# Grand Report for monday-tuesday



## fishing-finlander (Sep 30, 2008)

I did a power run to the grand. Fished the usual spot and didnt see anything worth talking about. Hooked 2 walleye and one smallie. A friend who went with me hooked up on a small coho, and lost it. Hopefully rain and cold front helps out. Definitely one of the strangest years i've seen on the grand. Cant even count on one hand the times iv'e been skunked there, for salmon, I dont even think i ever have, for steelies very very few times. Well good luck.


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

the kings aren't coming...there wont be a king run at 6th st like there has been in the past. don't believe me? wait and see


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## fishing-finlander (Sep 30, 2008)

At this point nothing would surprise me.  Almost unbelievable.


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## diztortion (Sep 6, 2009)

Trout King said:


> the kings aren't coming...there wont be a king run at 6th st like there has been in the past. don't believe me? wait and see


I think last year will set the benchmark of what the fishing will be from here on out. After everyone stops fishing the SW rivers maybe then the DNRE will start stocking more fish.


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## fishing-finlander (Sep 30, 2008)

diztortion said:


> I think last year will set the benchmark of what the fishing will be from here on out. After everyone stops fishing the SW rivers maybe then the DNRE will start stocking more fish.



no that cost money, and DRNE dont like coming off money. Good idea to raise the limits to 5, and reduce stocking. Maybe they are waiting for the new sport fish to take hold......the Arkansas Salmon...Asian Carp:lol:....of course I shouldn't laugh probably more truth in that than I realize


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## limpinglogan (Sep 23, 2009)

Last year was my first year on the Grand and every one said it was a bad year...I had my hopes up for this year but it has been far worse so far. Almost ideal conditions (atleast compared to last year) we have had decent rain and the weathor got cold....I have seen very few fish. I am 0-1 on kings and 1-0 on a small coho...and I have been fishing pretty hard. 

-Logan


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## earl (Sep 7, 2007)

I guess an alternative position would be that the DNR is going to reduce stocking to the available forage base; and those that have fish will be through natural reproduction. While I, and I'm sure many others have turned a blind eye to the snagging that goes on for salmon on a number of Grand tribs; that successfully produce natural steelhead; the long term risk in letting people "clean out the cricks" might be what we are seeing right now.

Of course, there maybe there are other reasons the salmon have not done much successful reproducing in those tribs; I just don't know what they are.


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## diztortion (Sep 6, 2009)

earl said:


> I guess an alternative position would be that the DNR is going to reduce stocking to the available forage base; and those that have fish will be through natural reproduction. While I, and I'm sure many others have turned a blind eye to the snagging that goes on for salmon on a number of Grand tribs; that successfully produce natural steelhead; the long term risk in letting people "clean out the cricks" might be what we are seeing right now.
> 
> Of course, there maybe there are other reasons the salmon have not done much successful reproducing in those tribs; I just don't know what they are.


It's funny that you mention that. In 2005 this girl I went to school with worked at a gas station and someone was in there bragging that they got busted by the DNRE spearing salmon in a Grand trib, like some 30-40 fish. I wouldn't doubt if it was true. 

Two days prior to that I walked down a trib and watched them spawn for awhile. I went down a couple of days later and there wasn't a fish left. You could see drag marks from a spear in the sand and I found one dead fish with holes in it.


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## limpinglogan (Sep 23, 2009)

What is the fun in snagging and spearing? Sounds stupid to me.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

I don't think one person spearing or snagging fish will destroy a fishery like the Grand. But not having too many fish that survive to adulthood will. Has anyone checked out lake Huron, lately? The DNR reduced plants, then reduced them more - and the fish still came back in fewer and fewer numbers every single year. I suppose there might just be a late run due to the lakes and rivers being quite a bit warmer than usual, later in the season, this year. Hopefully that is the deal. Foote dam on the Ausable used to be a crazy snagging mecca. These days there are very few people who even attempt to fish there for Salmon, anymore. There just aren't enough fish coming back to make it worthwhile for most folks. Sad, but true. 
Not saying lake Michigan is suddenly as bad as lake Huron. But it might be following the same trend.


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## earl (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, its a great deal more than one person and far more organized than a pimply faced 14 year old running a creek at dusk. I think my general question is just, simply this; doesn't seem odd that a little river like the Betsie can be achieving significant natural returns of kings and the entire grand river system seems to be achieving far less; when at the same time the Grand's returns on Steelhead are so great?

but hey, I'm no biologist.


