Trophy hen "chromer" taken in the fall on a Lake Erie tributary stream
An unusually cool August/September has initiated some early
runs of steelhead into the lower reaches of most tributaries in steelhead
alley. Movements upstream have been limited so far. Look for good steelhead
runs upstream as soon as fall rains become more consistent. Remnants of a fall
hurricane have the potential to provide substantial run-off and excellent runs
(both in numbers of fish and upstream movement distances).
On September 29,
2013 the Lake Erie water temperature (degrees
F) off Toledo was 63, off Cleveland
was 68, off Erie was 66, and off Buffalo
was 66. Ideal Lake Erie lakeshore staging temperature
for fall steelhead (prior to running into the tributaries) is 68 degrees
F.
News from around the Great Lakes and the Lake
Erie Region
The 2012 stocking numbers for steelhead spring yearlings
(smolts) into Lake Erie by US fishery agencies are as follows: Ohio (420,
787/Manistee River strain), Pennsylvania (1,00,101/Trout Run strain), New York
(255,000/Washington strain) and Michigan (64,500/Manistee River ). The smolts
averaged 6.4 inches in length with NY having the smallest average size of 5
inches and Michigan the largest
at 7.5 inches. (Note: smaller smolt sizes are believed to have lower survival
rates.)
Additional stockings include 21,050 adult Ganaraska Strain
steelhead by Ontario and 18,000
yearling steelhead by Pennsylvania
(which came from the 3CU Sportsman’s Club).
Sea Lampreys
This September the US Fish & Wildlife Service (US
F&WS) finished work to inventory sea lamprey larval habitat and estimate
the abundance of sea lamprey larvae in the St Clair River (which is thought to
be a major contributor to the parasitic sea lamprey population in Lake
Erie ). Preliminary data shows that the sea lamprey population in
the river is widespread and of very low density. Michael Fodale of the US
F&WS says the dispersed nature of the larvae will complicate plans to
remove the larvae in an economical way.
The US F&WS also has an
ongoing marked sea lamprey study which should be completed in the spring
of 2014. The study has been designed to determine if marked sea lampreys
released in the St Clair River can survive and be recaptured in
eastern Lake
Erie
tributaries, demonstrating the feasibility that parasites could actually escape
from the St. Clair River to successfully migrate to eastern Lake Erie .
The US F&WS
will be summarizing the data from the studies and making a recommendation to
the Great Lakes Fishery Commission as to the best approach to reduce the number
of sea lampreys in Lake Erie .
The increased sea lamprey
population in Lake Erie (which is four times the target limit set by the US F&WS) has
been documented by wounding rates on lake trout, sea lamprey nest counts, and
spawning phase sea lamprey trapping as reported by the Lake Erie Cold Water
Task Group Committee. This population increase occurred despite
consecutive 2008 and 2009 US F&WS
lampricide treatments of several key Lake Erie
tributaries (follow-up post treatment larval surveys showed the tributary
treatments were successful). All indications are that there must be an
untreated source contributing to the sea lamprey population in Lake
Erie (possibly the St Clair and Detroit
Rivers
Asian Carp
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has verified
that last June a spawning population of Asian Carp has moved to within 25 miles
of an electric barrier in the Chicago
area waterway system. If Asian carp can breach this barrier (lab testing has
shown that Asian carp fry are less adversely affected than adults by the charge
of an electric barrier), and reproduce throughout the Great Lakes system, it
could disrupt the Lakes’ 7.5 billion commercial and sport fishing economies as
well as its ecological systems.
The US Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to complete a
long anticipated Great Lakes and Mississippi River
Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) in December. The purpose of GLMRIS is to come up with
a plan that prevents the transfer of aquatic nuisance species (like Asian Carp)
between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes
basins. Since Congressional authorization is needed to implement any
recommendations by the GLMRIS plan, a considerable delay could occur before any
governmental actions are taken.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for 2014 was funded
$210 million dollars by Congress this past August (less than half of the $475
million President Obama authorized in his inaugural 2010 budget but greatly
more than the paltry $60 million initially budgeted). The monies will be used
to continue the cleanup and restoration of the Great Lakes .
The Lake Erie Cold Water Task Group was asked by the Lake
Erie Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to draft a proposal for
tagging Lake Erie steelhead smolts (yearlings) by the
various fishery management agencies of Lake Erie . This
is in response to a mass marking/coded wire tag study on steelhead that is
being done on Lakes Michigan, Superior
and Huron beginning in 2013. The tag study will help evaluate steelhead natural
reproduction, stocking methodologies, straying, exploitation and survival.
Crucial to the study will be collecting a sufficient amount of post tagging
data from adult steelhead.
In Ohio, t Grand
River is in such a state of disrepair that repairing it is no
longer an option. The US Army Corp of Engineers (which is overseeing this
project through the Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration program) is
considering other alternatives. They include maintaining status quo, rebuilding
onsite, or rebuilding further downstream. The Corps is presently consulting
with the engineering company Tetra Tech to determine the feasibility and cost
of each option. Any rebuilding options will include the integration of a sea
lamprey barrier design.
