Jump to content

is it smelt time?


Chrisb

Recommended Posts

16 hours ago, Chrisb said:

The rainbow smelt are actually not native to the lakes. They were introduced as a food source for the salmon.

They were here long before the Salmon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 55
  • Created
  • Last Reply
1 hour ago, boogaloo said:

They were here long before the Salmon.

Weren't the salmon introduced to control the smelt and or alewive populations?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't remember salmon in L.Ont during the 50's but there was plenty of smelt and alewives (we called them shiners) ....great pike bait when we fished at the 1000 Islands .  (legal then).   Many species of fish are eating the smelts .....fishing for pike with a smelt , got a 12" perch !

Do any of the elderly folk here remember the MNR stocking Kamloops  here ?   We got some beauties at the 12 ......B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found this info onthe Ohio DNR site.

 

Quote

Rainbow smelt are naturally occurring along the North Atlantic coast of North America and move into small freshwater streams to spawn. They were introduced to the Great Lakes in Michigan in 1912. They then spread throughout the Great Lakes and were first found in Lake Erie in 1932. By 1936 they had become established in Lake Erie and spawning runs occur annually in small northeast Ohio Lake Erie tributaries. The population in Lake Erie can fluctuate from year to year and some years large die offs occur after the spring spawning runs. Rainbow smelt feed on various aquatic invertebrates and some small fish.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/19/2018 at 8:24 AM, roadrunner said:

Wow. Quite the video there. Lmao and people wonder where the smelts are. When they are pillaged from the river like that the numbers are deff going to take a hit. Those are all spawners not getting a chance to do their thing. I Can't believe how greedy people are that they need to take coolers and buckets full of 4-5 inch fish. Maybe the fish have learned to spawn in the lake instead of running the gauntlet of dip nets and mass amounts of people who just have to fill the back of the pickup. Fishing isnt take take take. There has to be some give sometimes. 

I agree. Even when out perch fishing. 50 is a decent amount per person but we need nowhere near that many for 2 of us. Get pretty selective of what we take. I also don't like cleaning a tonne of fish at once.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think some of the limits are pretty ridiculous as is, for example; for a sport fishing  licence you are allowed to keep 12 channel catfish per person. Why would you even need that amount of fish. In addition to the people who are keeping over their legal posession limits. With the unlimited amounts of smelt that can be kept at a time, I bet lots of them are frozen and freezer burnt over months and then thrown out. Just my 2 cents but I think it's absolutely ridiculous how they aren't any protective limits on them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...