Walleye Express

Dan: This raises a lot of good questions. I think we (the DNR) definitely need the involvement of the public right now in helping to resolve the pending budget crisis. However, the way they could help the most is to advocate with the legislature for inclusion of the DNR in general fund appropriations and to simply pass the license fee increase bill. As it appears right now, the legislature is not only omitting the DNR from sharing in any of the new revenue being raised by their tax increases, but we are hearing that they are further more saying that they will not pass the license fee increase any time soon. This is the source of the budget crisis in the DNR. The simple fact is that you cannot run a natural resource agency without dollars. The DNR actually enjoys considerable public support (for our mission). We are a "quality of life" agency and nearly all citizens benefit from this. We have a long history of being user supported and we ask little of the general fund. Yet hunting and fishing and other outdoor activities generate billions of dollars in economic activity in the state and many hundreds of millions of tax revenue, yet none makes it back to the DNR for game and fish support. We either need general fund support or a license fee increase. Its that simple. Here are some startling statistics; Michigan is responsible for the stewardship of more water (coastal and inland) than any other state in the country, twice as much as the next closest state, 14 times the average state. Yet, Michigan spends just $0.95/acre of water while the national average is $15.80/acre. See the attached PowerPoint for these stats and graphics. We are woefully underfunded by national standards. The current budget short fall is $2.5 million and with no license fee increase (by 2010) the short fall will be $40 million. This is a turning point for the DNR. If our funding situation isn't modernized, the future Department will be unrecognizable by what we know today. In regards to your idea and question of using volunteers in lieu of DNR personal, I would say a few points: First our experience is that while many are enthusiastic to volunteer, when the time comes, only a hand full will actually show, and of those some have to leave early, etc etc. Day two many discover that our work has elements of hard physical labor, the weather is often inclement, the novelty wears off fast and the work becomes tedious and laborious. Day three, no one shows up. You can't plan field projects not knowing what your personnel resources are. For example, creel survey interviews are admittedly not terribly hard to do but the data recording does have to go into an electronic PDA device and it can be finicky. Secondly, there is science behind the creel survey design and to be statistically valid (usable) certain criteria have to be met. This shifts have to be 8 hours long. Often there are few to interview still the clerk has to remain. Boredom is a real challenge in this job. Then many of these shifts have to start as early as 6 am. Many have to start later but don't end until 10 PM. Then we need these shifts covered 5 days a week. We also need air flights to do the pressure counts. Those are expensive. There are liability issues too. To pull off a statistically valid creel survey on Saginaw Bay we have 5 full time clerks working a total of 8,667 hours/yr. Say you can find volunteers to give 8 hours a week for 10 months out of the year (very hard to do I would suspect) you would need 108 such volunteers. Probably 80% of our work is not field work. It is desk work, working on computers, doing analysis, writing reports, attending meetings, representing the state. Volunteers simply can't do that sort of work for obvious reasons. Still, I agree that there are times and places that volunteers can and have been a big help. We regularly use volunteers with our walleye pond program. The Chinook net-pen operations, and many others. It has to be a right fit however. These programs have to be designed and nurtured over time consistently working with specific clubs or organizations. I regret if any stakeholder volunteer was ever treated with anything less than respect by a person with the DNR. It should never be that way, I can only say that frustration is running high amongst employees right now. We are all eager to do our jobs but are being stymied by a lack of financial resources. Michigan spends less on its Fisheries resources (management and research) than any other state in the country on a per water acre basis. While we have more staff than many other states, we have far far more resources to be responsible for. I encourage clubs, lake associations, and user groups to contact their legislators and call on them to fully fund the DNR and not let the revenue needs of our states precious resources fall between the cracks. Put another way, this is not about the DNR, it about our natural resources, our heritage, and our quality of life in Michigan. That's what's at stake. These things have ranked high in Michigan's priorities for centuries. If we don't act now, ours will be the first generation to fail to meet the standards established by all the Michiganders who have come before us.