The Ohio Central Basin Steelheaders and Cleveland
Metro Parks October
5th, 2013 from 9:00 AM
to 5:00 PM at the Rocky
River Nature Center
In Pennsylvania Lake Erie and the Pennsylvania Steelhead
Association will be selling raffle tickets to benefit the Landowner’s Fruit
Basket Program. Monies from the raffle are used to buy fruit baskets for
private landowner’s (given out during Christmas) who keep their properties open
to fisherman along several Erie County
The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PF&BC) has
amended creel limits for the Lake Erie tributaries (including Lake Erie and
Presque Isle Bay) for the Sept. 3 to April 10, 2014 period to include a total
of 3 trout and salmon (only 2 of which can be lake trout) with a minimum size
of 15 inches. The PF&BC is now offering a 3 and 5 year multi-year fishing
license which includes over $300 in free goods and discounts.
On 4 Mile Creek (where a fish ladder and bypass were
completed last year) the Lake Erie Region Conservancy has purchased a 770 ft.
stretch of the creek just north of the Dollar store (along Water Street in
Wesleyville Borough) toward the RR tracks. This provides additional public
fishing access upstream of the fish ladder and bypass (other public access on
the creek includes Napier Park, Cumberland Park and the Penn State Behrend
Campus which is also known as the Wintergreen Gorge area).
In the fall of 2012, Chuck Murray, a senior aquatic biologist with the PF&BC,
began a population study of adult steelhead at Godfrey Run (a nursery stream
used for the collection of feral brood stock for the state’s steelhead hatchery
program). The study will use an artificial trap (operated 10 times per month)
to monitor both adult returning steelhead and emigrating steelhead smolts in
the spring.
Results from the 2012 assessment (fall/winter) showed peak
months for steelhead counts were November and December. The mean length of
steelhead (both sexes) was 23.15 inches, with females averaging 24.02 inches
and males averaging 22.2 inches The average length of males was decreased by
the presence of jack’s (14%) in the sample. The largest steelhead measured was
a female at 31.89 inches. Out of the 405 steelhead sampled, 40 sea lamprey
wounds were detected for a 9.9% wounding rate. Attachment of parasitic copepod
(a minute crustacean) was observed on 47% of all fish examined.
In New
York, Jim Markham, a senior aquatic biologist with the NY Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYDEC), relates that the Chautauqua Creek
Restoration Project took a devastating blow this past year as a result of major
flooding from super storm Sandy (October) and a winter rain/snow-melt flooding event (February).
On the upper dam, an installed rock ramp failed with debris from the ramp washing downstream and
plugging the lower dam (preventing fish passage). An access road to the dam
projects was also taken out by the floods.
Estimates for replacing the upper
dam rock ramp (with a “pinned” design which should weather future flooding) and
removing the debris from the lower dam, range from $170,000-$600,000. Future
funding for this project (which is problematic) would come from the Army Corps.
of Engineers and match funds from the NYDEC and the Village of Westfield, NY.
In regards to the Cattaraugus Creek Restoration Project, Markham
The 2011-2012 tributary angler survey conducted by the
NYDEC on it’s Lake Erie tributaries showed a 42% decline in salmonid catch
rates (from 0.60 to 0.35 fish/hour) and a 47% decline in total catch, compared
to the 2007-2008 angler survey. In contrast, the 2011 and 2012 NYDEC
tributary angler diary program showed an increase. Jim Markham says there has
been an overall decline in steelhead catch rates in all the tributaries in Lake Erie
in recent years.
On the New York tributaries of Lake Erie he speculates several
factors may be contributing to this decline including: the smaller average
smolt size planted by the NYDEC, the substantial increase in sea lamprey
populations in Lake Erie, and discontinuing domestic rainbow plantings in the
NY tributaries in 2002 (which may have significantly contributed to the fall
runs in the New York tribs).
The smaller than average smolt size planted by the NYDEC
(5 inches) has been a result of the cold water in-flow of the Salmon River
Hatchery in Pulaski , NY Markham
New 2013 fishing regulations on the Cattaraugus Creek
Indian Reservation are as follows: 3 day license/$25, season license/$45, 3
steelhead daily limit, lead sinker use banned, no guiding allowed, closed to
steelhead fishing Jan 1-March 31 (this may be changed to catch-and-release in
the future though).
More detailed information on fly fishing for Great Lakes Steelhead can be found in John Nagy's classic book "Steelhead Guide, Fly Fishing Techniques and Strategies for Lake Erie Steelhead." John Nagy's new book the "Steelheader's Journal" makes a great companion book to the Steelhead Guide for steelheader's looking to keep track of their steelhead trips on the steelhead tributaries. Please go to sidebar for ordering information for these books.
