40,000 Lake Trout released into Lake Erie

[Steelheadphycho]

Yes, 40,000 isn't that much, but if it works......

 

 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10207963750909695&substory_index=36&id=1175196476

[Old Ironmaker]

That would be 40,000 safe Trout if I targeted them. Only caught a few nice Rainbow looking for Walleye. Man they put up a fight. I see why guys go after them now. That's not many but better than what we do on this side as far as stocking Erie. Do we stock any trout here into Erie? I know we used to stock Walleye into Nanticoke Creek but that was many years ago.

[Freshtrax]

I'd be more interested if they were cohos

[Old Ironmaker]

I found the Rainbow put up a better battle than the Coho.

[dave524]

They used to stock both Cohos and Chinook , caught both off Port Maitland years ago rigging for pickeral. The New York record Laker comes from Erie, most probably would have guessed Ontario or maybe one of the finger lakes. Oh and I've always felt Cohos are the best eating fish of any of the salmonoides or trout in the Great Lakes. For the first 10 years or so the Lake Ontario salmon fishery was based on Cohos, I believe the first big stocking of Chinooks was in 79 with a big return in 83.

[Freshtrax]

ya but these are lake trout. could be part of Goby control. lakes love them some Gobys.

[OhioFisherman]

Ohio used to stock coho, they raised them (some of them?) at a hatchery on South Bass island. To the best of my knowledge they stopped stocking them many years ago and went to stocking steelhead.

 

http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/news/2012/d1464

 

Evidently that hatchery has been converted to another use?

 

http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/stay-informed/news-announcements/post/public-invited-to-castalia-state-fish-hatchery-open-house

 

As I understand Ohio bought a privately owned trout club years ago that was feed by waters coming from the Blue Hole and made a hatchery there for cold water species.

 

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/Blog/2015/03/14/Unique-Cold-Creek-supports-Castalia-Trout-Fishery

 

 

Cold Creek is relatively small where it enters Sandusky Bay, you can't get more than a couple of hundred feet into it with a small boat, but it has a good flow. In late May? you can notice a big difference in the temperature of the water in it and the bay.

 

I look for those lakers to start heading east to deeper waters as soon as the water temps in the western basin start to warm up.

[dave524]

The odd laker is caught off Point Abino in the spring in 50/60 feet of water by perch fisherman using minnows and also throughout the winter in the upper Niagara, think the guidelines say they are safer to eat than Lake Ontario fish.

[OhioFisherman]

One of my younger brothers was into the Salmon and trout fishing a lot more than me, he claimed my dad caught a laker fishing for walleye with him in the deeper waters of the central basin of Lake Erie years ago.

[craigdritchie]

Lakers have been stocked into Erie for years. The east end of the lake has a really good summer lake trout fishery, with lots of big fish. As Dave mentioned, the NY state record laker came from the east end of Erie about 12 years ago, and was over 40 pounds.

 

On a side note, according to some old OOD mags I have (thanks again Spiel!) the first big planting of chinooks into Lake Ontario was 100k+ fish into Bronte Creek in 1974. That would put the first big returns around 1977.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Craig_Ritchie