Wheeler. I'm agreeing with you whole heartedly on this subject. Back a few years ago when both our walleye club and MSSFA wanted to volunteer and do more in all the fish harvesting, raising and planting categories we were politely turned down in most cases other then harvesting pond fingerlings for planting, or box raising and feeding a few salmon or steelhead in area club rivers or marinas, saying or suggesting in all istances that the DNR professionals could do a better job. I'm sure they could when scientific technicality versus simply compitent labor came into play. But I always figured one professional from the DNR could simply direct any small volunteer crew, and both time and money could be saved to release other DNR personnel to do other things in other places. I got permission a couple early springs in a row to help Biologist take walleye eggs at the Dow Spillway. That was because one of my better long time friends was that regions Biologist. I was treated civilly but not what I'd call respectfully, and more like a spy for my efforts by the (All high paid Professional) DNR crew that were there that day. I would personally volunteer some of my own down time again now to do creel surveys or other easy (non technical) tasks at a few local ramps around the Saginaw Bay if given the chance. And I'm sure others all up and down the great lakes shorelines would as well. Not really sure how to convey that message to the DNR now though, or rather doing so at this time would set a new (unwanted in the long run) precident or bruse any professional egos for even considering or allowing it. But the time for all DNR (Job security) issues is long past now with this budget crises looming.

This is a DNR-All message. As you know, our continuation budget expires November 1. We continue to work with the legislature and the administration to find a funding solution for our 2008 Department budget. Part of our budget solution was built around the passage of hunting and fishing license fee increases. In meetings that NRC Chair Keith Charters and I have had with the legislative leadership, it is clear that there is little support for passing those fees at this time. Without that revenue or other funding sources, we are looking at deficits in not only game and fish programs but also in other activities across the Department. In order to be prepared to address those deficits, I have started the process to make significant program cuts beginning as early as November 1, 2007. Attached you will find a document that outlines programs that will be affected. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Great Lakes, Great Times, Great Outdoors www.michigan.gov/dnr DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES FUNDING CRISIS General Fund reductions and depletion of several of our major restricted funds (Game and Fish Protection Fund, Forest Development Fund and Park Improvement Fund) will require additional and more severe budgetary measures than have been implemented to date. Since Fiscal Year 2005, DNR has reduced its programs by more than $20 million. These reductions were much more extensive than the list below, but to give you a few highlights, the cutbacks included: · significant reduction of conservation officers with more than 50 vacant conservation officer positions, resulting in reduced effort in public safety and protecting natural resources, delays in responding to complaints, and little or no officer presence in certain areas of the state · a 60 percent decrease in production and planting of hatchery Coho for Lake Michigan, resulting in a negative impact on sportfishing and the charter boat industry · fewer wildlife population surveys and reduced bovine TB and CWD monitoring, compromising the Department’s ability to manage wildlife populations and monitor for diseases, which increases the risk for a disease to become established and endanger wildlife populations · fewer fire officers and reduction in fire equipment replacement, jeopardizing wildfire protection · a decrease in timber marking as a result of not filling vacant positions and decreased disease monitoring compromising the health of our forests · decreased staffing and maintenance of facilities in our state parks and recreation areas and eliminating all non-emergency trail repairs Without the prospect of license fee adjustments to offset structural deficits in the Game and Fish Protection Fund projected at $2.5 million in Fiscal Year 2008 and $13 million in fiscal year 2009, or finding resolution to address additional deficits in the Forest Development and Park Improvement Funds, drastic reductions to programs and staff will occur. Listed below are the additional program cuts, by fund, that will be implemented beginning November 1, 2007. General Fund Reduction of $1.05 million Reduction of 12 staff The Department will implement the following reductions: · Closure of state forest campgrounds, pathways, cross country ski trails This reduction will