MICHIGAN STEELHEAD & U.S. POSTAGE PAID - SALMON FISHERMEN’S GREENVILLE, MI ASSOCIATION 48838 P.O. BOX 8034 NON-PROFIT HOLLAND, MI 49422 PERMIT NO. 338 616-298-8842 www.mssfa.org The Official Publication of the Michigan Steelhead & Salmon Fishermen’s Association Volume 66 March/April 2021 No. 2 Commercial Fishing Bills Snag Bottom By Mark Sak oversight in Michigan as state. Many issues arose as well as protect game fish, problematic with the big- Some good news and which commercial anglers gest being adding game- some not-so-good news desperately want to catch fish to commercial nets as for recreational anglers and sell. While commercial well as commercial anglers throughout Michigan. First, harvest of game fish in the not wanting oversight, and let’s try to unravel the three Great Lakes would certain- they certainly do not want bills put forth to try to place ly put a whole bunch of increased oversight. Right some increased oversight money in commercial net- now, the State of Michigan on commercial anglers ters pockets, it would also pays 1 million dollars for and limit them from sell- greatly impact the world the oversight of commercial ing game fish in Michigan. class angling Michigan fishers in our state, and spe- House Bills 4567, 4568 offers as well as impact- cifically money raised from and 4569 were passed by ing the billions of dollars excise tax from fishing and the Michigan State House brought in by recreational hunting equipment as well by a larger than 2-1 ratio. angling in Michigan. Com- as license fees pays for this (HB 4567 72 yes 32 no), mercial netting of game meaning basically recre- (HB 4568 73 yes 31 no), fish was opposed by MSS- ational anglers are forced and (HB 4568 73 yes and FA, TU, MUCC, the Mich- Rep. Julie Brixie and Gary Howell introduce bipartisan bill to allow ki 31 no). These bills specifi- igan DNR, and dozens of Rep.to beJulie part Brixie of the and stewardship Gary Howell of the introduce federal bipartisanfund to invest bill into Michanallow kids cally were drafted to update businesses and conserva- “Fishing Bill” to be part of the stewardship of the federal fund to invest in Michigan. commercial angler fees and tion groups throughout the Continued on page 8 Luring Spring Steelies By Jim Bedford this spring and artificial relatively weightless lures lures can attract fish from a or flies are drifted with the The fall run of steel- farther distance than bait so current. Of course, these head was weak this past can cover more water look- offerings can also be pre- autumn, especially in Lake ing for them because you sented in more than one Michigan tributaries. We can move faster. Lures for way. can hope that their num- steelhead can be grouped Casting weighted spin- bers will bounce back this into three categories based ners is my favorite steel- spring. This can happen on the way they are usual- head technique. They are a when many steelhead are ly presented. High action very versatile lure and can just not ready to start their plugs or crankbaits are usu- be presented at all angles river migration in the fall. ally held against the cur- with the current. While Steelhead are likely to rent; spinners and spoons they cannot be retrieved di- be quite widely scattered are cast and retrieved; and rectly against the current as they will rise to the surface, you can still back them down by giving line at a rate slower than the current Two anglers are all smiles as they show off a large walleye caught to keep them deep and spin- in western Lake Erie. Credit: Dianne Miehls. ning. Spinners attract steel- ies both visibly and soni- cally from a considerably Walleye Show High Spawning Site distance so they allow you to cover water fairly quick- ly. This is likely to be espe- Fidelity in the Great Lakes cially helpful in this spring if they are scarce and quite Great Lakes Fish find a mate? If it’s your first walleye do just that. scattered. Take advantage Commission time spawning in one of For fish, the habit of re- and cover lots of water until This article is based on these vast lakes, then you turning to the same place you find fish. a recent paper, Spawning might have to pick a spot year-after-year to spawn is While spinners work and hope for the best, or called “spawning site fidel- especially well in moving site fidelity and apparent Joe Burcar with annual survival of wall- use some other clue to find ity”. Spawning site fidel- water, spoons are also good eye (Sander vitreus) dif- a spawning location. But if ity can be a consequence a trophy spring male steelhead. fer