# Huron 11/18-25



## YPSIFLY (Feb 13, 2001)

I've been chasing steel pretty hard with no luck. I have however seen a few jump and roll. Last week I saw what looked like a King in the 20-30 lb. class rise just 30 ft. from me. Talk about frustration!

This afternoon I took a dinky little white bass on a Hot N' Tot that was almost half the size of the fish. I also helped a guy land a carp that was "headed for the smoker". Yuck.

The HRFA has continued to monitor the fish moving through the ladder at Flat Rock. Some of the most recent surveys have been quite exciting. Along with Kings and Steelies, a 33in. Brown and a few Coho have been recorded. I don't know where they came from. I'm guessing the Brown could have come from a Paint Creek(Washtenaw Co.) stocking. The Coho are a total mystery to me. 

Good Luck!


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Ypsifly, 

Good report. Pretty cool on the brown. Do you know anything about what Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York do in terms of stocking Erie and tribs of it? 

I have heard of a pretty aggressive steelhead stocking program in a couple rivers in Ohio near Cleveland. Also I know Cataragus Creek in New York is a big steelhead stream. 

I'm not really up on what Ontario or PA does. But it's possible the brown came from there or, as you say, from a Paint Creek stocking. 

That would be pretty cool to have a brown trout run on the lower Huron!


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## Woolybugger (Feb 26, 2001)

If you look at the old stockings, Coho were once stocked in the Detroit River but that was almost 20 yrs ago. I remember my grandfather catching one while we were walleye fishing years ago. I don't know if there is much natural reproduction since most of us are convinced that fish can't smolt in the Huron. I would guess that these are fish from other stockings like you said. It all comes back to the effectiveness on imprinting when you stock older fish.


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## YPSIFLY (Feb 13, 2001)

Kroppe and Woolybugger,

I seem to recall that the Detroit river was stocked with Browns a while back. We have another club meeting meeting on Dec. 3rd. I'm going to see if they were RP clipped. There is also a chance that a DNR biologist will be doing a presentation. I would like to find out if all of the states that border L. Erie clip their fish differently as a means to track migration.


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## Woolybugger (Feb 26, 2001)

I have saw a brown in the Detroit River by Belle Isle about 10yrs ago. I thought it was some unhappy wayward fish since it was a hot August day.


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## Woolybugger (Feb 26, 2001)

Fished under the Belleville Dam this evening. No strikes, no steel sighted. Another guy fishing caught one last week. Water was cool, relatively clear, and low. There was no foam under the dam as the water wasn't coming over very quickly. Beautiful evening otherwise.


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## Papa Smurf (Dec 14, 2001)

Are there any browns (or brookies) to be found in the Huron upstream from Ford/Belleville Lakes northwest of Ann Arbor?


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Papa Smurf, 

There are no trout in the Huron above Belleville Dam. But there are adult trout stocked in the Huron River at Wixom Road in early April every year. I believe the fishing is catch and release only, not sure if it's flies only or artificial lures only. The trout do not survive the summer because the water in the Huron River is too warm. 

Other than planted steelhead below Belleville and planted adult trout at Wixom Road, there are no trout in the river. 

The Huron is a coolwater fishery with good fishing for smallmouth bass, walleye, catfish, pike and an assortment of other stuff in the lakes and impoundments.


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## Woolybugger (Feb 26, 2001)

The stocking at Wixom is a special season. Catch and release, flies only during April then anything goes with a 3 fish limit after the season opens. It's mostly catch and keep since it gets too warm for them to survive. Some guys posted catching fish as late as June a while back.


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## Papa Smurf (Dec 14, 2001)

Thanks for the info, Kroppe
I've been fishing the river northwest of Ann Arbor for smallmouth and rock bass for 15 years now and never figured it held any trout. One day, maybe 6 years ago, I was fishing the river at Hudson Mills Metropark and a uniformed gentleman was making his way downstream in a canoe taking some kind of fishing survey. I don't recall if he was from the DNR or not but he asked me if I was "... fishing for brookies". That's had me wondering ever since even though I've never caught nor seen any type of trout in that stretch of water.


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Papa Smurf,

Sounds like the guy was pulling your chain. If he really was taking a fish survey, it's likely it was for smallmouth bass. The stretch from Mast Road to Hudson Mills Metropark is catch and release only for smallies. 

There are a few good smallmouth technical reports written on the Huron River by the MI DNR and University of Michigan School of Natural Resources. They are free for the asking. Actually, you already paid for them with your tax dollars.


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## Papa Smurf (Dec 14, 2001)

Thanks, Kroppe,
I'll have to look up these reports. I know a number of years ago there was a notice posted at Hudson Mills about a smallmouth study going on in that area of the river; the notice indicated that bass were being tagged with transmitters for tracking and study and anglers were to report any catches of bass with stitches in their bellies were the transmitters were inserted. Sure enough, the same day I caught a smallmouth with a transmitter!


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Papa Smurf, 

Small world. The report I have is called "Daily and Seasonal Movement, as Related to Habitat Use, of Smallmouth Bass in the Huron River, Michigan. By Jennifer D. Beam. Fisheries Research Report No. 1971, July 6, 1990. 

This is probably the study you ran into. They describe in the report how the transmitters were inserted into the fish. The report is pretty interesting. You can order it from the DNR Fisheries library for free.


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## Papa Smurf (Dec 14, 2001)

Thanks, Kroppe.
Sounds interesting-I'll grab a copy.
P. Smurf


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## wolfgang510 (Feb 15, 2001)

Hey YPSI,

Where or how can I get a report on fished being passed through the fish ladder in flatrock?


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

You have to contact the DNR fisheries biologist. The HRFA might have kept these records also. We have a meeting tonight and I will ask.


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

A good portion of the Board for the HRFA were not in attendance for last nights meeting due to other committments. I did learn however that no fish were passed through the fish ladder last month (Dec) but only 5 days were surveyed. Suspicion is that the fish are holding between the coffer dam and the fish ladder. I was reading another post that said that the fish won't climb the ladder in cold weather/water on the St. Joe either. I don't know if this is common or not.

If you want a report you should be able to contact a fisheries biologist and obtain one. We believe one of our board members has a copy of this years counts but again, they were not there.


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

P.S. Reports are that fish were spotted occassionally going over the coffer dam but not the fish ladder. Some reports of fish caught down stream in deep holes but this cold weather has those fish scattered and finicky. These reports are word of mouth and not first hand so should be taken for what they are worth.


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## YPSIFLY (Feb 13, 2001)

There weren't any below the coffer last night. It was nice to have the whole place to myself. I think most guys are out ice fishing.

We have a "warm spell" coming. Maybe some runoff from the snow will pick things up a bit.

Ford Lake is starting to look good. After reading the MUCC article, I'm itchin' to get out there and give it a try. I didn't know We have decent numbers of perch in that Lake.


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## gunrod (Jan 16, 2001)

Nice to see you again Ypsi, I look forward to your fishing reports again. You've got to get your own computer so we don't have these lulls....


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