GLF

The ice is gone here. Looks like a trip to the river is in order.

The photo gallery is now open for posting picks.

I am still in the process of building the Charter Services section. I should have it completed by 15 Jan. I will let everyone know when that section is complete Once it is complete, you may add your charter service to it.

I may have over looked a couple of things while setting the forums up. If you encounter any problems with the forums, please let me know and I will address the issue.

Welcome to the site. Please excuse the smell of the new paint on the walls. As per the site name, we are geared toward the Great Lakes fishermen, with a small cog towards inland lake anglers. I am hoping this will turn into a community of anglers and friends to help and share there knowledge and stories with other anglers.

This is a copy from Luhr Jensen & Sons web page.

"Luhr Jensen & Sons has recently been acquired by Rapala/VMC, a highly regarded fishing tackle manufacturing and sales organization with headquarters in Finland and sales distribution agencies throughout the world.

Because of this recent purchase, direct-to-consumer sales have been suspended at this time, and we cannot supply you with a catalog or price list. If you require information on our Little Chief or Big Chief smokers, our smoker division will be carrying on business "as usual".

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-535-1711 x301."

STUDENTS, educators, and citizens around the Great Lakes region will soon have unprecedented learning opportunities to explore Great Lakes science and the connection to the world’s oceans, following approval of a $2.5 million regional Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE). Great Lakes scientists will also have opportunities to meet their education and public audiences in new collaborative ways.

The National Science Foundation and NOAA-National Sea Grant recently announced funding support for COSEE Great Lakes, the tenth center in a nationwide network. Funds will be provided to seven regional Sea Grant programs to support a suite of educational opportunities united under the COSEE framework.

“Public understanding of Great Lakes and ocean sciences is essential to ensure the long term protection and health of these invaluable natural resources,†said principal investigator Don Scavia, director of the Michigan Sea Grant Program. “COSEE Great Lakes will serve as an excellent framework to link science and education for citizens of all ages.â€Â

COSEE Great Lakes is a collaborative effort of the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and includes programs in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois-Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Activities planned include lake exploration workshops, tools and educational materials using the Great Lakes Observing System, Great Lakes curriculum enhancement and integration with ocean topics, and interactive learning events linking researchers with educators, students, and the public.

A primary objective is to improve communication between researchers and 4-10th grade teachers and students and enhance teacher capabilities for delivering Great Lakes and ocean science education. Over the five-year program, more than 2,000 teachers and 350 researchers throughout the region are expected to take part in COSEE Great Lakes activities and educate new audiences.

In the coming months, Sea Grant educators will be collaborating with more than 25 partners to coordinate COSEE activities and connect with Great Lakes citizens. Ohio’s collaborators include The Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, Stone Laboratory, Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland Municipal School District, and the NSF Biocomplexity Project.

The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network is part of NOAA-National Sea Grant, a network of 30 Sea Grant programs dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources.

"These species are not inherently bad. They're just in the wrong place," said David Lodge, director of the Center for Aquatic Conservation at the University of Notre Dame, who provided advice to the Shedd Aquarium.

The huge Asian carp are real, the gape-mouthed round gobies are real, but organizers of a new exhibit that opened this week at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago decided not to mess with real zebra mussels -- they're just replicas.

The exhibit concerns threats to the Great Lakes from invasive species -- plants or animals that arrive in spots where they didn't originate. They then multiply, spread and harm the balance of their new environment by eating or competing with native species.

Wrong Place

An example is zebra mussels, already notorious pests in the Great Lakes. They are voracious eaters, multiply quickly and are so stubborn once entrenched that the Shedd staff worried they could end up clogging the aquarium's pipes -- hence, the models that climb the side of one of the exhibit's aquariums.

Scientists believe at least 170 aquatic invasive species currently live in the Great Lakes basin, according to the exhibit, and a new species is introduced on average once every eight months.

"These species are not inherently bad. They're just in the wrong place," said David Lodge, director of the Center for Aquatic Conservation at the University of Notre Dame, who provided advice to the Shedd.

Staff at the Shedd said visitors who have read about the threat of invasive species often ask to see them. The exhibit is also designed to provide visitors with tips about how they can help prevent introducing or spreading invasive species.

