It’s simple math really: Zero eggs equals zero fish for future stocking programs.
So, the spring walleye and steelhead egg collections by the Michigan DNR are critical components of the strategy for maintaining world-class fishing opportunities in the Great Lakes State.
Nearly fifty years have now passed since the first paddletail swimbaits splashed down in U.S. waters, the earliest designs having likely originated in France. Today, paddletails have almost singlehandedly rewritten the rules of soft plastics engagement. Fans of catching bass, crappie, walleye and inshore slams nearly always cast these ingenious tail-driven baits, each version capable of different retrieve speeds, actions and the almighty thump.
Gamakatsu has announced a proprietary new finish for their most popular hook styles.
MDNR Report
With increasing temperatures across Michigan, anglers, boaters and lakefront property owners may discover dead fish or other aquatic animals. While such sights can be startling, the Michigan DNR reminds everyone that it is common — summer heat conditions can cause fish and other creatures such as turtles, frogs, toads and crayfish to die.
“The majority of summer fish kills are due to low oxygen in the water, a natural phenomenon associated with weather,” said Jeremiah Blaauw, DNR fisheries biologist. “However, some other factors such as chemical treatments of aquatic plants and algae can increase the risk of a fish kill.”
Environmental conditions strongly affect the stress level of fish; temperature and dissolved oxygen concentrations are key variables. Fish need oxygen just as humans do, but fish absorb dissolved oxygen (oxygen gas that is dissolved in water) directly through their gills into the bloodstream.
By Louie Stout
Todd Vydick’s primary hope was to improve his personal best when he hired Cody Johnson to guide him for big smallmouth in the Traverse City, Mich. area.
“My biggest bass up to that point was 6.1 pounds,” said Vydick of Hartland, Mich. “I try to improve my personal best every time I fish with Todd.”
Well, mission accomplished – and in spades. Vydick not only bettered his biggest when he landed a 9.3-pound smallmouth, but also came up about a half pound shy of tying the Michigan record.
They fished into the evening last Monday when they encountered a school of smallmouth holding on a small grass patch in about 20 feet of water.
The Brighton, Mich. guide said he spotted the school along a drop-off on his Humminbird Side Imaging unit. He doesn’t have forward-facing sonar.
That’s where the behemoth bass ate Todd’s ¼-ounce, green pumpkin Strike King coffee tube. He knew it was big, but had no idea it was that big.
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