GLF

Moderate ice flows continue to be a problem. Steelhead and brown trout have been caught near the mouth of the Black River. Those fishing up near Algonac have caught walleye in the deep hole.

A few small boats are fishing the lake, however, ice flows are a concern as it is still a bit early for boats to be out fishing. Some are starting to fish off the docks and boat ramps in the canals and marina’s between Nine Mile and Eleven Mile, and off Metro Beach.

Has open water fishing. Ice flows are moderate at this time. Good yellow perch fishing continues with fish ranging from 9 to 12 inches being caught up near the mouth of the Detroit River. Those fishing in the Metro Park Marina have caught jumbo perch

Has good walleye fishing. Steelhead have been caught by those fishing about a half-mile below the dam at Flat Rock. Bright colored flies and crank baits seem to work best.

I wont, but may be broke back mountain will wake you up

The Top Gun Fishing Team’s 2nd Annual Trophy Trout Bonanza After a long winter of sitting at home dreaming of leaping fish and curled over rods, we’re ready to get out and shake off the winter dust. As temperatures begin to warm, so does the appetites of our great lakes trout species. The spring steel head run will shortly be in full swing and football browns will soon be cruising the lakeshore looking for a tasty meal. We are ready to fish.... How about you? Registration The second annual Trophy Trout Bonanza will be held on Sunday, April 9, There will be both a Steel head and Brown Trout category in which prizes will be awarded. The entry fee is $25.00 per person and that fee will automatically enter you in both divisions. This fee will also give you a nice warm bite to eat at Michael’s after the weigh in. Entry fees may be paid at Michael’s Bar and Grille in Ludington. Michael’s is located at 129 W. U.S. 10 right in downtown Ludington. All registration fees must be paid by 6:00 pm on April 8th. There will be a rules meeting at 6:30 pm for all entrants. Rules 1: Fishing will begin at 12:00 am on April 9th, 2006. 2: You may fish by any legal method anywhere in Michigan waters that are currently open to fishing at that time. Please refer to Michigan DNR fishing rules handbook available at any sporting goods store for legal fishing methods and open waters. 3: Weigh-in will be held in the back parking lot of Michael’s Bare and Grill between 4:00 and 4:30 pm on April 9th. No fish will be weighed before 4:00 pm or after 4:30 pm. Prizes will be awarded directly afterward inside Michael’s. (We’ll probably have a beer while we’re there too!) 4: Cash prizes will be determined by weight of fish entered. Length, then girth will serve as tiebreakers. 5: Each participant may weigh only one fish in each category (Steel head and Brown Trout). 6: For Anglers fishing from boats, any boat with registered anglers for the tourney, all members of that vessels crew MUST be registered for the tourney. 7: The amount and number of cash prizes paid in each division will be determined by the number of entries. 8: The Tournament Committee will be responsible for all necessary decisions and those decisions will be final. We would like to thank our friends at Michael’s Bar and Grill, Pere Marquette Sporting Goods, and Watson’s Manistee Chrysler for all their help in putting this together. We hope you all have a safe and productive day of fishing and most importantly have fun. Good luck and we’ll see you at the weigh-in. I have attached the word document if you prefer that.

Dont forget about tonight.

Thats pretty good if he will only bill you for 1.5 hrs.

This started this morning at 7am.

They are not that much. Fishdog Company had them at the Birch Run show for $22 for 12 of them. I think they are $24.99 on their site. Cabela's is some where's around $26, or $27 for 12.

I was at the Birch Run show handing out site buisness cards on Friday. I was giving one to a person at the show, and he told me he had saw the auction for it on ebay.

Sorry Wayne. I pulled 2 of the new spoons I had set aside at the show for myself and let a customer get them. You are SOL on the yellow smolt The blue smolt look really nice also. I should have grabbed them before they were gone

I have added these links back to the footer. If one of them goes down, I will remove just the one instead of all of them.

