TOPIC:

Here another picture and discussion about dead fish on lake Michigan Beaches  

Go fishing!!

Absolutely! We need more kings!

As stated by the article, they didn't die from overpopulation but rather from temperature shocks - this happens every year, all over the lake. As I said in the other thread, they're stressed from overwinter caloric deficit, and developing gonads, and then rapid temp changes kills some of them as they move inshore to spawn.

Rhetorical question: if a picture on the beach of a couple hundred (out of billions) of alewife in the lake means we need more kings.... does a picture of an empty beach with no dead alewife means we should reduce king stocking?

I'm not saying one way or another. What I am saying and people who live in Traverse City and Frankfort Michigan are seeing dead alliwives on the beaches that they haven't seen and asking how to get rid of them.

As I've noted I've fished since 1973 and went to lake Michigan in the late 60s.
Alliwives are traditionally a salt water fish and die when they stay in fresh water for a period of time.

I was only brings attention to a situation that I haven't seen in years plus after reading and attending meeting where MDNR has continued to stress how low the alliwive population has gotten it appears something has changed.

In 2020 I saw bait balls of fish that were 20 to 40 foot deep and a mile long in 60 row water going out of New Buffalo Michigan.

2021 there weren't many bait balls in the area the entire year.
You and I both know there are several different reasons that cause alliwives die and one of those are when a new run of alliwives enters into lake Michigan.
I have no way of knowing how many enter lake Michigan per year but I know it has slowed way down.

I never thought posting a picture of dead alliwives would draw this kind of attention.
From my perspective its something that I haven't seen for years so it makes me ask what's going on. I've seen a few dead alliwives in Michigan city port but not washed up on the beaches. 

Just my opinion 

Trent,
everyone has been trying to help you with this one. Lake Michigan Alewife are home grown. Meaning they live and spawn here in Lake Michigan. They are not having a die off off cause they entered from the ocean. That is only how just like other invasive have made their way to the Great Lakes As explained they die from stress. Spawning is hard on them and when they get caught by fast changing water temps in certain areas of the Lake they have a die off like your pictures have shown. This happens somewhere on the lake almost yearly. I don't have a copy of the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan stomach sapling, but if you saw it you would see Huron has a very low Alewife base. Both Lakes are connected. So Lake Michigan is the only great lake making Alewife in any great numbers.

And no worries on the attention, always good to have lively discussion about the lake!

Totally agree! No worries on my end