# Interesting blog from a local shop



## johnnie555 (Jan 25, 2005)

I am copying an interesting blog from a local shop of mine. Sad but true. 

I've been putting off this report for some time, in an effort to 'say the right thing', and to hesitate in spewing nonsensical jibberish that has no backing. With that being said, Boyne Outfitters is a fly shop. Not a "salmon" shop, or a "trout" shop, or a "bass" shop...but a fly shop. We do cater to ALL fly anglers the best ways we can. Nevertheless, trout are our mainstay. Trout are the lifeblood of this shop, as with most fly shops. We love the intimate trout fisheries of northern Michigan, and pride ourselves on our knowledge, ethics, and use of these wonderful fisheries. However, each fall we start receiving the calls..."Are the salmon in yet?" "Are the salmon running?" "Are fish in the river?" Most years we have something significant to report, and although we do have some fish in the systems, this year is different.

The chinook salmon are disappearing.

As I said previously, autumn is a time for reflection, so let's reflect on the history of salmon [and other non-natives] in the Great Lakes. It is so easy for individuals to place blame..."It's the snaggers", "It's the charter boats", "It's the lack of stocking." In reality, it's the history of our Great Lakes fishery, the introduction of invasive and non-native species, and an effort by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to conduct the one of the largest biomechanical experiements of all time. 

Salmon [all varieties...Chinook/Coho/Pink/Atlantic] are not native to the Great Lakes. Nor are Rainbow Trout/Steelhead or Brown Trout. They did not enter the Great Lakes through the Welland Canal around Niagra Falls like so many unwanted species did. They were put here...we put them here. However, rainbow and brown trout were introduced in the 1800s, in an effort to produce a sport fishery in place of the grayling that met its demise due to over fishing, the Michigan lumber era, habitat degradation, and the introduction of said trout species. Rainbows and Browns were put in our streams to play with - to fish for - and what has resulted is a wonderufl trout fishery that has been cherished by many for generations. Salmon on the other hand, were introduced for a very different reason. Invasive sea lampreys had decimated Lake Trout Stocks. The alewife, a small silvery baitfish native to the Atlantic had snuck its way into the Great Lakes via the St Lawrence Seaway and Welland Canal. They had become so invasive that massive fish die offs began to occur. The dieoffs resulted in piles of dead fish on the beaches, discouraging summer tourists from visiting our beautiful Great Lakes towns. This resulted in loss of tourism; a loss of income. The dieoffs became so bad a few years later that the north part of Chicago had to go under a 'water-boil' warning because the dead fish had clogged the pumps of the city water intakes. The amount of dead fish removed by tractors from Chicago's beaches were hauled and disposed into two landfills in Indiana. The landfills only purpose - to dispose of the dead alewifes. That was 1967.

A few years earlier however, Ralph MacMullan, former director of Michigan's Department of Conservation (Michigan's DNR), saw an opportunity. He tasked Howard Tanner, the State Fisheries Chief, to "do something spectacular." 658,760 Coho salmon were stocked into the Platte River and Bear Creek. Wayne Tody, who succeeded Tanner, then stocked Chinook salmon. Pacific salmon were introduced into the Great Lakes to help revive a dying commercial fishery (Lake Trout) and provide a biomechanical control of invasive alewifes. What resulted was a multi-million dollar sport fishery that hinged on a predator-prey balance that was completely unnatural to begin with. The alewife from the Atlantic, and the salmon from the Pacific, brought together in the great freshwater seas of the Great Lakes. There were so many alewife, and therefore so many salmon...and BIG salmon...that it was a dream come true. The tenacity and brute strength of a silver King in the Great Lakes were relished by anglers across the country. Anglers swarmed the rivers during the fall spawning run. Snagging was ever so present, even though it has always been illegal in this state. However, restaurants and storefronts were busy. Towns gained a much neeeded financial boost. And [most] people were happy. Never again would the Great Lakes sportfish captains and anglers have to worry about a species to chase. Or so we thought. 

