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 photo courtesy Chris Kenyon-The "Outdoorsman"
Taxidermy Taxi was the lucky charter to bring in the 30 lb. 3 oz grand prize salmon, with Dave Elliott the Charter Captain. The LOC Fall Derby is scheduled for Aug 15 - Sept. 1, 1997 and is expected to top over 20,000 participants. With top sponsors, over $40,000 in cash and prizes; $20,000 grand prize; $5,000 for next largest fish in 4 categories; $25,000 NYS Record fish prize. For registation information, call (315) 349-8322 or 1-888-REEL2IN. |
The LOC Spring Salmon & Trout Derby finished with no help from Mother
Nature. 3,000 anglers persevered through 40 mph gusts and high waves,
that took a toll on boats, anglers and captains.
The overall adult grand prize winner was Hubert West of Euclid, OH with a
30 lb. 3 oz. salmon to win $20,000. Hubert is donating $500 of his
winnings to the youth division, as he states, "I believe in the future of
the sportfishery, and the youth are where it's at!"
The LOC Spring Derby attracted anglers from over 30 states and 10 countries.
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"Lake
Michigan's forage base should be
looked at as a whole, not species
by species."
Wisconsin angler and Conservation Congress leader Jim Butterbrodt reports
anglers are concerned the Wisconsin DNR may cave in to commercial pressure
to again allow harvesting of alewives for catfood.
In a response to DNR officials Butterbrodt expressed concern for the
disregard for the fisheries management input from Illinois, Indiana and
Michigan on a shared stock of a forage species that is essential to the
future of their stocking programs.
Butterbrodt said, "The obvious lack of
participants in the DNR Alewife Workshop from these states' fisheries
departments is cause for alarm as they have been historically opposed to
the commercial harvest of forage fish in Lake Michigan.
Butterbrodt also said, "The absurd use of the 35,268 metric tons estimate
of 2+ and older alewife number that the workshop participants used to base
their opinions on was incorrect to the extreme. The correct estimate is
approximately 9,000 metric tons. Many of the workshop participants were
under the correct impression that the stock of 2+ and older alewives had
declined.
Butterbrodt questioned the emphasis the workshop placed on the use of the
SIMPLE model. He said, "It is my opinion the SIMPLE model is garbage.
The built-in assumptions it uses do not accurately reflect the lake's
dynamics.
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 Concern was also expressed for the workshop's focus on the alewife population and its not including the smelt population numbers as a total forage base. Butterbrodt added, "Lake Michigan's forage base should be looked at as a whole, not species by species. The lack of interest in the decline of the smelt population in Lake Michigan by the workshop's participants also was a concern. The sportfishing community is adamant in their belief that there is currently an excessive amount of commercial harvest pressure being placed on the smelt population in Green Bay and Lake Michigan. This concern has been ignored by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for many years." Butterbrodt shared the frustrations of the region's anglers when he added, "The sportfishing community is furious that a small group of potential alewife trawlers in the Manitowoc area can abuse the WDNR to the tune of thousands of dollars a year with their constant barrage of requests for meetings, workshops, etc., when they presently do not generate enough license sale revenue to cover their fisheries management and law enforcement costs. These reactionary costs to the WDNR by the trawlers is borne on the backs of the Lake Michigan sportfishing community. " Wisconsin Anglers find the current system unacceptable and look to the Department for future changes to mitigate the reactionary system now in place.
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