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## Multispeciestamer (Jan 27, 2010)

I live on Farmers creek a small feeder stream of the JOE, when we first moved here we had massive runs of natural reproduced salmon every year. But all the locals here liked to take the salmon from the creek and leave no salmon left behind. I heard people bragging about shooting 20-30 a day for a week straight with bow and arrow. I heard of guys using chicken wire and trapping the salmon and harvesting them. There were guys who speared and people who grabbed them with there hands and kept them. My guess is this is still happenning on alot of streams across the state. 

Lucky for us they have for the must part been run out, when my dad would wake up in the middle of the night planning to go deer hunting in the near by woods and seen flashlights out there it was not a good ending for them taking salmon. In the past few years the creek has been coming back as an overall not for salmon but for all species. This winter there was a ton of wild born coho salmon in there, which I have never seen in there before. I do know the school stocked some coho in there for a few years (like at least 7 years ago). There are many species in the creek molted sculpin, shinner species, fathead minnows, and to many more to name.


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## samsteel (Oct 6, 2008)

Multispeciestamer said:


> I live on Farmers creek a small feeder stream of the JOE.


i'm sorry but this is an unmentionable, lol :sad:


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## Multispeciestamer (Jan 27, 2010)

samsteel said:


> i'm sorry but this is an unmentionable, lol :sad:


 I am sorry but I am not reffering to fishing it :lol: so I see nothing wrong


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## diztortion (Sep 6, 2009)

Multispeciestamer said:


> when my dad would wake up in the middle of the night planning to go deer hunting in the near by woods



Who was really poaching? :evil:


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## Boozer (Sep 5, 2010)

Tamer,

How do you know they were naturally reproduced?

I can answer that for you, you don't...

It couldn't possibly be that the Joe has seen tremendous decreases in the amount of King Salmon stocked here over the past few years...

Finlander,

Would you rather keep the stocking where it was and the limit where it was so the entire fishery could collapse?

All I keep hearing from some buds who fish the Grand regularly is the King Salmon fishing is on fire, they have been sending me tons of photos, I can tell you, they aren't anywhere near 6th Street though...


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## chris_kreiner (Sep 6, 2006)

I have only been salmon fishing for the last 4 years, last year I got out a half a dozen times and didn't even hook into a single salmon. This year so far I've caught one small (14") coho out of the grand out of about 6 trips out. Either way I have seen a decline my self in the number of fish caught over the last 4 years. I, like others, am no biologist but something seems very wrong!!:sad:


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## Boozer (Sep 5, 2010)

chris_kreiner said:


> I have only been salmon fishing for the last 4 years, last year I got out a half a dozen times and didn't even hook into a single salmon. This year so far I've caught one small (14") coho out of the grand out of about 6 trips out. Either way I have seen a decline my self in the number of fish caught over the last 4 years. I, like others, am no biologist but something seems very wrong!!:sad:


What seems wrong? It was found beyond a shadow of a doubt that the King Salmon population had become way too high, they were literally eating themselves out of a food source, so common sense would tell you that there is going to be less fish. There is no choice unless you just want the whole damn fishery to crash, which I would be willing to bet, none of you want that...

There is plenty of fish in the Southwest Michigan rivers right now, you just have to put your time in and you will figure them out...


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## Spanky (Mar 21, 2001)

Boozer said:


> What seems wrong? It was found beyond a shadow of a doubt that the King Salmon population had become way too high, they were literally eating themselves out of a food source, so common sense would tell you that there is going to be less fish. There is no choice unless you just want the whole damn fishery to crash, which I would be willing to bet, none of you want that...
> 
> There is plenty of fish in the Southwest Michigan rivers right now, you just have to put your time in and you will figure them out...



Thank You. some folks think if they don't get fish where they caught them the previous years, then there are no fish.


some of the same folks who bitch about the cut in plant numbers, would also ask why the DNR didn't lower the plants before the fishery crashed.


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## kaniff89x (Sep 18, 2006)

Spanky said:


> Thank You. some folks think if they don't get fish where they caught them the previous years, then there are no fish.
> 
> 
> some of the same folks who bitch about the cut in plant numbers, would also ask why the DNR didn't lower the plants before the fishery crashed.


and it took a few decades for this to happen?


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