minnesota state record.

Chiovitte’s big-fish accomplishment was noted in his obituary:

Leroy enjoyed nature in all its forms. He was an avid fisherman, hunter, and always had a camera ready to record his adventures. He is the proud holder of the MN State Record Walleye and has been since 1979.

Chiovitte’s claim to monster walleye fame is today’s topic because the Department of Natural Resources has recently reconfigured its record fish program.

Where, historically, one record fish category existed, now there are three: Certified weight. Catch and release. And non-certified weight.

Certified weight record fish, the DNR says, are those of various species that have been caught after 1980 and whose weights have been registered on state-certified scales.

Non-certified weight record fish, meanwhile, are those caught before 1980, when the DNR did not require weights of fish submitted for record status to be determined on state-certified scales.

Recall now Chiovitte’s big walleye, which he caught legally while fishing the mouth of the Seagull River at Lake Saganaga. For bait, he used a shiner minnow on a #4 hook, attached to 8-pound test line.

Chiovitte’s walleye measured 35¾ inches long, with a 21¼-inch girth. The fish was landed on Sunday, May 13, 1979, at 8:15 a.m. and was witnessed by Chiovitte’s fishing partners.

It’s true that Chiovitte’s walleye was caught in waters that are now closed to fishing in the early part of the walleye season because the area is used for spawning. Which, while interesting, to my mind is neither here nor there. Chiovitte’s walleye was legally caught under DNR rules at the time.

As to the fish’s weight, there’s no debate. Or shouldn’t be.

Though the scale Chiovitte used to weigh his fish wasn’t state-certified, it didn’t need to be, according to DNR rules at the time. More important to today’s discussion, the scale’s accuracy was validated after the fact by the DNR.

To that point, Don Woods, then the DNR assistant fisheries section chief, wrote an official letter to Chiovitte saying the scale in question had been confirmed accurate. With the agency’s congratulations, the letter also validated Chiovitte’s walleye as the state record.

Fast forward to recent years, when the DNR, led by Shannon Fisher, now the agency’s fisheries populations monitoring and regulations manager, reconsidered Minnesota’s record fish program, including its non-certified weight division for records submitted before 1980.

Earlier this year, Fisher explained to a reporter the recategorization of Chiovitte’s and other fish records recognized before 1980 — a reorganization that resulted in the demotion of Chiovitte’s walleye to the non-certified category. (The DNR currently recognizes no certified weight record walleye; the agency says it is waiting for a minimum 14-pound submission to be considered.)

“We’re not saying these records are not valid,” Fisher said. “What we’re saying is that prior to 1980, we didn’t require certified weights. We don’t have a lot of information available on some of those older records. In fact, we have no information on some of them.”

In some older record-fish cases, lack of information doubtless is a problem. But Chiovitte’s record walleye file at the DNR surely contained, one would think, the 1979 letter that accompanies this column from the agency’s assistant fisheries chief certifying not only Chiovitte’s catch but also the accuracy of the scale on which it was weighed.

Fisher said otherwise in an email to me on Thursday.

“The letter [to Chiovitte] ... came to my attention after the decision to open pre-1980 records was finalized. … The letter may be somewhat misleading, as we do not have any evidence that the scale itself was checked for accuracy — other than a memo that indicated the scale showed a weight of 1 ounce when sitting empty. Therefore, the original weight of 17 pounds 9 ounces was adjusted to 17 pounds 8 ounces. … To maintain consistency ... we want all of Minnesota’s weight-based records verified on certified scales.”

Which is interesting because I think most people — in fact, perhaps all people — would read Woods’ letter the way it’s written: “We have certified the corrected weight of 17 pounds 8 ounces after verification of the scale accuracy by DNR personnel in Grand Marais.”

Additionally, considering Fisher said he only became aware of Woods’ 1979 letter after reconsideration of state fish records was complete, he now references, without producing it, a memo “that indicated the scale showed a weight of 1 ounce when sitting empty.”

Meanwhile, for those who say Chiovitte’s fish’s weight was padded because it was a female full of spawn and therefore can never be topped by modern-day anglers who no longer are allowed to fish in protected areas, recall that future University of Minnesota President Bob Bruininks caught a 17-pound, 6-ounce walleye — just 2 ounces shy of Chiovitte’s — not during springtime but at high noon on July 4, 1989, in Loon Lake, also along the Gunflint.

Bruininks’ walleye, which is displayed at the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum, was weighed two hours after being caught, meaning that almost certainly it would have beaten Chiovitte’s as the state’s largest had it been weighed earlier.

But it wasn’t, so Chiovitte’s walleye should remain the record holder.

Then we could all rest easy.

LeRoy, especially.