increase the number of closed state forest campgrounds from 20 to 22 and elimination of all pathways. These closures will result in a significant decrease in recreational opportunities which will impact local economies that depend on the tourism generated through these activities. · Reduce disease surveillance for bovine tuberculosis This reduction would result in the loss of the TB accreditation level currently awarded the state. This will have a significant impact on the cattle industry. Monitoring for chronic wasting disease, avian influenza, West Nile, etc. will be greatly reduced increasing the health risks for wildlife and humans. · Elimination of general conservation law enforcement by conservation officers Conservation officers will not be allowed to address general conservation law violations which will degrade public lands such as game areas, state forests, state parks, etc. Game and Fish Protection Fund Reduction of $6.2 million Reduction of 58 staff · Close 2 fish hatcheries Loss of 1.2 M coho, 1.9 M Chinook salmon, 845,000 brown trout, and 485,000 rainbow trout. The economic impact of these reductions will be monumental as fishing boosts the state’s economy by $2 billion annually. · Eliminate remaining fish surveys (creel clerks) Angler harvest data will not be collected and is therefore not available to use to assist in the management of the state’s fisheries resources. This will also eliminate the ability to evaluate ports across the state for compliance with the 2000 Tribal Consent Decree. · Close research station Eliminate the ability to evaluate and make management recommendations on inland coldwater fisheries including trout rivers streams and lakes negatively affecting fishing opportunities. · Eliminate university research and reduce fish health activities Opportunities will be lost to respond to current disease issues. · Eliminate use of Great Lakes research vessels Twenty five years of continuous data collection on harvest mortality and fish health would end compromising our ability to adjust harvest regulations and hatchery stocking programs. · Reduce conservation officers This will result in increased illegal activity such as poaching, increased accidents and injuries due to violations of hunter safety regulations and reckless operations of ORV, boats, snowmobiles, etc. Remaining conservation officers will be at greater risk due to the lack of backup, increased response time, etc. · Reduction in emergency dispatch for conservation law violations Emergency dispatch will not be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. · Closure of managed waterfowl areas Loss of over 28,300 acres of hunting areas. This equates to 300 days of lost hunting opportunity. Hunting alone annually brings in $1.3 billion to Michigan’s economy. · Translocation of nuisance animals Nuisance bear and geese will no longer be moved. Over 6,000 geese have been removed in Southeast Michigan resulting in greater wildlife-human conflict and disease concerns. · Office closures and elimination of presence in field offices Forest Development Fund Reduction of $1 million Reduction of 9 staff Additional reductions are necessary if $1 million is transferred to the Michigan Department of Agriculture for conservation districts. As these reductions are implemented and affect future revenue, the need for further reductions will compound. Fiscal Year 2008 reductions will be as follows: · Reduction in timber marking, regeneration, planning This will negatively impact the amount of timber that is marked, regenerations efforts, oil and gas reviews, use permits and leases, recreation, planning, forest certification and fire response, which will negatively affect tourism and a $13 billion timber industry in the state. · Elimination of natural features inventory reviews Loss of forest certification will likely negatively impact the state’s ability to sell timber reducing state revenues. Park Improvement Fund Reduction of 253 staff Infrastructure conditions continue to deteriorate. To address the structural deficit in the Park Improvement Fund, the Department will cease taking reservations in April 2008 for at least 37 state parks, which will close during Fiscal Year 2009. Reductions will be implemented in Fiscal Year 2009 as follows: · Closure of at least 37 state parks and recreation areas and scenic sites This reduction will affect millions of visitors annually, eliminating many opportunities for our customers to experience the outdoors through either day use or overnight stays. These closures will also negatively affect local communities who depend on the economic stimulus provided by the state parks. Visitors to our state parks contribute more than $580 million annually to Michigan. · Closure of 8 interpretative centers Closure of the interpretative centers will result in the loss of a critical educational opportunity to inform the public about conservation practices, stewardship, and natural resources management. 10/22/07

