Week of 3-31-97 - Fishing the Great Lakes; Top Fisheries News Stories -



`Week of March 31, 1997 --->`

By reducing the size limit to 14 inches , virtually all coho, even the early season fish, would be large enough to harvest.
The main coho season on Lake Michigan is March through May. After May, coho have grown larger than 16 inches and move into Illinois waters of Lake Michigan.
Coho salmon are running smaller than usual for this time of year, according to Jim Francis, a biologist in DNR's Lake Michigan office. " Based on limited creel and personal observations, about four out of every five coho are under the size limit. It will take them longer to grow to 16 inches" Francis said.
The 14-inch minimum size limit rule expires July 1. The Indiana DNR will seek to adopt the 14-inch limit as a permanemt rule in the coming year.

Indiana Establishes New 14-inch Size Limit for Trout and Salmon

"the 14-inch size limit would still protect Chinook salmon, which run from 10-12" in lenght during early season"

Trout and salmon anglers in Lake Michigan waters of Indiana are now allowed to take 14-15 inch trout and almon under a newly-enacted emergency rule by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

" The Indiana waters of Lake Michigan offer excellent Spring fishing for coho salmon. Reducing the size limit from 16 inches to 14inches will allow more anglers to keep their catch" said DNR Director Larry Macklin.

The previous rule limited anglers to a 16" minimum size slot which restricted anglers from taking them. Many anglers were concerned with the high mortality of these fish especially the coho taken by live bait and deep hooked.

Meanwhile the new size limit would still protect Chinook salmon, which run from 10-12" in lenght during early season and can grow as much as 10 lbs in a given year.

DEC to Increase Lake Ontario Chinook Stocking

"This increase was in response to concerns expressed by many sport fishing interests that the previous chinook salmon stocking level had not produced the fishing opportunities expected by Lake Ontario anglers," Barnhart said. "

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will stock more than 3.5 million trout: and salmon into New York waters of Lake Ontario during 1997, DEC Acting Director of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources Gerry Barnhart announced today.

New York will stock 1.6 million chinook salmon in 1997, a 52 percent increase from the 1996 base stocking level of 1.05 million.
"This increase was in response to concerns expressed by many sport fishing interests that the previous chinook salmon stocking level had not produced the fishing opportunities expected by Lake Ontario anglers," Barnhart said.
The Province of Ontario is planning to increase its chinook salmon stocking into Lake Ont:ario from 460,000 to 600,000, so the lake-wide stocking target for chinook salmon will increase 47 percent.

A Lake Ontario Fisheries Congress, composed of. people representing a variety of New York fishery interests convened by DEC, recommended increasing chinook salmon stocking to 2.7 million, Chinook salmon stocking was reduced from 2.7 million in 1993 to protect prey fish populations, primarily alewives, from excessive predation, Barnhart said.

"Working with our Canadian partners we tried to strike a balance between being responsive to the interests of the New York sport fishing community and concerns about the abundance of prey fish," Barnhart said. "We agreed to accept some additional risk of increased predation on prey fish populations to try to increase the supply of chinooks available to anglers."
Barnhart noted that the lake-wide stocking increase from 1.5 million to 2.2 million chinook salmon was a reasonable compromise among the interests originally advanced by each agency.
In addition to more chinook salmon, brown trout and lake trout stocking in New York waters of Lake Ontario will also increase in 1997 due to more successful hatchery productivity during the past year. Coho salmon and rainbow trout (including steelhead) will once again be stocked at or near 100 percent of target values.

Most Lake Ontario stocking takes place in mid- to late spring and will be completed in early June. Trout and salmon stocked into Lake Ontario grow exceptionally well and produce lake and tributary trophy fishing opportunities that are renowned throughout North America.

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