I know everyone has a few favorite baits for spring brown trout. I am not asking for all of your favorite baits...only one Whats your favorite bait and color for spring brown trout?

The contest will start at 7AM March 8th. The contest will run to 7AM April 7th. The member who has the most referrals for the month, will win one of Dan Keatings books that I am selling on the site. For sale here! You get one vote for every member that registers and uses your username as a referral. There is a spot for them to place the referral when they register. If they do not use your username as a referral, the vote will not count. I will not accept PM's from new member's that say "I forgot to put in so and so as a referral when I registered". Weekly stat's on current referral's will be posted. Moderators here are allowed to participate.

Sorry I did not give you a link to the site. I see you checked my profile and found it. I have seen many of your posts at MS and I'm glad you decided to join. If you need anything, just give a yell. PS...Its OK to give your charter service a plug in your introduction thread. Mike

Welcome to the site McFly! Give us a shout if you need anything.

Have you talked with Webber & Sons?

Who else went to the show?

You know you have a couple of choices you can do about the dog poop... Get rid of the dog... Train him/her to poop in the neighbors yard... or, Get the woman to pick it up for you...Cold chance in hell of that happening. Looks like you better scoop poop, because I dont see any of the other three happening Its suppose to rain on Saturday. Better go fishing

Now’s The Time To Fish For Ohio’s Lake Erie Steelhead Ohio’s Lake Erie tributary rivers and streams offer some of the best steelhead fishing in the United States, and one of the best times to take advantage of this opportunity is now. During the fall, steelhead begin entering streams from the Vermilion River to Conneaut Creek. Fish will continue to enter streams all winter long in preparation for the spring spawn. Most steelhead spawn during February and March, and returned to Lake Erie by early May. This fishery offers great opportunities for shore-bound anglers to catch trophy-sized fish during the fall, winter, and spring along Ohio’s North Coast. The bag limit is two fish per day, 12 inches or greater in length. Steelhead are stocked yearly into the Vermilion River, Rocky River, Chagrin River, Grand River, and Conneaut Creek, by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. In addition to the stocked rivers, steelhead can be found in most any tributary stream or creek entering Lake Erie east of Huron. Public access is available in local county Metroparks systems, and on city, state and federal owned properties unless posted. Please remember the law requires anglers to have written permission to fish from private property. Conditions on the rivers will vary with rain and snow events. Avoid fishing when rivers are dark brown in color, generally after a rain or snow-melt. Water which appears to be greenish in color, but not crystal clear, provides good fishing conditions. Smaller creeks and rivers will be fishable first. Always keep safety in mind. Ohio’s Lake Erie tributary rivers and streams look benign compared to the rivers in the western US. Do not be fooled! River bottoms are slippery, the water is cold, and currents can be strong. Be particularly cautious around ford areas, where the current may be stronger and the water much deeper. If unfamiliar with a stream or river, always fish with a partner. If you are just beginning in steelhead fishing, start with spinning gear and bait. Spawn sacs, minnows and nightcrawlers are effective baits for steelhead. Cast upriver and let the bait, which should be bouncing the bottom, drift downstream with the current. If you prefer fly fishing, use sucker spawn egg patterns, clouser minnows, woolly buggers, and single egg patterns. As with spin fishing, cast upstream and drift your fly down, making sure the fly is on the bottom. If you are doing things right, you will lose a lot of bait, hooks, and flies which get snagged on the bottom. However, you will also catch fish! Always remember to practice etiquette while on the stream; don’t crowd another angler by standing too close, and take your trash home with you. If you don’t plan to keep fish you catch, use a landing net. Avoid dragging the fish onto the bank, do not touch the gills, and handle them gently with wet hands while removing the hook. Above all, get outdoors and enjoy nature while fishing for a trophy!