Good subject taken from another board. I was fishing a lake by me and i was marking a ton of bait fish 18' to 20' down over 30' to 40' i trolled my butt of with deep tail dancers didn't catch a darn thing! i then used a down rigger with a chrome bomber (baitfish alewives) what are some other tactics i can use to catch suspended fish. Thanks Chris M. Chris. You actually pointed out and diagnosed the problem yourself as to why the fish were finicky, and a clue to the solutions needed to solve the dillema when you mentioned that there were "A ton of baitfish" down there. That's like putting down 3 turkeys at my families Thanksgiving table. With that much food available, your less likely to be in a hurry to eat or get your hand stabbed by a fork reaching for one of the 6 available drumsticks. You have to either hang tough, keep trolling over them from all angles while waiting out their next feeding cycle, make your offerings look or act different then the others and thus enticing a reaction strike, or keep a bigger/juicier/sometimes smaller offering in their faces longer. That may mean changing your offerings and/or presentations often and possibly speeding up or slowing way down. If that don't work, time to find some fish with only 1 turkey on the table. :wink: Capt. Dan.

Would you believe we caught these last weekend on the Pere Marquette? :eek: Naaaaa.......I didn't think so. :lol:

Take Six. That is some really good poop and info.

Wrote and then answered my DNR regional biologest bud about the September Trawl results on the Bay. Dan: We are still analyzing this years Saginaw Bay survey catch so results are preliminary. The trawl catch rate of young-of-the-year walleye this year (2007 year class) was the fourth highest on record (meaning in our trawl survey series since 1970). We are naturally pleased with this, remember too that 2007 was another nonstocked year. You will recall that the 2006 trawl catch rate of YOY was much lower but this year it quickly rebounded. Remember, however, that abundant YOY doesn't necessarily equate to a strong year class as they still have to survive their first winter, but generally walleyes have not been having trouble with that (although perch have been). Growth rates of age-3 walleyes (our main indicator age group) has remained lower but remember too that this is a result of increase abundance of walleye (more competition) and is generally a good sign as it means the walleye population is growing. Even with the reduction in growth rate, they are still at about 110% of the state average rate which is just about exactly where we want them. On the whole, things continue to look fantastic for walleyes in Saginaw Bay, but we still have problems with yellow perch and there are still threats to walleyes in the form of VHS which we still don't know the full or future impact of. We still do not consider the walleye population fully recovered in the bay, we have specific criteria for that, and they have not been met yet, although clearly we are much much closer than we were just 4 years ago. I'll have more specific findings and conclusions about the 2007 survey as our analysis progresses here in the months to come. Feel free to check back with me on that. I am also curious to see the fishery (creel survey) results from 2007 for the bay but those aren't released until mid March. Dave. What you'll see in my average survey reports for the 2007 season are 2 things. Just a tad fewer in the boat this summer, but more in the box. And probably more of both from many of the other charter boats, as a few of the guys were on fish well removed from where I spent most of my time. Most of the fish and better catches this year seemed to be in deeper water for the most part, versus my hot spots in 14 to 17 FOW like last summer. What this means is probably better figured out by guys like you. Anyway, thank you very much for making me feel better about paying next years Marina Slip Rental early.

All three of the yellows are males.

We had a little party to celebrate the pups 1 week birthday Friday afternoon. Things got out of hand for a couple of the birthday boys (Boozer & Looser) who fell out of line and passed out right after drinking to much directly from the tap.

Today would have been my dads birthday. He passed away in January of 1978 at a very young age of 54. Funny, now that I myself am now 55 and realize just how young that really still is to be leaving this world. Of course when I was but 26 in 1978, I thought dad was an old sage and well past his prime at that ancient age of 54. One thing I know for sure, dad would have loved to see the return of our Walleye fishery. He would have really flipped if he had not died so young. He was born in 1925 and raised just as the walleye fishery started going down the tubes by the mid to late 30's and died just prior to it's glorious first return in the early 80's on the Saginaw Bay. By the time I was born in 1952 she was all but over for most things except for perch, cats and pike on the Bay and the connecting rivers. Fishing walleyes for me/us then when growing up involved a 250 mile drive one way to Michigan's U.P. Gramps killed more then his fair share of walleyes (But what he called Pickerel) for many years on the Bay, as he was born in 1888. He'd spend weeks in a shanty spearing them on what they called the Pickerel grounds, straight out from the old water works. Made his winter house payments during the depression selling them at .10 a pound to buyers from New York that drove their Model A pickups out on the ice every week to buy and/or barter using wood stove fodder. A couple of Summers grandpa would get into what he'd called a chain gang transfer line with about 30 other guys down at the docks, and unload what he called the "Bean Boat" for .50 a day. Actually the walleyes are the lucky ones that Dad died so early. After drawing a crowd daily at the fish camp cleaning table, some of these same guys would show back up at our camp site that night at one of dads crawler harness tying and technique seminars. The price was always a cold Drewerys Beer. And as the seminar progressed, the instructions and techniques became a little more fuzzy and vague. Man that beer was hideous. Heres an older picture of one of our earlier trips (1959) as well as one of dad the winter before he passed. Happy birthday Dad. I still love and miss you very much.

