# Little Manistee Weir, 2019 Chinook Salmon Egg Take



## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

Hello everyone,
This is the first report for 2019. The Little Manistee Weir was dropped into place yesterday, so fish passage is effectively blocked for the time being. Likely won't be much more happening down there until late September, when we turn on the pumps and start getting ready for the egg take. Egg take usually happens during the first two weeks of October. 

As a reminder, the Little Manistee River is always closed to fishing within 300' of the weir, upstream or downstream. Also, the Little Manistee River from the weir downstream to Manistee Lake closes to fishing on September 1, and reopens on November 15.


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

The pumps were turned on yesterday in preparation for the upcoming egg take, so there are now some fish in the ponds. The water is still dark from the rain over the weekend, so it's hard to tell exactly how many we have and what species they are. We are hoping to start taking Chinook eggs next Tuesday, October 1.


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## Sportsman In The Wild (Aug 18, 2009)

Is it safe to say that the salmon that are upstream in the river have been there since before the weir was dropped into place. Or is there some fish that get past it?


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## Whitetail_hunter (Mar 14, 2012)

Sportsman In The Wild said:


> Is it safe to say that the salmon that are upstream in the river have been there since before the weir was dropped into place. Or is there some fish that get past it?


No salmon get past the weir. Any fish upstream of that would be from early/mid August or before.


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

Whitetail Hunter is correct, particularly for Chinook. We do pass steelhead and coho salmon.

Today the crew conducted a biosampling effort to look at numbers and ripeness. They estimate that we have several hundred Chinook in the ponds right now. Today they passed 22 steelhead and 13 cohos. We tentatively have next Wednesday, October 2 scheduled to be our first day of egg take.


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## Wanna Fish (Aug 26, 2011)

M. Tonello,
Thank you for the information. Do you have the ability to let us know the "heavy fish" leader? Last year it was strange how everyone I know caught multiple "30 lbers", but the weir only had one (very few). Thanks again for the info!


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## Slimits (Jun 30, 2014)

Wanna Fish said:


> M. Tonello,
> Thank you for the information. Do you have the ability to let us know the "heavy fish" leader? Last year it was strange how everyone I know caught multiple "30 lbers", but the weir only had one (very few). Thanks again for the info!


I think most of the 30 lbers run early and go to the betsie. By now those fish are spawned out , dead, or in someones freezer.


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

Wanna Fish said:


> M. Tonello,
> Thank you for the information. Do you have the ability to let us know the "heavy fish" leader? Last year it was strange how everyone I know caught multiple "30 lbers", but the weir only had one (very few). Thanks again for the info!


Yes I will try. One thing to remember though- Chinooks lose weight as they approach spawning. They were at their heaviest back in late August when they were still feeding. That's probably why we don't see as many legit 30 lbers at the weir.


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## salmon_slayer06 (Mar 19, 2006)

thanks for keeping the public up to date on this. Any idea how big the steelhead were? Last week heard a 23 pound steelhead was caught in the big river.


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

I wasn't there last week, but apparently they had one steelie that was right around 19 lbs. I know I'd never be able to land a beast like that in that little river!


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

If someone were to squeeze in a troll for steel in Manistee Lake, when would be the best time between now and ice up?


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

Far Beyond Driven said:


> If someone were to squeeze in a troll for steel in Manistee Lake, when would be the best time between now and ice up?


November and December have always been good for me. Especially once water temps drop and they aren't just prone to heading right upstream.


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

So many options in November. Thanks for the advice.


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

The crew conducted the first Chinook salmon egg take at the Little Manistee Weir yesterday. They spawned 99 pairs, and harvested 350 Chinooks. They also passed 148 steelhead, for a season total of 170. They passed 68 cohos for a season total of 81, and three brown trout. The biggest steelie was 20.3 lbs, the biggest coho 12 lbs, and the biggest brown was 7 lbs. The biggest Chinook so far this year was 29 lbs. 

We're hoping to take next take eggs next tuesday, October 7.


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## BMARKS (Nov 6, 2017)

The new outlook to management over the last few years is helping produce some serious sized steelhead! thanks for the adjusted approach!


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## Flemish Cap (Apr 8, 2019)

M. Tonello said:


> The crew conducted the first Chinook salmon egg take at the Little Manistee Weir yesterday. They spawned 99 pairs, and harvested 350 Chinooks. They also passed 148 steelhead, for a season total of 170. They passed 68 cohos for a season total of 81, and three brown trout. The biggest steelie was 20.3 lbs, the biggest coho 12 lbs, and the biggest brown was 7 lbs. The biggest Chinook so far this year was 29 lbs.
> 
> We're hoping to take next take eggs next tuesday, October 7.


Has there been any discussion on passing the kings that aren’t used for the egg take in the future? With the low number of Kings we have and the reduced returns to the weir (haven’t cracked 2K since 2014) it seems like it might be time to start doing this.