between a Lake Huron it’s your second time and of learning by fish, or the “Steelies” you already know the first result of imprinting while and Lake Erie tributary, in Continued on page 11 Ecology of Freshwater Fish place you spawned was a young on natal, or birth, good one, wouldn’t you locations (called natal hom- Imagine you are a fish go back to the same place ing). Either way, return- in a Great Lake preparing again? New research fund- to spawn. Where would ed by the Great Lakes Fish- “Spawning” ery Commission suggests you go? How would you Continued on page 9 Search groups for MSSFA The Quality of Fishing Reflects the Quality of Living! Page 2 Great Lakes Sport Fishing News March/April 2021 Negotiations With Michigan’s Tribes- Issues Facing Sport Fishers-Allocation By Steve Schultz past two agreements, and equal division of the fish- one that will be critical to ery between the State and This is the second in a new agreement, is the di- the Tribes. The agreement the series of updates to let vision of the Great Lakes created Commercial Fish- those interested in the sport fishery between the Tribes ing Zones where Tribal or and commercial fisheries and those fishers who are State licensed commer- of the Great Lakes know licensed by the State. The cial fishing was permitted. what is happening in the 1985 agreement allocat- Within those zones certain negotiation of a new agree- ed the Great Lakes fishery areas had gear limitations, ment between the State, the among the parties by lake, such as trap net only areas, Federal government and the zones, species, and catch closed areas, such as near five Michigan tribes hold- limits. It was premised on harbor mouths or near ref- ing a Treaty right to fish in a roughly 50-50 allocation uges reserved for lake trout the Michigan portion of the of the fishery between the rehabilitation, and reserved Great Lakes. The first up- State and the Tribes. The areas designated for a par- date gave you some back- Tribes were principally al- ticular Tribe, such as zone Lakes sport fishing is more is half what it was several Taken as a whole, the fish- ground on the negotiations. located whitefish stocks reserved for the Grand Tra- prevalent. In terms of the years ago. For salmon, both eries of the Treaty areas of This update addresses the and the State was principal- verse Band in the Grand available lake trout stocks, State and Tribal harvests the Great Lakes are produc- issues facing sport fishers ly allocated salmon stocks. Traverse Bay area and one these allocations shared the of chinook salmon are one ing far less than a few years in the sharing of the Great Lake trout stocks were reserved for small boat fish- resource fairly equally. quarter of what they were ago. These changes present Lakes fisheries with the shared with the allocation to ers of the Bay Mills Indian Since 2000, the Great at its peak just a few years huge difficulties in nego- Tribes. each party differing based Community in the Ham- Lakes fishery has changed. ago. Lake trout have expe- tiating a new agreement Since 1985, the arrange- on the area of the Great mond Bay area of Lake Whitefish generally re- rienced some natural repro- as there are simply not the ment between the Tribes, Lakes at issue. Generally, Huron. served to the Tribes and duction in recent years but stocks that were available the State of Michigan and the Tribes were allocated Critical to this shared re- salmon reserved to the are under duress in some a few years ago. Never- the Federal government to more lake trout in areas source was the allocation of State are not as prevalent parts of the lakes. Preserv- theless, this is a shared share the fisheries of the where they were pursuing lake trout between the State now. For whitefish, the har- ing lake trout spawning resource that requires allo- Great Lakes has been con- whitefish and State licensed and the Tribes. The lake vest by both State and Trib- stocks will be critical to cation on a roughly 50-50 tained in two agreements fishers were allocated more trout available for catch by al fishers in Lake Michigan the future of that fishery. basis. that were negotiated by the in traditional sportfishing commercial or sport fishers parties and then put in place areas. Overall, however, the in each lake trout manage- by the Federal Court in west fishery resources were gen- ment unit within the tribal Michigan as a “Consent erally shared equally. Fur- waters of Lakes Michigan, Decree.” The first Decree ther, the zones created for Huron and Superior was di- was implemented in 1985.