Fast forward 40 years...2003 in Lake Huron. The fish were large, but there were fewer of them. The alewife population had collapsed, and the remaining kings were gobbling up whatever alewifes that were left. By 2004, the chinook salmon fishery in Lake Huron was gone. Captains sold their boats, storefronts and motels locked their doors for the last time. And the busy salmon ports became quiet little towns on the shores of Lake Huron. No alewife = no chinook salmon. And even if every state hatchery had switched operations over to producing alewife full time year round, the annual stock would have only been enough to feed the remaining king salmon for TWO days.

State agencies continued to stocked Lake Michigan with 3.3 million chinook salmon fingerlings annually. Much needed for the Lake Michigan charter and sportfishing fleet. However, in 2012 the Michigan DNR proposed a 66.9% reduction in stocking...bringing the Michigan stock from 1,688,500 down to 559,000 chinook fingerlings annually for years 2013-2015. Why? To reduce pressure off the alewife and try to alleviate a complete breakdown of the fishery like what happened in Lake Huron. Here we are in 2015. Two harsh winters have continued to take their toll on the alewife population. Young of the year alewife (age 0) are no where to be found in the survey hauls. And the salmon populations are down. So much so that in northern Michigan, we have very few reports off our ports, and even less fish entering the rivers. The towns of Manistee and Ludington are seeing reduced fish as well, but anglers are hopeful for their return. We have seen decreases in alewife populations, and we have seen bounce backs, however...this is the lowest of the low, and with no show of young of the year which represents no recruitment for future bait stocks, the future of the predator-prey balance of alewife and salmon teeters on a breaking point. 

I've been telling people for several years, what happened in Lake Huron will likely happen in Lake Michigan. Even with state biologists encouraging me that Lake Michigan will not see the same fate as Lake Huron, I continue to believe that it will. And it will not be because the state is stocking less salmon, not because the charter captains or snaggers took too many fish home, but because it wasn't supposed to be in the first place. These two species were not "supposed" to be here, and the Great Lakes and Mother Nature are doing exactly what they have done for generations...clean up our mistakes. The Cayahoga River, a tributary to Lake Erie, lit on fire in the late 1960s. This helped spur the environmental movement. Now Lake Erie is widely considered one of the premier walleye fisheries in the United States. The Lake Trout are considered (by the Feds) to be recovered in Lake Superior; a 80-20% natural reproduction/stocked in Lake Huron, and about 50-50% in Lake Michigan. Nature is finding a way. And now it is doing so with chinook salmon and alewife. The salmon did exactly what they were designed to do. In terms of a biomechanical experiment to control the invasive alewife, the experient succeeded.

What does this mean? It means the yesteryears of the king salmon era may be coming to a close. I'm not saying that it is over, and if the State's efforts in reduction of stocking do work and the kings remain, they still will not be at a level we remember in the past. The charter captains and sport anglers will start to target steelhead and trout, and the future of the Great Lakes sportfishery will hinge on the balance and response of those species to the increased pressure. The fall salmon spawning runs on the rivers which pull everyone near and far in their effort to chase salmon will decrease as with the fish. It will be a hit to the local economies that depend on these fish for their livelihood, however the loss of the king salmon is welcomed by some. Some see it as an opportunity to broaden horizons in fly fishing...a way to encourage the education of what else our rivers have to offer. Some see it as getting the river back from unethical anglers and their ways. And for others, it is bittersweet. The loss of the king marks the end of an era - an end to the 'way it was.' It is welcomed and feared, but regardless, only the future holds the answer to the longevity of the king. All we can do is adapt to the changes that nature brings.

And so it is with autumn. A reflection of what once was. A recollection of the past, and an eager welcoming of what the future holds. Change is always hard for some, but longed for by others. We don't need to play the blame game. We need to work together to protect the future of the fisheries we wish to keep, and let go of those that may not be. Personal interests are not always the most important aspect when debating natural resources. Special regulations work because they protect the fishery and the fish. Federal stocking management works because it focuses on native species. As Teddy Roosevelt said, we shall cherish the natural wonders, natural resources, the history and romance as heritage of this country. And not allow selfish men or greedy interests to lose the beauty, riches and romance of this country. 