All bets are off on any fishing reports after this wind today and the predictions for tomorrow. The duck hunters are having a field day on the Bay though. I've heard roughly 50 shots since I got up at 8:00am.

Well, my female Abby had 12 pups. 9 black, 3 yellow. 8 males, 4 females. If any of you are interested in buying one, I'm taking numbers for their late november sales, and/or deposits on your choice right now. All will come with first shots, wormed, AKC puppy application papers and parents pedigree cirtificates. You can call me at 989-892-1920 or PM me here.

Frank. My cousins have been pulling limits of jumbos near the nets out from Hoyles and 3 buoys north of the 1st spark plug. Saturday was a little slower, they pulled 18 but got bored, so they pulled harnesses for some eyes out near the humps and caught 7 walleyes with 2 pushing 6 pounds. They said all are biting very, very light.

Hey Guys. I have for sale a Magnavox VHS Movie Maker Color/Sound Camcorder. It comes with lots of extras. 2 brand new batteries I just got yesterday. It only takes one at a time, the other is an extra. The recharger for these batteries is also included. A cranking/telescoping tripod for stationary shooting at wedings or other events . But the camera is usually held in one hand while resting on your shoulder with record button at your thumb, but it also has a Shoulder strap. A carrying case that holds all the extras except the tripod. And some other extra hook ups for your VCR that can be run in conjunction with the camera. Perfect thing for your own fishing or hunting trip documentations, or just storing memories of the kids or grandkids. I bought just the camera, case, batteries and carrying straps in 1987 for $1,800.00 at highland appliance to document some of my Drift Boat guided fishing trips on the Big Manistee, Pere Marquette and Tittabawassee rivers. I would then run them at the fishing shows I attended as advertisment for my service. I have not used this camera though for probably 10 years, and it has set comfortably in my closet. I used it today to make sure it still worked fine and it does. You simply have to insert a VHS tape into it. Shoot all the tape you want and then put that tape in your VCR, rewind and view. And with todays technology you could easily transfer any VHS stuff onto a DVD disc as I have done with my new DVD/VHS recorder/player. So whats the price? How about a special price of $300.00 for everything, to just you guys who visit and interact on this board. Hell, I just recently priced the tripod alone and its $100.00 for the exact same one new. And the 2 new batteries were $86.00 and guaranteed for a year, but when recharged properly last for 5 as mine did before. Heres the picture of the whole deal. PM or call me at 1-989-892-1920. Capt. Dan.

Abbys parents were Chocolate and Yellow. Otter is also Black but his parents were Yellow and Black. And yes Abby is a mere skeleton of what she looked like before the births.

Here they are. All lined up. A Pool of Pups.

Wulp, hit the sac at around 12:30. Just got up and guess what? Yup, she had another one last night sometime. 12 pups, 9 males 3 females. So with that many, is that now called a gaggle instead of a litter?

What the heck is the record for lab puppies? We just cleaned everybody up, put them into a nice nursing box and all of a sudden Abby had another yellow male. 9 males 2 females. Not bad for expecting 8. So much for sonogram technology. Won't be much sleep for the next 8 weeks in this house. I didn't think my 9 year old male had it in him. That studly pup.

I also tend to believe it has as much to do with what port and the land mass connection to that particular body of water. Meaning an east wind on Saginaw Bay, blowing all the way across the Bay creates a different circumstance then it would blowing off shore on the West side of the state. But over all, an east wind over here is better spent on yard work.

