EdB

They are naturally reproducing and expanding from that area too. Good info in this video by Jory Jonas MDNR

Here is a report from the GLSI President: Last weekend went ice fishing for Cisco so the GLSI can have first hand observations of what they are consuming. Understand this is just a winter observation and not a year long analysis BUT brings to light some huge concerns! We collected stomach samples and whole fish to send to the MDNR for otolith and stomach analysis. Otolith will give us age of captured fish. Fishing was slower last Saturday with nice, sunny weather than earlier in the week but with the help of some other fishermen we were able to get samples. MAKE NO MISTAKE---these planktivores are also predators and are eating ALEWIFE!! I observed one angler reeling in a fish that puked up 7 alewives and once on the ice still had 8 alewives in it's stomach What is the concern? Cisco (LAKE HERRING) have doubled their population in L. Michigan every year since 2011, on their own. We back the MDNR and Tribal interests that caution needs to be exhibited when considering any USFWS efforts to stock Cisco!! In fact all stakeholders should say NO TO CISCO and YES TO WHITEFISH! Shallow water Cisco (Lake Herring) compete with alewife and smelt for food when young then as they get large enough turn on Alewife, Smelt and Gobies for food. This is a double whammy on the same food that supports our salmon and steelhead fisheries. The MDNR has worked hard to insure a future salmon fishery in Lake Michigan, through predator level reductions and make no mistake Cisco are predators. The USFWS is trying to sell us that Cisco will be a great bait for Chinook. Are you aware that Pacific Salmon were planted in L. Michigan in the 1800's? Cisco were here at the time and not alewife and they failed! Don't believe that Cisco is a great bait fish for anything other than Lake Trout. These fish get far to big quickly to be eaten by salmon and steelhead and like Lake Trout live for decades---eating what? Alewives, smelt and Gobies!! Don't buy the Snake Oil! This is the fleecing of America!! The USFWS changing over raceways in their hatcheries not being used for Lakers to Cisco production, without state or tribal agreement is damned near criminal. Remember this is our tax payer monies! Wanting to bring in Gametes from Lake superior Cisco to cross breed with Lakes Michigan and Huron strains for genetic diversity is wrong. The biologists from the MDNR and tribes we have spoken with including basin coordinators are against this process wanting to maintain GENETIC INTEGRITY. The idea that they can create a market for Cisco is extremely misleading for 3 major reasons. #1 Consumers dictate the market not the producer and cisco is not the quality fish that whitefish are. #2 The commercial fishery has not created a widespread market for Lakers or they would be worth more in the market place as an example. #3 The real money in Cisco is in the roe (eggs) over seas. Table fair is not as good as whitefish except smoking them or Creamed or Pickled Herring. There is a solution to this problem. USFWS needs to recognize the economic and angler participation loss to the St of Michigan with the collapse of the salmon fishery in Lake Huron. Not enough is known about the impact of cisco in Lake Michigan and any efforts by the USFWS to stock them should immediately cease! We do know that whitefish recruitment over the last 5yrs is very limited and theories from food to predation or a combination are to blame except in southern Green Bay but even there it is at the threshold for continued levels of current production. Plant whitefish to assist in rehabilitation of whitefish, that already have an established market and commercial fishery. The GLSI was told that the internal environment of the USFWS was changing and not just about native fisheries and are in place to support states fisheries management plans and programs. Continued salmon fisheries is paramount in this invasive lake biological balance, economic status within the states and we ask the USFWS to listen and consider the implications the unknown may bring. Shown in the pics are some of the samples taken on the ice and from cleaning them at home.

Welcome to Great Lakes Fisherman!

Good morning with my daughter fishing 9-10 fow with minnow and waxworms. These jigs did the damage.

image of a 150, 300 and 450 ft lead core with inline planer boards

One more thing when buying lures during the season, watch local fishing reports and buy colors, brands that are working recently.

Adding a 75ft, 150ft and 225ft or 250ft copper rod/reel would be a good addition. 150ft and 300ft lead cores are comparable too if you run across some deals on them. You will also need some inline planer boards to get them off the sides to run more rods in addition to riggers and divers. If you are fishing in the spring, spoons tend to work better than flashers/meat rigs so you might want to increase your colors of them. Watch the forum ads, craigslist or ebay for used deals. You can learn a lot from taking a charter or going out with an experienced angler. If you pay for a charter, talk to them in advance, tell them your intent is to learn how to run a good program and ask if they will explain and teach you on the trip. It can really shorten the learning curve but will cost as much as the gear you want to add so it depends on your budget. If you were over here on Lk Michigan, I'm sure a lot of members here would offer to take and show you if you chipped in for gas. Maybe try that on the Lake Ontario United forum.