We have so many opportunities in the fall - nymphing for trout, late season BWOs, streamer fishing for trophy browns, and fall steelhead. Even if the kings do disappear, there are so many opportunities to enjoy fishing in Michigan in autumn.

But above everything else, we all need a little more time on the water~



Ethan


----------



## piscatorial warrior (Sep 14, 2011)

WOW. Very true and very thought provoking . Thanks for sharing.


----------



## johnnie555 (Jan 25, 2005)

piscatorial warrior said:


> WOW. Very true and very thought provoking . Thanks for sharing.


Thanks I thought so too. It's a long read but a good one.


----------



## Benny23 (Nov 21, 2009)

This is one of the best articles about the decline in salmon ive read. They hit it right on and people have to understand change is inevitable. I would just like my kids to enjoy the fishery that i have enjoyed for many years,but it looks very dim. Im a caster a river guy and once in a blue moon a boat guy. But some reason there is nothing better than hitting a big fresh king off a pier on light tackle. I have always wanted to blame the charters with there crazy 25-30 fish trips but reading into it more its the cycle of life that keeps the fisheries under control. 
Well lets hope there is a miracle on the great lakes in the near future


----------



## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

Good blog there from the outfitters....
I'll write my salmon views,their rise and tapering off , options ect. then try to avoid anymore salmon threads and relieve the readers of my writing, but not the passion salmon create..yet before salmon other fish as mentioned had created a similar passion first.
Howard Tanner really rolled the dice.
It worked out great quite a while, thank you sir!
Salmon are a riot.
Some one once proposed introducing some sterile salmon in a big lake to see if they would top fifty pounds(at least) and not make a spawning run.....that would have spun some old reels real quick before the loud "snap".
Size did decline..gradually. That was a first clue to those who only looked at fish during spawning runs.
Smelt declined after alewives.
A new old way had begun to fade years ago.
For those who remember coho fever or first salmon boated out of a great lake, or watching them test a dam spillway the fist time, it was crazy fun.

There was a mentioned old ways before great lakes salmon in the blog.
I can recall some of them from the early mid sixties.
Tales of a particular large brown in a particular stretch of river encountered at last light repeatedly till lost one night due to it's size and fight strategy. Wow, a fish with strategy!
The fist rainbow I ever saw as a tot, flopping on the entrance mat to the aged old house near the river(the fish flopping ,not me) placed there for me to encounter after being called to see something.
Later I would be introduced to the river and some of it's life.
Grandpa's split bamboo rod ended up with me, used likely on that same river.
Initials carved on the metal butt cap that raise yet again the question of what his actual name was?
If not for other sources questioning it on other issues, simply acquiring a rod from someone else could explain it away.
Despite debate about that, he fished with a fly rod.
Some where on a quiet stretch, till something alive struck at a natural or a carefully laid imitation offering.
Mysteries and questions are still afloat out there and draw occasional strikes.

It's alright to miss salmon north of forty pounds and huge runs.
Alright to sense a loss with less salmon and potential further decline.
There's still a few seeking gravel.
Downsize and go ferret out other fish if need be. They at least exist in slightly better numbers, for now.
My favorite rivers are nothing like they were,now with with zebra mussels and gobies really ruining it for me in one that was trout city U.S.A. to me.
I cursed the two species of them clams and goofy lookin fish and also the rusty crayfish invading "my" water..then realized how much an invader I and those before me were with dams and litter and pollution and squeezing out the natives who fished before me....
Getting away from such sign and catching a trout that would fit about right on a small Christmas tree is enough of a desire anymore really, despite killing a decent/legal fish now and then to satisfy some primitive craving.
If fish can be caught ,there's still fishing to be done. If we put time aside to get near fish somewhere.
Preferably with quietish environs and approach, but fishing anyway. .
About Halloween Chinooks will be slapping gravel up in the shallows of a small feeder somewhere again.
How many more generations and in what numbers; to be determined.
Sure adds to night sounds hearing them struggle over the shallow spots though.No substitute.
Ain't much compares to the one when wading a river that hits the back of your calf at high speed.
Good thing I don't wade no more maybe.
Glad I had the opportunity of salmon to chase in my youth.
They added a unique "big fish" dimension by their own standards and lifeways.


