Posted by admin | Posted in Resources | Posted on 14-03-2009
Tags: betsie, fishing, fly, michigan, pere
Lake Erie lake is unique in that its waters contain a variety of fish, some here by accident, but most here, naturally. The pike is a native the lake. So yellow perch.
But there is a species that has captured my curiosity. Is the lake whitefish. I've never seen one alive or dead, and I've never caught one. However, they are a mainstay of the commercial fishing industry around the Great Lakes. And, yes, they are native to Lake Erie.
White fish is a member of the trout and salmon family salmon. And I'm told they are a big fish eat. However, never see in supermarkets. If the ads are catching them, Who's Buying? I love to sit at a dinner of white fish for some time.
Moreover, I would like to sport
capture some of these fish. But according to Michigan DNR, That's more a little complicated. Until recently, few anglers have even tried to catch lake whitefish, although DNR says the situation is changing, and fishermen are trying to perfect a method of capturing them.
Michigan DNR says the lake whitefish prefer solitary swim with a school of white fish in depths up to companions 200 feet and deeper during mid –
summer. Of course, this is the main reason they are difficult to catch. Lake Erie, has a terrain that is about 200 meters deep, but what happens near Buffalo.
However, the whitefish is generated at the onset of winter in the shallow rock or sand bottom lake waters within 25 feet of depth. These waters are Western Erie Basin and the shallower areas of the Central Basin. The Detroit River is one of the whitefish spawning areas, too.
The young hatch the following spring, and grow big enough to leave the shallow waters of protection for the deeper waters in early summer. White fish generally grow rapidly, but this varies by region and food supplies.
Of lake whitefish can reach a size of more than 20 pounds and an age over 25 years, although this was more common 50 years ago. While the depletion of fish stocks excess white
fishing and environmental degradation had dramatically reduced business performance, the environmental cleanup and management of fisheries carefully the 1960s have largely remedied this.
In recent years, Ohio commercial fishermen have offset around 1.4 million pounds of whitefish.
Unlike their large
mouth of prime salmon and trout, lake whitefish has a small, delicate mouth (another challenge to the fisherman), and therefore limited to dining insects, freshwater shrimp, small fish and fish eggs and bottom organisms.
Most feeding takes place in or near Lake
-funds. Whitefish eggs are consumed by yellow perch, cisco, burbot, and even other white fish. Young Whitefish fall prey to lake trout, northern pike, burbot, walleye, and probably other fish-eating predators. Adult whitefish are mainly taken by men.
While sport fishing for whitefish is about zero so far, some Lake Erie fishing reports, are testing the tiny fly —
as decoys to catch these elusive fish. I have not seen any reports yet on its success. When I do, I'll let everyone in on the secret.
But the possibility of adding white fish to the list of anglers from breeders, is fascinating. These fish have been at the lake for thousands of years and fishermen are discovering the potential. My
-o-my!
About the Author:
Capt. Tony Denslow is a retired news journalist who now operates a sportfishing charter business on Lake Erie.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Rediscovering Lake Erie Whitefish
|
|
The effects of certain angling regulations on stream trout population (Michigan Department of Conservation. Research and development report)
... |
|
|
The Effects of a flies-only fishing regulation upon trout in the Pigeon River, Otsego County, Michigan (Fisheries research report)
... |
