Lake Erie focus of plan to restore trout

[splashhopper]

click here to read the report >>

 

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/...264921-sun.html

[fish_finder]

It'd be nice to see some info on what they have based the stocking initiative on. Erie is pretty shallow, and pretty polluted. Obviously Lake Trout should be there......but the question is how long will they survive with the water conditions as they are??

[Landlocked]

Lake Erie is the cleanest of all the Great Lakes!

[Dano]

"In an ideal world, this is the fish community we would want to see," MacDougall said. "Most of it is centred around native species, and native species that have been lost, like lake trout."

 

I was pleasantly surprised by that, I was expecting more rainbow/steelhead or some other non-native species of trout. I believe this to be a step in the right direction and hopefully a start to restoring our native fish populations wherever possible.

 

Thanks for the link.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Dano

[capt bruce]

Ya Dano I would agree but 'LAKE TROUT" . Ever caught a great lakes lake trout , I would rather catch sheep head . We throw away a lure that brings a BOOT aboard . Slimy ,no fight , best fighting lake trout I ever caught on lake O turned out to be a plastic shopping bag . I agree up north in clean water , some of the best tasteing fish I have had were lake trout in the 3-4 pound range from small lakes around elliot lake , but who wants to eat a fish in the great lakes that have alot of fat and are slow growers ?? In a perfit world maybe , but in a world where we have limited money for stocking lets spend it on something else .

[fish_finder]

Lake Erie is the cleanest of all the Great Lakes!

 

I'd definitely challenge you on that one. Erie is fed by the "chemical valley" through sarnia. The discharge in that area, the St. Clair river.....Lake St. Clair, and finally the Detroit River is absurd!!! There are quite a number of places in that area where I wouldn't even light a match!

 

I haven't really seen any recent studies though, maybe it is the cleanest........

 

I would add however, that Erie has probably made the biggest comeback since the 60's/70's as far as pollution goes.

[LeXXington]

Ya Dano I would agree but 'LAKE TROUT" . Ever caught a great lakes lake trout , I would rather catch sheep head . We throw away a lure that brings a BOOT aboard . Slimy ,no fight , best fighting lake trout I ever caught on lake O turned out to be a plastic shopping bag . I agree up north in clean water , some of the best tasteing fish I have had were lake trout in the 3-4 pound range from small lakes around elliot lake , but who wants to eat a fish in the great lakes that have alot of fat and are slow growers ?? In a perfit world maybe , but in a world where we have limited money for stocking lets spend it on something else .

 

 

Absolutly,, They stocked lake huron with these.. Like a boot bring them in and I just toss them back..

 

On the good side they are gobie killers for sure. Had to cull one due to bad hook thing was full of the little guys.

 

Still any thing the MNR actually does is a good thing

[Mike Pike]

I'm generally in favour of most any stocking program, particularly of species native to the area. Only thing with this, though, is it's the lake trout. And it's presumably being re-stocked primarily for anglers. But downrigger fishing for lakers is not nearly the sport that salmon and steelhead fishing is. Not to mention anything about the lake trout's edibility out of Erie.

 

So I'm wondering about the charter guys and anyone who fishes Erie regularly; does this news really excite you guys or not???

[Dano]

The poor lamented great lakes lake trout....

 

I feel that as anglers, we sometimes have to take a step back and look at what is going on in terms not directly related to how much funn we can have reeling in the fish on the end of our line.

 

I realize we can never bring back the eco systems of yesterday, nor the diversity of our native species, but I certainly think it is an honourable mandate, and perhaps (hopefully) a sign of things to come.

[charlied]

lake erie has lots of Lakers.....and some large ones at that.

[splashhopper]

i have caught lost of walleye and steelies whileon charters ... but none in the tribs

[outllaw]

unfortunately . the eastern end of erie is infested with gobies. they are the main reason for the program. gobies eat millions of eggs.

[Musky or Specks]

One of the problems with this is the sea lamprey. It was a huge contributing factor in wiping out the Lakers to begin with and plenty of the tribs on Eirie are still big time lamprey producers.

[OhioFisherman]

Erie is fed by the "chemical valley" through sarnia, That chemical valley ran thru the Ohio rivers here that empty into Erie also. That seemed to be the place to build industry back in the day, just dump the waste into the rivers and let it wash into the lake.

 

Lakers were a native species years ago, never seen one here but my brother who knows a heck of a lot more about trout and salmon claims my dad caught one trolling for walleye years ago. Small 4 or 5 pounds.

 

If a steelhead can live in erie why not a laker? Granted, shallower than the other great lakes but that didn`t bother them in the past, they can migrate to deeper areas and there is a good food supply in Erie. Lamprey are probably still an issue, water is cleaner than it used to be.

 

Odd to me that pike and muskie are scarce here on the Ohio side.

[danbouck]

Odd to me that pike and muskie are scarce here on the Ohio side.

 

 

That's because we keep them all over here in the bay