The USFWS is seeking public comment on a draft environmental assessment (EA) that lays out a plan to construct a sea lamprey barrier on the Cedar River in Menominee County, Michigan. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and the USFWS have designed a sea lamprey barrier to place on the river as an alternative method to control sea lamprey in the Great Lakes. The draft EA proposes to construct a barrier to block spawning migrations of sea lampreys in the Cedar River, a tributary to Lake Michigan located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The primary goal of this project is to deny sea lamprey access to spawning habitat and about 35.24 hectares of preferred larval sea lamprey habitat. This represents 1.8 percent of 1,900 hectares of preferred habitat regularly treated with the lampricide TFM or blocked by the 69 sea lamprey barriers in the Great Lakes today. The draft EA considers three alternatives, including a fixed-crest barrier with a fishway and trap, and a “No Action†alternative, which is required under the National Environmental Policy Act. The proposed alternative includes a fixed-crest steel sheet pile (SSP) with a lamprey trap and two eight-foot draw-down gates. Under the proposed alternative, a 54†SSP barrier that is seven feet, 52 inches from the stream bottom would span approximately 78 ft across the Cedar River. A trap and two eight-foot-wide draw-down gates would be located in line with the barrier. A large trap with a large funnel would trap large fish, and a small trap with a smaller funnel would trap smaller fish, specifically sea lampreys. The traps would be serviced daily during the sea lamprey migration season, March through August. Sea lampreys captured in the trap would be removed from the river and non-target fish would be placed upstream. A jumping pool downstream of the gates would assist jumping fish over the barrier. The draw-down gates would be lowered during the non-operational period, September through February, to minimize backwater and allow for the stream and fish to move through the barrier. For the last 46 years, the GLFC has contracted the Service and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans to deliver a successful Sea Lamprey Control Program. The GLFC was formed during 1955 as a coalition between the United States and Canada to rehabilitate the Great Lakes fishery and coordinate research and control efforts for sea lampreys. The primary control method relies on the application of the lampricide TFM (3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol) to streams to kill larval sea lampreys before they transform, enter the Great Lakes and feed on fish. The GLFC’s strategic vision milestone calls for reduced reliance on TFM through alternative control techniques. Installing barriers on key sea lamprey producing streams is targeted to play a major role in achieving this milestone. If the river was not ranked for treatment during 2004 through 2006, the population, as estimated by the 2003 stream survey, would produce about 45,993 transformers that would enter Lake Michigan and destroy about 13,646,840 lbs of fish. This does not include spawning events and additional recruitment that would occur during 2004 and 2005. TFM treatments are not 100 percent effective and as a result, lampreys may survive treatments. If the river was treated during 2005, an estimated 874 larvae would survive the treatment, transform and enter Lake Michigan during 2006. These transformers would destroy about 34,960 pounds of fish and contribute to the decline of Coho and chinook salmon, steelhead and whitefish populations in Lake Michigan. Copies of the draft EA on Cedar River sea lamprey barrier may be obtained by contacting Cheryl Kaye, Marquette Biological Station, USFWS, 1924 Industrial Pkwy, Marquette, MI 49855; 906-226-1217; [email protected] . Written comments on the EA will be accepted through March 10, 2006. Written comments should be submitted to Cheryl Kaye at the above address, or they may be faxed to 906-226-3632. When faxing a comment, a copy should also be mailed to ensure that a complete version of the text is received.

Several boat seasonal slips are available at three state harbors along Lake Huron for the 2006 boating season. Slips are available at Hammond Bay, Presque Isle and Port Austin harbors. Interested boaters should contact the harbors directly to make arrangements to secure a seasonal slip opening. Three slips are available at Hammond Bay and four slips are available at Presque Isle. Any size boats can be accommodated. Contact the DNR Cheboygan Field office at 231-627-9578 for more info. Port Austin has an opening for a 30-foot slip. Please contact Sleeper State Park at 989-856-4411 for additional information. The DNR Parks and Recreation Division manages 16 developed marinas along the Great Lakes within the Harbors of Refuge program.

Big lake or the river?

Do you have the itch? Looks like it is suppose to be in the 60's on Saturday. Anyone planning a trip to the big lake this coming weekend?