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

Flemish Cap said:


> Has there been any discussion on passing the kings that aren’t used for the egg take in the future? With the low number of Kings we have and the reduced returns to the weir (haven’t cracked 2K since 2014) it seems like it might be time to start doing this.


Not really. There are quite a few salmon that get above the weir before August 15th (they're spawning right now), so that isn't something we've discussed.


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

Had our second day of egg take today. Spawned 128 pairs for Platte Hatchery. Harvested 476 Chinooks, for a season total of 826. Also passed 173 steelhead, for a season total of 343. Passed 94 coho, for a season total of 175. Also passed 7 brown trout, for a total of 10.

Biggest fish today were a 32.5 lb Chinook, a 15.3 lb coho, and a 9.9 brown. Had several steelies in the 17 lb class, but nothing that came close to the 20.3 we passed last week.

The plan is to again take eggs next tuesday, October 15th.


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## jrv (Nov 11, 2008)

We enjoyed our time at the weir today! Mark, thanks to you and the crew for educating our youngsters. It’s great having this opportunity in our backyard!


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## Ojh (Sep 4, 2019)

If the local rivers aren't being stocked what happens to the egg collection?


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## Sparky23 (Aug 15, 2007)

They sell alot of the eggs. They just kill and sell the salmon to Canada that aren't used. And they sell some of the hatched fish to other states I believe.


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## Ojh (Sep 4, 2019)

Is the imprinting part of the genetic materials to the fish? In other words, if the smolts from the LM were dumped direct into Lake Michigan would they seek out the LM to spawn or would they tag along with other salmon to their native stream?


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

"We enjoyed our time at the weir today! Mark, thanks to you and the crew for educating our youngsters. It’s great having this opportunity in our backyard!"

Kid in the purple looks terrified!


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## SJC (Sep 3, 2002)

Very cool, but maybe it's time to head over to Swan and be done with it...


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## D05 (Jan 21, 2019)

Do the eggs get used to stock michigan rivers?

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## nighttime (Nov 25, 2007)

D05 said:


> Do the eggs get used to stock michigan rivers?
> 
> Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


Yes


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## Flemish Cap (Apr 8, 2019)

M. Tonello said:


> Had our second day of egg take today. Spawned 128 pairs for Platte Hatchery. Harvested 476 Chinooks, for a season total of 826. Also passed 173 steelhead, for a season total of 343. Passed 94 coho, for a season total of 175. Also passed 7 brown trout, for a total of 10.
> 
> Biggest fish today were a 32.5 lb Chinook, a 15.3 lb coho, and a 9.9 brown. Had several steelies in the 17 lb class, but nothing that came close to the 20.3 we passed last week.
> 
> The plan is to again take eggs next tuesday, October 15th.


What percentage of the Kings collected have been plants?


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## BMARKS (Nov 6, 2017)

the kings collected are a naturally reproducing run of fish, the river theyre collected from is not planted with fish. the fish used for the collect are "wild" fish.


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## SJC (Sep 3, 2002)

BMARKS said:


> the kings collected are a naturally reproducing run of fish, the river theyre collected from is not planted with fish. the fish used for the collect are "wild" fish.


The Little Manistee produces wild kings but it is also planted with chinook salmon.


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## BMARKS (Nov 6, 2017)

SJC said:


> The Little Manistee produces wild kings but it is also planted with chinook salmon.


I stand corrected. i think the best thing about the program here in michigan is the fact that they spawn pairs and dont just rely on one male or one female for the entire stock.


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## nighttime (Nov 25, 2007)

They did some heavy king stocks in there. All the ho’s are wild


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## Flemish Cap (Apr 8, 2019)

BMARKS said:


> I stand corrected. i think the best thing about the program here in michigan is the fact that they spawn pairs and dont just rely on one male or one female for the entire stock.


Yeah, last time I checked the Little Man gets around 40- 45% of the Kings planted on the Michigan side


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## riverman (Jan 9, 2002)

Flemish Cap said:


> Yeah, last time I checked the Little Man gets around 40- 45% of the Kings planted on the Michigan side


Facts to back that statement up?


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## Flemish Cap (Apr 8, 2019)

riverman said:


> Facts to back that statement up?


http://www.michigansportsman.com/2019/Oct_Nov_Dec/Screenshot_2019.10.12.jpg


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

Flemish Cap said:


> Yeah, last time I checked the Little Man gets around 40- 45% of the Kings planted on the Michigan side


Brood stock tribs always get a healthy plant.


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## FishFace23 (Sep 2, 2008)

nighttime said:


> They did some heavy king stocks in there. All the ho’s are wild


All 97 Cohos...

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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

Today we conducted the third Chinook salmon egg take of the season. We spawned 89 pairs and harvested a total of 201 Chinook salmon, for a season total of 1,027. We also passed 176 steelhead (for a season total of 519), 32 coho salmon (for a season total of 207) and 4 brown trout (for a season total of 14). Further egg take operations will take place tomorrow at the Swan River Weir near Rogers City. While egg take operations are likely complete at the Little Manistee weir, the weir will remain in place and the pumps on until all necessary eggs are taken. 
We had several Chinooks over 30lbs again today. We also had two steelhead over 19lbs, but nothing over 20.


