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I am also a custom painter and collect pre rapala Rattlin' ThinFins. I will be at the HCC awards ceremony this afternoon at the Yacht Club pavilion in Michigan City. If you're in the area stop by for free food and beer. Doors open at 3:30. Awards and food start at 4:00. I will be sitting with the group from the "Osprey."

I haven’t been out since the first weekend of August due to some issues, but agree that the fishing for silver fish has been almost nonexistent the last 2 years once August hit. I’m glad we are getting 450k more kings lake wide and hope as most have stated that Indiana gets some of those fish. I still feel we need to exercise caution with stocking increases as even though we are seeing an uptick in baitfish we still have very low numbers lake wide. The lake could definitely do with a lot less Lake trout in the South end and Indiana has stopped planting any. The GLSI has definitely helped anglers voices be heard on this which I greatly appreciate, but the USFWS obviously has a different agenda for the lake that they are battling.
From what I’ve read the fall fishery has been pretty bad for most ports South of Grand Haven on the Michigan side of the lake this year also. Wisconsin plants more Kings and though those fish swim all over the lake most of the year, they reap the rewards of those plants in the fall. Sorry to ramble on but just my random thoughts on the post.

Thanks for your thoughts Pikesmith, always enjoy hearing from you!

And thanks for the call out for the GLSI. Glen Buehner is the President and does a great job. He works hard and puts in much of his time. Glen writes a good post. I am a active member and support the GLSI. Though they are Michigan based so much of what takes place in the lake effects us all one way or another. I will be traveling to Lansing Michigan on the 17th. Interested to see how they pull everyone together and run their meetings.

Storm Junkie I just might take you up on that offer. If you see an old fella with a cane walking around, don't trip him/ me.lol

I fish out of South Haven and the silver fishing has been pretty much nonexistent since May. Lucky to catch a couple a trip. Lakers are all over but most are about 5 lbs with a few larger ones mixed in. The charters don’t even target silver fish as its quicker to just get limit of lakers and head in. A few years after the plants stopped the summer/fall fishery was done. To each their own but I don’t get the whole you might only catch one king but it’s going to be a monster fishery. Marked a ton of bait inside 60 foot all summer. one evening I was perch fishing and while I wasn’t catching any perch I watched a huge school of alewifes boiling on top of the water before dark- I haven’t seen that in years. I’m not asking for huge plants as i know the lake can’t support it but even 50k a year gave us something. Wisconsin did it right, they made cuts but they still kept enough kings to make it interesting. Michigan just keeps on planting millions of lakers and saying they don’t eat that many alewifes. The ones I catch are are generally loaded with them and everyone I talk to says the same thing.

I generally don't have an answer, but I do have an opinion. On the subject of why Indiana's kings don't survive, I don't even have a good opinion other than what's been done in the past stopped working a couple decades ago.
Seems as though the "official" excuse is the baby kings starve once they hit the lake. They are stocked at 4 inches long - seems like something is more apt to eat them. Seems like a one year old alewife would be too big for them to eat. Don't know.
Lack of other stuff in the lake for the baby kinglets to eat? Yeah, sure, I read the reports of cleaner water, fewer zooplanktons available. But when I look at the water when I fish at the northern parts of the lake I'm struck by how clear and clean it is compared to what we have here, especially in the spring. I've always considered a bit of "color" in the water to be a sign of nutrients and nutrients fuel zooplankton and so the cycle begins. So why do the king salmon in Northern Michigan and Wisconsin do so well - exfiltrating from what are often clear running "trout stream" like creeks into water that looks like it came from a Brita Filter? What are they feeding on and surviving that's not available down here?

When it comes to allocation of the extra 450K kings in the lakewide stocking I'll make a wager. That being the extra will be doled out all up and down the coast, rather than keying in on "needy" areas. In the earlier cuts one idea bandied about was to eliminate stocking in areas where natural reproduction was prevalent and put more fish in ports/rivers with no natural reproduction. Well, that idea went over like a lead balloon so northern ports continued to get "their share." And so it will continue. Each state and each region will receive a "pittance."
Remember, if the decision making committee decided to give all 450k to Indiana it wouldn't bring Indiana up to historic stocking numbers.