----------



## pdp3 (Oct 21, 2009)

Tears!!!!!


----------



## o_mykiss (May 21, 2013)

Good read and very well written! Thoughtful and reflective.

I don't think lake trout reproduction is that high in Lake Michigan though, think its more like 15% natural lakewide, with some higher concentrations of wild fish on the south end. http://www.outdoornews.com/April-2013/Lake-Michigan-lake-trout-now-reproducing-naturally/


----------



## wdf73 (Sep 14, 2009)

If there is one real upside to me, it is the aforementioned effect of the unethical 'fishermen' disappearing. 
I watched some last weekend; Pa, Uncle Cletus and an assortment of kids, stumbling down the river, casting with everything from bluegill rods to big yaller pool cues. Doing their best to figger out how to snag with spinners and Cleos, since their preferred yarn on a size 14/0 treble would now cost them half of next months welfare check.
Personally, I believe the salmon will be there, just not in numbers conducive to snagging. Maybe, just maybe those of us who love the head shaking run of a big king, which was stalked and coaxed into striking, will finally have space to pursue this wonderful fish.......


----------



## cowboy48098 (Aug 20, 2015)

Great article.


----------



## The Ghettoblaster (Jan 22, 2014)

Great read. Mother nature always finds a way to bring the balance back, many times to a issue/problem that man created, even if we had the best intentions at the time of what we thought was best for nature.

Unfortunately I didn't get to witness the "heyday" of salmon fishing as I just got into it about 7-8 years ago, even though I grew up a stone's throw from some great salmon rivers. Looking back, I always wish I had taken advantage and spent more time outdoors but sports, school, work and girlfriends always got in the way. Up until 7-8 years ago, I was primarily a walleye fisherman until a co-worker was finally able to talk me into a trip to the Big Man for a weekend and I got a king in our first hole of the morning. I was hooked! Such a powerful foe on the end of the line! Even a couple of years ago, multiple fish trips were the norm and once fishable numbers were in the river, we could guarantee fish each trip. This year has been disappointing at best. I have to keep reminding myself that its not something that I'm doing wrong or not doing... There are just a lot less fish in the river. It's frustrating when you consider the mortgage on the cabin, gas to drive up north and back, gas for the boat, tackle, etc.

I only hope that my young daughters have a chance to feel a powerful king on the other end of the line as they are getting old enough to be able to cast and fight one on their own. The good thing is that like many fisherman, I have followed the natural progression from salmon to steelhead. I love the solitude of being on the water on a winter day, snow falling peacefully into the river and watching the float go down. I can't wait to pass that love on to my kids and hopefully that fishery will be around for a long time to come.

With some helpful weather in the next few weeks, we'll get a few more kings to enter the river yet this fall... Personally, I'm done with them... I've got deer stands and duck blinds to sit in and fresh chrome steelies to get after the rest of the fall.


----------



## Corey K (Dec 11, 2009)

wdf73 said:


> If there is one real upside to me, it is the aforementioned effect of the unethical 'fishermen' disappearing.
> I watched some last weekend; Pa, Uncle Cletus and an assortment of kids, stumbling down the river, casting with everything from bluegill rods to big yaller pool cues. Doing their best to figger out how to snag with spinners and Cleos, since their preferred yarn on a size 14/0 treble would now cost them half of next months welfare check.
> Personally, I believe the salmon will be there, just not in numbers conducive to snagging. Maybe, just maybe those of us who love the head shaking run of a big king, which was stalked and coaxed into striking, will finally have space to pursue this wonderful fish.......


Noticed this also...Told my buddy " wow, they must of been easier to catch before"...always some interesting rigs about and techniques. The whispers that you can hear over a screaming 2 stroke Eska, " are they using bobbers????"....

btw I'm not cutting down Eska motors ( I have one that runs like a top) and you don't need a fancy rig to catch fish!