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

FishFace23 said:


> All 97 Cohos...


Fishface- Nighttime is correct. The Little Manistee is known to have the best wild run of coho salmon in Michigan, perhaps even the Great Lakes. The heaviest runs typically come in November when the weir is not in place, so they aren't counted. They actually run all winter too- I've seen cohos on the gravel in the Little M well into March.


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## FishFace23 (Sep 2, 2008)

M. Tonello said:


> Fishface- Nighttime is correct. The Little Manistee is known to have the best wild run of coho salmon in Michigan, perhaps even the Great Lakes. The heaviest runs typically come in November when the weir is not in place, so they aren't counted. They actually run all winter too- I've seen cohos on the gravel in the Little M well into March.


Thanks Mark ....I have fished the Little river for decades and it is Just depressing how things have transpired over the years. I appreciate your hard work thru this process. 

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## Kisutch (May 26, 2011)

Thanks to Mark those fi


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## Kisutch (May 26, 2011)

Fish are passed thru the weir. Thanks to Mark those extremely valuable fish are allowed to head upstream and procreate. Thanks to Mark those steelhead are in good hands and are treated with upmost respect. I've also fished this stream for decades and always wondered why the cohos were treated like redheaded stepchildren. Thanks to Mark this little stream is still doing what this stream can really do. That is produce very special fish that are never interfered with human contact. Truly an amazing stream that needs more attention habitat wise. Truly an amazing stream that needs a one fish kill regulation. Truly an amazing stream. Period


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## Kisutch (May 26, 2011)

Thanks to Mark I can still enjoy my steelhead fishing. Nobody cares for those coho but he does. So thank you Mark. You can land those big steelies in there. You just need a crap load of good luck. It can be done. Last winter the late coho were everywhere hope they had a successful spawn.


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## Splitshot (Nov 30, 2000)

I live on the Little Manistee and have been fishing it since the late fifties. There is no need for a one fish limit according to the experts that manage it. When there is a good biologic reason to reduce limits I will support it. I actually think there is a stronger argument to raise the limit back to five fish a day.


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## riverman (Jan 9, 2002)

Flemish Cap said:


> http://www.michigansportsman.com/2019/Oct_Nov_Dec/Screenshot_2019.10.12.jpg


 Thanks. Never realized that


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## jmaddog8807 (Oct 6, 2009)

I've been wanting to fish this river for steelhead and coho after the weir gets taken out. Going to make it happen this Fall/Winter


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## M. Tonello (Sep 20, 2002)

Today the crew emptied the ponds and pulled the weir grates, so there is now free fish passage. They harvested 87 Chinook salmon, for a season total of 1,114. They also passed 22 steelhead (for a season total of 541), 6 coho salmon (for a season total of 213) and 8 brown trout (for a season total of 22). Egg take operations for the fall of 2019 are complete. I wasn't down there so I don't know about fish sizes from today.

As a reminder, the river below the weir is currently closed to fishing. It will reopen on Nov. 15th, and then the entire river will close to fishing on January 1.


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## seabass810 (Apr 2, 2010)

I'm hoping some of those 20 lb steelhead head back to the lake when I am up there in 2 weeks. Lol


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## FishFace23 (Sep 2, 2008)

M. Tonello said:


> Today the crew emptied the ponds and pulled the weir grates, so there is now free fish passage. They harvested 87 Chinook salmon, for a season total of 1,114. They also passed 22 steelhead (for a season total of 541), 6 coho salmon (for a season total of 213) and 8 brown trout (for a season total of 22). Egg take operations for the fall of 2019 are complete. I wasn't down there so I don't know about fish sizes from today.
> 
> As a reminder, the river below the weir is currently closed to fishing. It will reopen on Nov. 15th, and then the entire river will close to fishing on January 1.


Thank you Mark for all your work and posting the Weir updates!! 

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## Canvsbk (Jan 13, 2013)

Yes, much appreciated. Thank you.


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## Bob Hunter (Jan 19, 2016)

How 


M. Tonello said:


> Today the crew emptied the ponds and pulled the weir grates, so there is now free fish passage. They harvested 87 Chinook salmon, for a season total of 1,114. They also passed 22 steelhead (for a season total of 541), 6 coho salmon (for a season total of 213) and 8 brown trout (for a season total of 22). Egg take operations for the fall of 2019 are complete. I wasn't down there so I don't know about fish sizes from today.
> 
> As a reminder, the river below the weir is currently closed to fishing. It will reopen on Nov. 15th, and then the entire river will close to fishing on January 1.


How do those numbers compare to the past few years? I know some go up before the weir is in place, and after its removed.


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## AdamBradley (Mar 13, 2008)

Unfortunately for Kings anyway, the second worst on record from what I see... but not too far off from what has been there the past 3 years or so.

thanks for keeping us up to date mark! Appreciate all the work you do!

https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79136_79236_80247-51534--,00.html


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