TOPIC:

How will our DNR vote on the stockings cuts for 2017?
Will they vote for further cuts?
Will they vote to keep things as is?
Sounds like there will be a vote coming.
As fishermen it may be time to make calls to the DNR and let them know that you care. Its up to us to let them know. You see the pictures and the bait from all over the lake. Is further cuts needed? If you enjoy the fishing and see what others are seeing then make a call and let them know that Indiana should vote NO, no more cuts.

Call Brian Breidert 219-874-6824

Fellas, this is an unfounded rumor that has been going around social media. I am not sure where it comes from. The Lake Committee already made the decision, and put out the press release. There is no "upcoming vote" on the stocking cuts. The Lake Committee, comprised of a representative from each state and one from the tribes, manages by consensus and they all are behind the cut. This is all based off the decisions and workshops from 2012 with predetermined stocking levels and scenarios based on the predator prey relationship

We know you care. We see the pictures of bait. We know we're getting bigger kings this year (that was the plan, after all, to build bait back up). We are still concerned with the amount of bait and the lack of multiple strong yearclasses, which makes alewife populations vulnerable. We know kings are awesome and that fishermen are passionate about them. But we're trying to manage the lake with science, not emotion. Feel free to call Brian and talk with him (I will be out of town from now until Tuesday)

What date was the vote and who was the spokeman for Indiana? How did Indiana vote?

Looking at other sites, they agreed to cut 500,000 lakers and raise the bag limit to 3. Guess with those cuts the alewifes should be back to huge numbers in no time. Why don't they cut the limits on coho and king to 2 or 3 since they're relying on natural reproduction to make up the difference and there trying there best to keep them in this new fishery of the future? Thing is there not much natural reproduction going on in the last 2 to 3 years to keep any kind of salmon population add in major cuts in stocking and you get no fish. Almost feels like the anglers are going to have to manage there own resource by not fishing for silvers at all and fish for lakers to try to stop this laker fishery that's being set up for our better good. Without a chance to catch king or coho, I don't see many people fishing for lakers, in return that's more lakers to eat alewives and destroy the fishery for good and bring it back to it natural state. Mike

It's a hell of a lot of fun fishing salmon on the west coast. Halibut are every bit as tasty as perch. Seahawks are a Super Bowl caliber team that runs the ball and plays tough defense. It never gets above 80 or below 30 in Seattle. Why are we all still here?

There was not a public vote on the cut. Seems like all of the decisions. are being made by the multi-state task force now. It looks like IN. king stocking program is over for at least the next 3 years. The reduction in Lakers is a very small drop-in the bucket compared to the amount that is being stocked. The DNR will continue to stock what the states surveys reveal is best for the lake.

Anglers object to Lake Michigan stocking plan
Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 7:49 p.m. CDT July 6, 2016
636034347061923021-lake-michigan-salmon.jpg
(Photo: Paul A. Smith/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
All parties agree on the goal. But the means to get there is receiving serious debate.

And some are even questioning the need to do anything, given the current relatively rosy state of affairs.

At issue: the Lake Michigan salmon and trout fishery.

The Lake Michigan Committee last month recommended a 62% reduction in chinook salmon stocking on Lake Michigan.

The predator and prey fish are out of balance, the committee said, due to changes in the lake's ecosystem brought on by quagga mussels, historic lows in alewife biomass and substantial natural reproduction of chinook in Michigan rivers.

But many charter captains and sport anglers are opposed to the plan.

"We all want a healthy fishery," said Jason Woda of Oak Creek, owner of Reel Sensation Charters. "And right now we have it. It's not the time for such a big cut of kings."

Woda was among about 100 people who attended a Thursday meeting hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Milwaukee to present information and receive input on the lake's salmon and trout fishery.

The agency also held meetings last week in Green Bay and Cleveland, Wis.

The timing and size of the proposed cut have angered many anglers who are experiencing the best salmon fishing and seeing more bait fish than they have in years.

Large numbers of alewives are being reported along the Wisconsin shore this spring and summer. Most are about 3 inches long and likely the result of a good hatch and survival in 2015.

And the condition of salmon appears much improved over the last two years.

"The chinook and coho we're catching are plump," said Kurt Pokrandt of Milwaukee, owner of Silver King Charters. "I really believe we need to wait a couple more years to see how it plays out."

Pokrandt pointed to dozens of reports of 20-plus pound kings as well as a few 30-pounders being caught in Wisconsin waters this year as signs of ample forage and a good balance of predators and prey.

A group of anglers stand over their catch of salmon
A group of anglers stand over their catch of salmon last month during a fishing trip off Milwaukee with Jason Woda and Reel Sensation Charter Fishing. (Photo: Contributed photo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
The Lake Michigan Committee — which includes representatives of the Wisconsin DNR, the other state management agencies that border Lake Michigan and tribal representatives from Michigan — sees things differently.

In its June 13 announcement, the committee said its recommendation comes after "extensive consultation with angler groups and other stakeholders, and more than three years of research and monitoring." Recommendations from the committee represent the consensus of its members.



The committee is attempting to avoid a collapse of the chinook fishery similar to what occurred in Lake Huron in the 2000s.

According to a Michigan Sea Grant study, the chinook crash led to an $11 million loss per year in 10 small towns on Lake Huron.

Based on its proposal, beginning in 2017, lakewide chinook stocking would be reduced to 690,000 from the current 1,800,000.

Wisconsin would receive the most chinook (355,000), with 200,000 going to Michigan, 90,000 to Illinois and 45,000 to Indiana.