----------



## old professor (Oct 26, 2008)

Great Read!! I remember the whole experience, from the alewives in windrows on the shores to the current decline of salmon. Personally, I am very happy with the return of Lake Trout numbers in Lake Superior, the Great Lake which I live on. Kudos to the Feds for their efforts. By the way, salmon never took hold in Lake Superior like they did in Michigan and Huron.


----------



## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

Interesting read. No one can determine what will happen in the future, you could have a year or two with great reproduction of alewives, and things will change again, but who knows. I wasn't fishing for salmon at the beginning, but I can remember fishing cohos in Platte Bay when hooking 30-50 off the surf was pretty normal, and these weren't the little dinks we catch now. I have talked to older guys who claim to hook over 100 per day, but can't verify. Either way, those days are gone now, at least for a while. Will we ever have the "great" days again, not likely. I wonder how it would have changed things had the DNR done what they originally talked about. In the beginning it was discussed to plant stripped bass, wonder if it would have had the same effect as the salmon did? I can only hope that at some point, this fishery returns to a semblance of it's glory days, only time will tell.


----------



## kaniff89x (Sep 18, 2006)

johnnie555 said:


> Two harsh winters have continued to take their toll on the alewife population. Young of the year alewife (age 0) are no where to be found in the survey hauls...


That was a great article that adds a well needed perspective of realism. However, in another thread "This explains the Salmon Shortage" forum Jay Wesley stated that as of the final trawl data, it looks like the alewives had an average year class:

On a positive note, acoustic surveys found good year classes of yellow perch and bloater chub and an average year class of alewife. A warmer winter could put us back on track.


----------



## JB85 (Nov 2, 2010)

Interesting read and well written, but I have to disagree that the salmon are gone or will be gone because "they are not supposed to be there". It's primarily a bait problem. The bait problem stems in large part from the mussel problem although too many predators may have had an impact as well. I would think without the mussels that we would still have a thriving fishery. I still hold out hope that the reduced plants will help the bait recover to some extent. I don't think Kings will ever disappear completely, so I will still enjoy chasing them no matter what.


----------



## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

It is looking like the DNR is going to plant more Coho, Steelhead, and Atlantic Salmon to make up for the loss of the kings. For years LSSU has dumped Atlantics into the St Mary's and it has turned into a great fishery. The drawback is that these fish once they are planted into a lake do not enter a river system to spawn. That leaves coho and steelhead which by the time that they enter a river in the fall it is too cold and nasty for most people to fish for them. The one time that Atlantics were planted into a river in the UP they had a great return. I am one of a very few people who actually targeted them and had great catch results. In a couple of hours of fishing I would have upwards of 20 hook ups and land 3 or 4 fish. I think that any future plants of Atlantic Salmon should focus on 10 miles or more upstream in rivers. This will allow for the fish to become implanted in that river system. The DNR should attempt to get eggs from the east coastal atlantics for planting as these fish will grow to 30+ pounds.


----------



## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

As stated, most people won't fish for steelies when it's cold and nasty, that's why I like fishing then. Lots of fish around and if one uses his/her noggin, you can figure them out. Not only that, but nothing better than the quiet you hear (don't hear) on those days, something special about that.


----------



## concentroutin (Jan 7, 2014)

Good read thanks for posting.


----------



## johnnie555 (Jan 25, 2005)

JB85 said:


> Interesting read and well written, but I have to disagree that the salmon are gone or will be gone because "they are not supposed to be there". It's primarily a bait problem. The bait problem stems in large part from the mussel problem although too many predators may have had an impact as well. I would think without the mussels that we would still have a thriving fishery. I still hold out hope that the reduced plants will help the bait recover to some extent. I don't think Kings will ever disappear completely, so I will still enjoy chasing them no matter what.


But that's precisely his point.. Just look at Lake Huron. While I'd be willing to bet that it won't completely crash it sure isn't gonna be remotely close to what it once was. The kings did their job. They removed the overpopulated invasive alewives. Don't get me wrong, I love fishing for kings and sure hope they're around for my son to catch one day. Unfortunately he won't be able to experience what I once did and that's just plain reality.


----------



## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

Great read ,well said.


----------

