Do you use emerald shiners? Please help

[Jon Bossenbroek]

Great Lakes Fishermen!

I'm a professor at the University of Toledo and a student and I are conducting a survey of Michigan fisherman to assess the value of bait in relationship to the threat of VHS fish disease.

Please help us out be taking the survey at:

http://uac.utoledo.edu/uacsurveys/lecmfs.htm

Those that take the survey will be eligible for a $25 gift card.

Thanks for your help!

Jon

[danthebuilder]

What is the cost difference between VHS certified free bait & suspect bait?

[Jon Bossenbroek]

Dan, I'm not sure exactly how much VHS testing has increased costs. I'll try to get an answer for you. One of the questions our survey is designed to try to answer is 'do fisherman see value in certified bait?' and if so, 'how much more are they willing to pay?'

[HONDAM]

I deal in a salmon fishing bait, mostly herring with a little ballyhoo and alewive.

With the way the herring works is certification is more about where the herring is harvested then testing. Almost all of the certified herring is coming out of Flordia which has no history of VHS disease. Even if herring is test VHS free and it comes for the puget sounds it can not be certified because of the VHS history in that body of water.

Herring that comes out of Washington/Oregon/Western Canada is not certified. Although unlikely, it is very possible to transmit this devistating disease to the waters where you fish.

As far as how certifying the bait has affected the price, i dont think it really has. I believe fuel and shipping prices have much more to do with the rising bait costs, every year it seems to go up about a quarter per pack. Im my opinions its a no brainer, no difference in cost and taking care to no infect the natural resources in the area, ill go with certified bait every time. There are plenty of bait shops that carry non certified bait out there, its just irresponsible in my opinion. Certified bait is very easy to find, just make sure you look on the package i believe most baits say on the package where they come from.

My store does a ton of bait sales and if you have any additional questions email me:

[email protected]