MIBowhunter
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Great Lakes chinook run late, but good
September 26, 2003
They took their time about it, but chinook salmon are pouring into streams all along the Great Lakes, and the next couple of weeks should provide the best river fishing of the year.
Ken Neidlinger, a charter-boat captain who fishes the St. Joseph River on Lake Michigan, said big kings are slamming flatfish lures that are allowed to work in the current as the boat drifts slowly into the deeper holes.
"We got some cold water and a good run of fish a few weeks ago, then it just seemed to go flat for a while," Neidlinger said. "But then we started getting fresh fish again last week and they've been coming in ever since."
About 100 miles to the north, fall rains triggered runs of chinooks in the Pere Marquette River at about the same time. George Tharp, who works at Ed's Sport Shop in Baldwin, thinks this year's run might go well into October.
"Friends told me they ran into big pods of fresh fish last week," Tharp said. "More fish were coming into the river on Saturday and Tuesday, and people said that they were still catching fish in the lake off the river mouth."
When Tom Green of Grand Rapids fished upstream Tuesday morning from the Green Cabin access near Baldwin, "It was spectacular," he said. "There were big, chrome brutes in every hole. I started fishing about a half-hour after daylight, and I had 17 on and landed four in the next 2 1/2 hours."
Similar reports came from the Au Sable River across the state on Lake Huron.
"It should last another couple of weeks, but right now, it's prime," said Lowell Miller, who works at Wellman's Sports Center in Oscoda.
An unexpectedly slow spot for chinooks was the St. Marys River at Sault St. Marie, where neither the pink nor chinook salmon runs have been as thick as usual.
"That's a little puzzling," said Orest Witiw, who runs the fishing department at Western Automotive in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and is the clearinghouse for angling information in the area. "But the run in the Garden River is huge," he said, referring to the area about 45 minutes north of the Sault. "I guided there a week ago in the lower river, and we were fishing over a pod of 4,000 fresh chinooks.
"If people really want some excitement, they ought to try the coho salmon runs on some of the rivers up north" of the Sault, he said. "They're pretty good right now in every river that crosses the highway to Lake Superior."
Niedlinger can be reached at 269-983-7816. Ed's Sport Shop is 231-745-4974. Wellman's number is 989-739-2869, and Western Automotive is 705-949-4812.
WALLEYE WAFFLE: The state Department of Natural Resources walleye recovery plan for Lake Erie originally proposed that the walleye size limit in Lake St. Clair and the Detroit and St. Clair rivers be raised to 15 inches to match a limit proposed for Lake Erie. The DNR has revised that proposal to set a size limit of 15 inches and a daily bag limit of five fish for the Detroit River, but leave the Lake St. Clair and St. Clair River limits unchanged at 13 inches and six fish.
September 26, 2003
They took their time about it, but chinook salmon are pouring into streams all along the Great Lakes, and the next couple of weeks should provide the best river fishing of the year.
Ken Neidlinger, a charter-boat captain who fishes the St. Joseph River on Lake Michigan, said big kings are slamming flatfish lures that are allowed to work in the current as the boat drifts slowly into the deeper holes.
"We got some cold water and a good run of fish a few weeks ago, then it just seemed to go flat for a while," Neidlinger said. "But then we started getting fresh fish again last week and they've been coming in ever since."
About 100 miles to the north, fall rains triggered runs of chinooks in the Pere Marquette River at about the same time. George Tharp, who works at Ed's Sport Shop in Baldwin, thinks this year's run might go well into October.
"Friends told me they ran into big pods of fresh fish last week," Tharp said. "More fish were coming into the river on Saturday and Tuesday, and people said that they were still catching fish in the lake off the river mouth."
When Tom Green of Grand Rapids fished upstream Tuesday morning from the Green Cabin access near Baldwin, "It was spectacular," he said. "There were big, chrome brutes in every hole. I started fishing about a half-hour after daylight, and I had 17 on and landed four in the next 2 1/2 hours."
Similar reports came from the Au Sable River across the state on Lake Huron.
"It should last another couple of weeks, but right now, it's prime," said Lowell Miller, who works at Wellman's Sports Center in Oscoda.
An unexpectedly slow spot for chinooks was the St. Marys River at Sault St. Marie, where neither the pink nor chinook salmon runs have been as thick as usual.
"That's a little puzzling," said Orest Witiw, who runs the fishing department at Western Automotive in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and is the clearinghouse for angling information in the area. "But the run in the Garden River is huge," he said, referring to the area about 45 minutes north of the Sault. "I guided there a week ago in the lower river, and we were fishing over a pod of 4,000 fresh chinooks.
"If people really want some excitement, they ought to try the coho salmon runs on some of the rivers up north" of the Sault, he said. "They're pretty good right now in every river that crosses the highway to Lake Superior."
Niedlinger can be reached at 269-983-7816. Ed's Sport Shop is 231-745-4974. Wellman's number is 989-739-2869, and Western Automotive is 705-949-4812.
WALLEYE WAFFLE: The state Department of Natural Resources walleye recovery plan for Lake Erie originally proposed that the walleye size limit in Lake St. Clair and the Detroit and St. Clair rivers be raised to 15 inches to match a limit proposed for Lake Erie. The DNR has revised that proposal to set a size limit of 15 inches and a daily bag limit of five fish for the Detroit River, but leave the Lake St. Clair and St. Clair River limits unchanged at 13 inches and six fish.
