Spiel

St. Clair River excused in L. Huron water woes But all Great Lakes remain below average levels Manitoulin.ca The International Joint Commission (IJC), a quasi-judicial agency that oversees regulation of Great Lakes levels, said on Thursday that video images from the river's depths indicate that, contrary to claims of significant erosion, the bottom remains "fully armoured" with a layer of rocks. "On a preliminary basis, we're finding that ongoing erosion does not appear to be a cause of low water levels," IJC spokesman John Nevin said during a news conference in Toronto. The Georgian Bay Association (GBA), which represents cottagers along the eastern shore of Lake Huron, has argued that dredging and scouring of the shipping channel at the lake's exit near Sarnia has resulted in a greater volume of water escaping the Huron-Michigan system. A study undertaken on behalf of the GBA in 2005 by a firm of hydrological engineers supported this position, and more recent investigations undertaken by the cottagers' group suggest the water loss through the St. Clair may be even greater than first estimated-as much as 10 billion litres per day. The IJC, which launched a five-year study of the upper lakes last spring, admits that more research needs to be done before erosion of the St. Clair channel can be entirely ruled out as a factor in the decline of Lake Huron's water level. Ted Yuzyk, co-chair of the IJC study group, told reporters that other measurements still need to be taken, and no firm conclusions have been reached. It's possible, the group allowed, that more substrate once overlaid the river's present padding. But the fact that rocks exist at this level indicates that the riverbed remains generally intact, and is not likely the culprit in a decline of Lake Huron's water level, in the estimate of IJC scientists. Mary Muter, chair of the GBA's environment committee, feels it's much too early to discard the theory, based on the research of a reputable hydrological firm, that her group has posited. "I think this is premature," she told the Globe and Mail last week. Her association blames dredging conducted in 1962 for an increased outflow from Lake Huron. That dredging, done by the US Army Corps of Engineers, was supposed to be accompanied by protection against erosion, but this work, the GBA contends, was never carried out because of high water on the lakes in the 1970s and 1980s. Lake levels, of course, are anything but high now. Lake Superior reached a record low earlier this fall, falling 10 centimetres below its previous nadir, set in 1926. And Lake Huron, while still above its all-time low, remains well below its average. According to the October edition of Level News, a monthly bulletin provided by Environment Canada, "the level of Lakes Michigan-Huron began October at a level 59 centimetres below average and 10 centimetres lower than last year. Levels on Michigan-Huron have been consistently below average since January of 1999, almost as long as those on Superior." However, the Lake Huron-Michigan basin "received relatively more rainfall than the Lake Superior basin and levels of Michigan-Huron are still about 17 centimetres above the record low for this time of year, which was set in 1964," the bulletin points out. Superior, for its part, benefited from a spate of rainfall in October and has gone way up in recent weeks, with the big lake now closer to normal water levels than it is to record low levels. As of this month, the lake is within a foot of its norm. As of Sunday, the level of Lake Huron stood at 175.83 metres, putting it 18 centimetres above its record low, but a full 1.5 metres below the high set in 1986. Compared to its long-term average, the lake remained undernourished by more than half a metre. In its water level bulletin for October, Environment Canada indicates that Lakes Huron and Michigan are "forecast to continue their seasonal decline, and remain below average, for the next several months."

....I believe it is indeed a spawned out male brown.

.....Ooooooh, that's a beauty!

....Hey, that ain't green!

"Gotta love "networking" on OFC" ....Yep you gotta love it!

....While I prefer not to I'm sometimes forced to fillet (due to hauling up from deep water) small perch and have no difficulty in doing so. Admittedly though I prefer them to be at least 9"s or more.

....The origional question asks "If you had to pick one lure, For a trip? (To take with you on a fishing trip what would it be?)" Now I don't know about the rest of you but when I take a "fishing trip" I generally take my boat and I always have plenty of jigs.

....Reading you post Corey has been the highlight of my fishing year, thanks.

....Not sure if it'll help Mo but I had to dump my cookies (not as bad as it sounds) before I could access the board this morning, you might try that.

....Yep, white twister tail jig here too. I can work it any where in the water column (cast it, troll it or jig it) and it'll catch the attention of everything finned.

....I use offshore releases with braid and to solve the slippage problem I double up a few inches of line then twist it before putting it in the release, problem solved.

Yes. Why?

....Personally I think it's crap. Since this is soley for the use of trolling why not go with a superline? Back it up with some mono to save $.

....Bitter, cold, windy and the lake to yourself, Perfect!

....Gimmick, I mean really who waits for the fish to swim into their net? I lead mine into the net when the time is right, I don't give them a choice.

...Hey I'm not feeble I have legitimate excuses.... Oh wait, were you talking to me....lol

....lol, it just occured to me after reading your vehicle/boat cost reply that your HOME! Shall we be seeing a report soon?

....Welcome, glad to have you. If you need any help with your profile feel free to PM me.

....Congrats to your dad, I can well imagine the adrenaline rush as he patiently held is draw till the right moment. Sounds like he a good clean kill to me. Enjoy the rewards of the harvest. I know I would and do when my hunting buddies bestow upon me a nice feed of wild game....yummy! As for the "fishing board" comment well I'll post an excerpt from the rules (has anybody read them?). "If your post contains hunting images that may offend some, please note Hunting Images in your post description."

.....Oh ya, my boat is worth much, much, much (you get the idea) more than the van that pulls her.

....Well I decided to clean up all the childishness in this post so as not to see it go bye-bye. There's plenty of good steelheaders out there and they're not all float fisherman so lets keep that in mind. Zib did ask "Any other suggestions for a newbie steel header would be appreciated." Oh and I might as well add that I'm in the process of retiring my current float rod (center pin) in favour of a new level wind. That should make me the new elitist type in vogue steelheader. Now if I could only find some cold hard cash for those nifty breathable waders.

....Ouch, I didn't see that one coming. Best I think before begging....lol

....Hmmmm, perhaps you missed this post from earlier today. Oh and welcome to the board.

....Sweet, tie some up for me.

....I've changed a couple. In both instances I was doing lower end maintanence and decided to inspect the impeller while I had them all apart, and in both cases the impeller was cracked and showing signs of imminent failure. I'm not sure how old the impellers were or what is the expected life span but if you're working on the lower unit I'd take the time to change it. If not and it's been working fine then by all means leave her in.