LongLine

Alewives Thinking about alewife’s – knowing what happened to Huron, Stocking cessation in Michigan & our own stocking reduction of Kings – got me curious about the worldwide population of these fish. I found this article in the Federal Register which I thought was interesting. If you have a couple of hours to kill, you may want to read through it. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/08/12/2013-19380/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-endangered-species-act-listing-determination-for Basically, it’s about saltwater alewife & river herring from the Northern part of Florida all the way up into Canada. 5 or 6 years ago, NOAA was petitioned to put both species on the Endangered Species List. They say neither saltwater species qualifies for endangered or threatened status however most states have banned or restricted catching them. Ocean and Lake Species (andronomus ..sp..and landlocked) are now physiologically different. Towards the end, in their conclusion, they say: “While neither species is currently endangered or threatened, both species are at low abundance compared to historical levels, and monitoring both species is warranted. We agree with the SRT that there are significant data deficiencies for both species, and there is uncertainty associated with available data.” They further say they’ll revisit the subject in 3-5 years, although earlier in the article they say it generally takes 18 years to obtain proof for their determination of endangered/threatened. That should be interesting. I find it interesting that it’s not just a Great Lake issue but that throughout its native range, the alewife is struggling. Also the requirements for getting listed are “wow”! I can’t help but thinking: One factor that all fishing literature talks about is that pollution affects fishing quality and yes I do agree with that, however back in the 60’s, Ontario was quite polluted, (Remember mercury, merex, dioxin, PCBs, and a whole bunch of others.) and there was a tremendous alewife population. Well, Ontario’s retention time is estimated at 6-7 years. (i.e. it takes 6-7 years to replace all the water in the lake) and I can’t help but wonder if the anti-phosphorous legislation, in just about all the states, had an undesirable side effect. For Ontario, especially in combination with the invasive mussels that take the other “good stuff” out of the lake. They do talk at length about climate change, but a few years back, that was quite the bandwagon to climb on. (I’m not saying that they’re wrong about it.) Oh, well, just thoughts. Tom B. (LongLine)

SUNY-ESF published a study back in '98 that put the DEC on alert for natural reproduction. They concluded that Natural repro could be anywhere from 15-90% depending on lake wide conditions. i.e. food supply, temps, winters, invassives etc. Also I believe a couple years ago DEC did a study on the cormorants & found that in addition to eating a lot of smallmouths, they also went after gobies big time. Tom B. (LongLine)

The weight and the size of the cable cause way more blowback than the release. Tom B. (LongLine)

Tom B. (LongLine)

Fishy, fishy in the brook, get your hiney on my hook!

Tom B. (LongLine)

Yep. I guess there are two e's in sometimes. opps.. er...oops. Tom B. (LongLine)

Me too...occasionally. Tom B. (LongLine)

Guess that guy has never caught a fish in the propwash while trolling.

Ok I give up...how do you get it to rattle? a lip like a on rebel or rapala?

So I'm over a school of baitfish & I snag the only 2-3 year old alewife in the school. Really am sorry about that guys...looks like I got the last one. Tom B. (LongLine)

Happy B'day Hank. Wishing you many more. Tom B. (LongLine)

Welcome to the site. Definitely keep the boat moving forward. I always pull lines on one side and try to keep the fish on that side. Tom B. (LongLine)

my weight weigh 14.4#; homemade & shaped like a missile. I use it on my probe uni-troll but don't extend the boom. I always ease it into the water though. Haven't had any problems, other than it gives me a work out from way down deep. Tom B. (LongLine)