Salmon angling slowly improves

I haven't been reporting on fishing success but thought this article was interesting from todays Michigan Outdoor News.

Anglers on the sunrise side of the state have been warned that this summer may be a down year for salmon, and so far those predictions are holding true, although there have been a few bright spots. “We’ve been telling people ever since January that this was probably going to be a tough year,” said Jim Baker, the DNR’s fisheries unit manager for the Southern Lake Huron Management Unit. “This is the second year in a row that there is a severe lack of alewives in the lake, and salmon are extremely dependent on alewives. “It’s been affecting fishing throughout the lake, particularly at the southern end,” he said.

“There is a major baitfish problem in Lake Huron,” said Steve Doucette, of Keerl’s Korner in Harrisville. “There has been a major crash and it’s affecting the salmon. They’re catching a lot of 8- to 10-pound fish. So far, the biggest this year has been 22.7 pounds. Any other year that’s an average fish.”

Doucette said there are several reasons for the decline of baitfish.
“There are three factors,” he said. “Number one is the fact that there are 40,000 cormorants nesting in Michigan now, compared to 800 in 1984. If they each eat three to five pounds of fish per day, that’s a lot of baitfish. The second problem is that zebra mussels are eating the plankton,” which alewives feed on. “Number three is that we’ve had a massive freeze during the past two years, and that has killed some (alewives).”

Regardless of the reason, the results are smaller fish across the lake.