The plants and animals arrive in the Great Lakes region -- the world's largest surface freshwater system -- in multiple ways. Some are carried in the ballast water of cargo ships, others hitchhike rides on fishing gear or are dumped into sewers and lakes by owners who are tired of caring for an exotic animal or plant around the house.

"The damages are far-reaching -- from the shoreline, to the pipes of power plants and municipal waterworks, to the many other lakes and rivers that are under threat and indeed under harm as zebra mussels and many other species spread from the Great Lakes across the continent," Lodge said.

Exhibit Highlights

The exhibit is a permanent one, and it takes the place occupied by several aquariums previously devoted to aquatic life in the Great Lakes and Midwestern rivers and lakes.

It includes a mix of plants and fish that are native to the Great Lakes, such as lake sturgeon, the prehistoric-looking fish with a snout-like mouth and dull brown color.

The noninvasive exhibits include hydrilla, an Asian plant common used to decorate aquariums, and round gobies, which eat trout and bass eggs.

One of the exhibit's highlights is an aquarium filled with Asian carp, which are currently being kept out of the Great Lakes by electric barriers.

An accompanying videotape shows dozens of carp jumping four feet in the air out of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers -- where they've multiplied quickly because of a lack of natural predators. Some of the carp land in boats, others hit passengers; in one shot, at least eight are seen flying in the background.

The carp are "filter feeders" that consume plankton that would normally be eaten by juvenile minnows, walleyes and blue gill bass, said Kurt Hettiger, a senior aquarist at the Shedd.

Hettiger went out on a boat on the Illinois River near Havana, about 200 miles southwest of Chicago, to collect the carp for the exhibit. He was dismayed by what he saw.

"It was sort of devastating to see how many of these fish there were in a small area," he said. "In some areas, where you sort of start crowding them in, the water is literally erupting with these fish. It's sadly amazing."

After a couple of weeks of putting this together, I am happy to announce that the forums are now open. There may be a couple of bugs here and there that need to be worked out, but for the most part everything appears good.

SUBMIT NEW LISTING:

STEP 1:  Be sure that you are logged in and select "Start New Topic" and fill in the following information: 

EDIT LISTING:

STEP 1:  Be sure that you are logged in and go to your post on the site.  Click on the EDIT link

STEP 2:  Update listing to SOLD / CLOSED.  Click Submit and listing will be updated.

Classifieds Forum Rules - The sale and/or trade of any firearms or ammunition on this website are strictly prohibited. Items listed on this website that do not conform to the Terms of Service guidelines will be removed without notice and the user will be subject to removal of posting privileges. All users agreed to abide by these rules when they first signed up for an account. Buy & Sell at your OWN RISK!

Lets keep then clean as this is a public forums for everyone.

No domain names for usernames. You may use your domain name if you leave the .com(or whatever the extension is) from it.

Examples:

Your domain name is www.greatlakesfisherman.com

You may use Great Lakes Fisherman for your username.

If you have questions about your username shoot me a private message.

You may not use "charter or charters" in your domain name.

Do not post specific holes in your fishing reports. Its OK to post lower, middle, or upper river(s). If you would like to share specific holes with another member, use a private message.

There is a ZERO tolerance for flaming. Do not put down or insult other members.

No swearing or cussing in the forums. This is a community forum for everyone.

If you need Technical Support, please contact us directly here and we will be happy to help!

This is a discussion fishing forum geared at fishing on the Great Lakes. We will try to have the latest fishing reports posted daily. There are links for current marine forecasts, current water temperatures as well as charter services on the homepage. You may be intimidated by the size of the forums, but once you figure out what you can do with it, you will be hooked.

If you have questions about anything fishing related please post them in the appropriate section.

We look foreword to having your in our fishing community.

Please introduce yourself to other members in this section. It is OK to give your charter service a plug in your thread.

Also...Take a minute to fill out your profile. These threads will eventually be rotated out as other members post their greetings. Its easier to click on someones username and view their profile than to hunt for their welcome thread.

Click on the links for the current water temperature for each of the Great Lakes.

Lake Erie

Lake Huron

Lake Michigan

Lake Ontario

Lake St. Clair

Lake Superior

Anyone been out ice fishing? I was too busy deer hunting when the ice was good enough to get out. I will wait for some colder weather to make the some more ice before I head out.

I am looking for some moderators to help with running the site. If you are interested in becoming a mod here, drop me a Private Message.