From the mind of your favorite inventor and Mad Fishing Scientist comes yet another Capt. Dan invention/idea from the dark side. In my search for the Holy Grail of techniques and something the fish have never seen before, I've had yet another brain fart of an idea. And although not tested yet in this newer form, this idea is so diabolical and hideously ugly that it just may work. Actually it really should, as I'm using two of three of my past inventions/modifications that have proven themselves great walleye catchers in my area (as shown in the pictures below) as well as in many others bodies of water, as testified to by people who have built, bought and/or used these items from me in the past. Using two of these modified items, I plan on mating them together and running them behind a section of another lure I tried just this last summer with some very good success, the Eyeliminator. One of the things I liked right away about the Eyeliminator was the Cross Loc swivel behind the Flasher Spoon. This allowed the buyer to easily remove, change, replace or modify the blade harness that it came with if they wanted or needed to, after some use or abuse by a few walleyes. With this feature in place, I surmised it would also allow for a quick change of any other item fallowing behind that flasher, without major equipment or trolling strategy changes. And ultimately give the user the attraction benefit of the flasher, along with one or all three successful choices of either the standard Blade Harness the Eyeliminator comes with, or a Spoon or Crank Bait type lure. And all can be ran separately or together using the same variety of weight forward attachments, ran at the same speeds and with either real live bait or some of the more popular/successful artificial bait products. Imagine, running a spoon flasher in front of a crank, that itself is part harness and can be baited with live bait. This has got to generate some serious walleye attention even on neutral days. The two items I plan on modifying even more from their already modified state to use with this idea and accomplish this theory are my own Spoon Harness Rigs and my Meat Freaks idea, that I modified out of the Dave's Ka'Boom Mean Streaks. And even though I'm showing all the applications that I will be using or can be used behind the spoon flashers in the picture below, its only the top two I plan on making and selling at this time. The third is in fact what you get when you buy a Eyliminaotor anyways, and is protected from duplication and sale under their pattent. A few of you on this board contacted me last year and asked me if I could make and sell you some of these modified Freaks. I declined to do so for a variety of ethical and modification reliability reasons. But the green light is on for those sales now, if anybody is still interested. And I will accept orders now for any of the 3 Meat Freak prism colors (91) (92) (94) (colors below) I plan on building to closely match the color schemes of the flashers. I will probably also try it with my Wiggle Squid idea, but do not plan on making any more of those to sell, but use the ones I personally own. They will all be put on short plastic coated wire leaders, attached to Cross Loc swivels for quick attachment to and ran behind the Eyeliminator Flasher, that will act simply as that, a flasher/attractor. Forward flashers and dodgers of course have been around for years and helping people catch Salmon and Trout forever, but the walleye idea took some getting used to for Me. And even though my first thoughts about a bigger front flasher for walleye (since I first seen one), was that the whole Eyeliminator rig was to gaudy, busy and flashy to catch walleyes. They invariably proved me very wrong, as well as some others individuals I got to talk to from other areas, that both E-mailed or PM'd me after my initial post about using them on Saginaw Bay. And you all know me, I can't leave anything alone in it's present workable state. So what I plan to do is this. I'm going to build and offer for sale my usual 200 or so Spoon Harnesses this winter as usual, as I've been able to sell them locally easy enough throughout each season. And along with those, I plan on building 100 or so Meat Freaks in 3 of the hotter prism colors to sell. You can see that Purple Prism Meat Freak (below) goes great with that Purple Tommy Harris painted Eyeliminator Flasher. And if somebody wants included with each the added customized leader to put on the back of the Eyeliminator Flashers to use with these rigs, there will only be a small extra fee for doing so. And as usual (and because it's only a small profit/winter hobby of mine) all the ideas and things I build and share on these boards are plainly shown and shared here with you guys. This allows all of you who like the ideas and have the time, will and skill, to fabricate your own if you like. I'm also hoping that you guys will at least consider buying some of Dave's Ka'Boom Streaks, Jim's Eyeliminators or a few Michigan Stinger Spoons if you do decide to build your own, as all are quality fish catchers rather modified or in their natural state. Consider and be grateful also, that this is one of the few message boards that would even allow such a post and pictures like these to be shown.

Wulp, we just had a little surprise. Getting ready to take a picture of Ma and all 8 of the kids and number 9 then 10 showed up. Hope thats it, as Abby only has 10 teets.

My Lab Abby started having her pups at around 3:50pm this afternoon. She's had 6 so far with two being yellow and 4 black. She has 2 more waiting in the lobby. I'll get a picture of the whole family when there all safely out. Heres the picture of the 6 together and one that has that certain charm. Watching these little guys being born takes the rough edge of the Ol' Captain a little.

Good to see Maxsons Bay still has a few fish left in it. The indians must have missed that one.

I always forget what wind is good for fishing and what wind stinks? Chris. Chris. Grandpa always said "When it's from the east they bite the least" And "When its from the west they bite the best" But if one thinks about why each wind is prominent, you'd realize that an east wind is most often during a low pressure event and high pressure when from the West. Making that old wives tale a reasonably good forecaster for the bite.