Regulator and Brother Nature, thanks for your thoughts. Seems like some of our younger fishermen are not sure how to answer this post. It is good to talk about items such as this one. Missing are the river fishermen parked along the road getting a few. They probably do not have a boat and I remember the days before a boat when you came home with a big fish to share. Missing are the fall charters, though combat fishing at times it was still fun to see someone with a screamer and the chinese fire drill that went with. Gone are the fall contest days which many of us got in on. The effects go deep and are reaching.
I don't think anyone has been more critical at times then myself. So we are now at this junction. We are facing what some of us thought may be coming but hoping and wishing it wouldn't. Kinda like the glass is it half full or half empty?

Many of the problems or issues mentioned may be workable. Cheap shots don't score any points but hard work and fishermen willing to be part of something are the building blocks to the better times ahead. Change is slow and seems slower when you get up in age. This is why I am putting my time in going to meetings traveling on my dime and bringing information to share when I can. I can't give up. This fishery has been part of my life for over 50 years now one way or another. I am going to continue to argue at times and give pats on the back when and where they should go. I have faith that over time we will see some changes and our great fishery here is going to continue and get better. But fellas it starts right here talking about it is the opener. What can be done now, and what needs to happen later? Kinda like the apple tree. some fruit is easy to pick it is the stuff at higher levels that makes the job tuff at times. I have to have faith in our Biologist. And I do. I found Ben to have thick skin. He can take a punch and is at times rightfully so willing to throw one back. I can take it. It is the best way to resolve problems,,,,, is getting the proper people together and walk thru issues, one by one..Nobody has all the answers but what a allstar group of fishermen we have to pull from.I think we might have the best,,,,,,,,,,right here.

StormJunky sorry I missed you fellas. I suffer with MS and have been dragging my right foot at times. By the late afternoon I am just wore out. I did have good intentions to get down there as I did want to meet with you and see some old friends.

Hey Ed, should bring this up while your there. Since Michigan stocks Lake Huron with kings what’s the return rate up there compared to the other states that stock Lake Michigan.Since those fish are counted against Lake Michigan stocking numbers if they have a better return rate then the other states that stock wouldn’t that be messed up. They supposedly come down here to Lake Michigan to feed and go back to spawn but the fish that are stocked in Lake Michigan don’t return to there rivers openings? They’re getting a better return rate in Huron that is crashed then Michigan if study show this what are they doing differently? Is Huron really as bad as we are lead to believe? What about The naturals on the Canadian side what’s their return rate? Someone has to have study this either now or years before Huron crashed. How’s lake trout fishing in Huron Probably the same here in Lake Michigan or better.

Not a Problem. You missed a good time but it was short notice. I'm finished for this year and the boat is out of the water. We had an exceptionally good spring and enough Steelhead action in July to keep it fun so I have no complaints overall. We all knew the alewives were in trouble after the unusually cold winters and biologists lost control of the numbers. The cuts were needed and I'm once again amazed at how resilient the lake is and how it always finds a way to bounce back. We struggled through the BKD days, hopefully we can get through this. I just hope we didn't give too much away never to see it return on the south end. My opinion for what it's worth is we need at least 200 - 250 thousand kings stocked for a decent fall run and the good returns we had in the 90's were the result of 300 - 500 thousand stocked fish. Now we have a large population of large Drum that seem to like their food in the 3 - 5 inch range and Cormorants hanging around the harbor mouths. It's always something.
Just a side note. A friend of mine fishes the fall tournaments in Lake Huron out of Rogers City and said the Chinook fishing was terrible this year. Fished 3 days and never had a king hooked up. Claimed anyone that had 1 king and their trout were in the money. Last year they caught quite a few kings with big fish 27 lbs..

Hello Mike, good to hear from you. Good questions you raised and I don't have an answer for you. Interesting thought though. Laker fishing is good on Huron. The Kings and Huron,,,, well you know my thoughts there! That one sits in Jay Wesley and Randy Claramonts arena now. I do know Randy had alot to do with the science we all are presently following for Lake Michigan when he worked under Jay, so now that he is the basin co ordinator for Huron, you would think he would follow his own writings right?