Here are Chinook numbers.

Matt, yes, here is a pic of the brown trout recommendation, first column is the current numbers and last column is proposed for 2018.

The Great Lakes Salmon Initiative Membership meeting was this past Friday night in Ludington. We appreciate Jay Wesley and Jory Jonas from the MDNR attending and sharing the 2018 DNR stocking proposals and future strategies. The GLSI has been advocating for a zonal management approach, decreasing lake trout plants, increasing king plants and reallocating some of the huge coho plant on the Platte River. We have been fostering a very positive and cooperative relationship with the MDNR. These are the 2018 stocking plans the MDNR is proposing after the public input period for the last couple months. These plans are not finalized until reviewed by the tribes and Lk Michigan Committee in the coming months but changes are rarely made there. Lake Trout plants in Michigan are going to be cut from 2.1 million to 1.8 million. Chinook plants will be increased from 330,000 to 553,000. Most of the additional chinook plants will be off ports south of Muskegon to help stimulate some fall returns to those watersheds. Some coho plants are also going to be moved from the Platte River to southern ports to also help the fisheries there. They should contribute to the southern spring fishery but it is hoped they will provide an inshore and river fishery in the fall. The Platte will still get a very large plant for the coho egg harvest there for future plantings. Brown trout will get a 30% cut but all plants will be moved to the NW part of the start along with a plant at Escanaba. Brown plantings have traditionally been spread out across almost all ports but have been failing for the most part in recent years. Based on creel reporting and salmon ambassador reports, the DNR estimates it cost $258 for every brown that get harvested. That is because so few are harvested out of the 1000's planted. We are hoping that by concentrating plants in the NW that has historically had a solid spring brown fishery; the larger plants at each location will allow more planted browns to survive predation and restore that fishery. Part of the logic for trying this was that the southern ports have a strong spring coho fishery and the NW part of the state relies on browns for a spring fishery. This is also following a zonal management approach to target a zone for brown trout management. Spreading the cohos and kings south will contribute to the open water fishery across the lake but hopefully improve the late summer and fall fishing there too. The GLSI likes these changes and are hopeful they will improve our fisheries. We would have liked to see a bigger lake trout cut but it is moving in the right direction. The DNR will be reviewing and revisiting them in the coming years. Planting locations and amounts will be adjusted based on returns. The GLSI President also presented the research he had done on ciscos since they would be a topic on Saturday. It was very informative and something all anglers need to be concerned with. More to come on that. Lot's of data was presented at Saturday's Seagrant Lake Michigan Fisheries workshop. Quagga mussel's continue to dominate the bottom of the lake. Phosphorous levels in the lake have been in a steady decline due to less phosphorous coming in from rivers and this is also contributing to a much cleaner and more sterile lake. The inshore waters of Lake Michigan are proving to be more fertile than offshore waters. Anglers are being asked to participate in diet studies saving fish stomach's for analysis. Mass marking of planted fish will continue to improve understanding of natural reproduction. The USFW had a presentation on restoring/planting ciscos in Lake Michigan. Some of the options presented were moving in ciscos from Lake Superior, Huron or Lk Nipigon in Canada. Not much is known on what could happen and there are risks bringing in fish from other bodies of water. The GLSI is concerned about these plans and recommend all anglers become informed and remain vigilant about planting ciscos. In their early life ciscos are a forage fish when very small and this is a reason why they are being promoted. The concern is they grow to 2-3 lbs and even bigger. Adult fish feed on alewives, smelt and gobies and will be feeding/impacting the reduced forage out in the lake now. Jory Jones from the MDNR shared their diet studies have shown adult cisco feed on small fish. We currently have a naturally increasing population of ciscos in Traverse bays. Some fisherman at the workshop shared they catch ciscos on spoons with trolling gear from the surface to the bottom. It seems more prudent to study the Traverse Bay population and understand the impact of cisco before the feds start raising and planting them throughout the lake. Given the situation with reduced forage in Lk Michigan, we question why we should add more cisco mouths to feed until we understand their overall impact to the forage base. Further research needs to be done. I know I and most anglers would rather catch a king than a cisco. As plans for cisco evolve, salmon and trout anglers need to be informed and stay engaged to ensure they don't have a negative impact on our fisheries.

Nice catch!

This is like brand new, my brother in law bought it a few months ago planning to use it for ice fishing and snow plowing but passed away. I'm selling it for my sister. It is stored in a garage and hardly used. It only has 8.2 miles on it. Comes with a 60 inch mule mint blade, a 3500 winch, canvas doors and windows and an overall storage cover. Price is $7900. It is located in Napoleon Michigan near Jackson.

Nice catchin!

Nice steelhead!