The call for a cut in chinook stocking comes as a key indicator of the fishery — the predator-prey ratio — rose to 0.108 in Wisconsin last year. The goal is 0.05; values over 0.1 are considered a "red flag" of too many predators and too few bait fish.

Lake Michigan has changed markedly and irreversibly over the last century due to aquatic invasive species.

Perhaps the biggest blow to the lake's ecosystem occurred in recent decades with the invasion of Dreissenid mussels, especially the quagga mussel. The mussels have colonized much of the lake bed and constantly filter the water, removing plankton from the food web and reducing the lake's productivity.

Harvey Bootsma, associate professor at UWM's School of Freshwater Sciences, said Lake Michigan's productivity today is only 20% of what it was pre-quagga mussel.

With less food available, it's more difficult for young fish — from yellow perch to alewife to smelt — to survive the crucial first year.

Chinook stocking has been reduced multiple times over the decades in response to disease issues and declines in the forage base.

The committee's plan would drop chinook stocking to the lowest level in the lake and in Wisconsin since the early 1970s.

Pokrandt, the Milwaukee charter captain, said the previous cuts appear to be working.

"They allowed the alewives to pull off a good year class in 2015," Pokrandt said. "This plan would cut way too deep and too soon."

The Great Lakes fishery contributes $114 million in retail expenditures and generates more than $12.5 million in state and local tax revenue in Wisconsin each year, according to the American Sportfishing Association.

"The economic repercussions along our entire shoreline from Sturgeon Bay to Kenosha will be devastating if more cuts are made," Woda said.

Talk of the reduction has come at an ironic time for many. Woda described this year's Lake Michigan fishery as "world class." His charter is catching an average of 15 to 18 salmon and trout per 5-hour trip.

Managing the lake's trout and salmon fishery is complicated by natural reproduction of chinook, primarily in streams in Michigan, as well as migration of salmon into Lake Michigan from Lake Huron.

Last year, 69% of chinook sampled in Lake Michigan were wild, or naturally reproduced, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As part of a mass marking project, the agency implants a coded wire tag in the snout and clips the adipose fin of all chinook stocked in the lake.

In a typical year, 3 to 4 million wild chinook smolts are produced in Lake Michigan, said Randy Claramunt, fisheries biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Last year the Michigan DNR estimated the number at 3,828,703, far outpacing stocked chinook.

Chinook are the only species targeted in the cut due to its high dependence on alewives, a principal Lake Michigan prey fish that has declined substantially in recent years.

In its 2015 bottom trawl survey conducted at index sites around Lake Michigan, the U.S. Geological Survey reported an alewife biomass of 0.5 kilotonnes, 70% lower than 2014 and lowest on record. The 4.0 kt total prey fish biomass also was an all-time low.

The situation calls for creative thinking, said Todd Kalish, Wisconsin DNR deputy fisheries director, just as it did when Pacific Ocean-strain salmon were introduced to the lake in the 1960s to control nuisance levels of alewives.

Anglers at Thursday's meeting expressed a desire for changes in lake trout management, specifically an increased daily bag limit on lake trout (it's currently two fish), extending the lake trout season (perhaps to yearlong) and reduced stocking of lake trout. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raises and stocks lake trout.

The last item is a "done deal," according to DNR officials who said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to reduce lake trout stocking in Lake Michigan by 550,000 fall fingerlings this year.

Some anglers also suggested the DNR wait until it learns what the predator to prey ratio is this fall before making any cuts.

Others asked the agency to collect chinook eggs this fall and start raising fish. Then, if the stocking cut is still deemed necessary, the developing fish could be disposed of.

"You can't raise what you don't have," Woda said. "I'd hate to make the decision too early and not have enough eggs in the hatchery."

The DNR is accepting public comments on the proposed cut through July 31 at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

A draft plan reflecting any changes should be available in August and will likely be discussed at a Wisconsin meeting of the Lake Michigan Fisheries Forum.

A final decision is planned by Oct. 1.

Send email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

So they say 3 million wild salmon are coming in from natural reproduction? Not from Michigan rivers. The east side and south ends of lake are getting no kind of returns that are worth talking about. If you think that you might have a good hatch of alewives why again all the lakers that eat them? If you stock no lakers they will still be there in good numbers plus they are reproducing better then these wild kings we have. You say the lake lost 80 percent of the life since the mussels took over and thats not a crash? What little fishing you have is on west side of the lake. Thats whats left of the alewives and where they are at for the time being so it sounds like enjoy them while you can if you can go there for a trip. But keep this in mind, every 4yr old that is caught is one that won't have a chance to repoduce which in turn will be replaced by a lake trout not a king cause there's not enough of them. Mike

Kind of a joke when he says lake trout stocking cuts are a "done deal." 550,000 is nothing compared to the amount going in. Needs to be cut 62% lake wide also, but we all know that's not gonna happen since the Feds are controlling that.

Agreed! How many lake trout are in the lake? 500,000 removed from the stocking is a small move in the right direction.

But it seems that alot of concern is going into how many kings might be naturally reproducing. But were is the same concern about how many lake trout are also now naturally reproducing.

Hard to manage those numbers when lakers live as long as they do, compared to the short life cycle of the salmon, which can be adjusted much easier for the situation at hand.

But as the wisconsin post shows that Their DNR is still asking for input and that a final vote wouldn't happen til October 1st, yet we are being led to believe that it is all over here in Indiana.