Interesting Article/Editorial

 There is an interesting article/editorial in the Angling Trade publication written by Geoff Mueller.  I found this paragraph referring to Yvon Chouinard particularly spot on -

Chouinard, as he’s done through

much of his career, has chosen to

swim against the mainstream with

tenkara. But he still fishes for British

Columbia steelhead with a two-

hander and has caught fish with a

standard double-haul across the

globe. But in potato country, on the

brink of fall, the 70-something-year-

old is most content standing in the

river, smiling like a little boy, and

twitching a tenkara rod for wild trout. 

He doesn’t seem bored

Lake Michigan Salmon Population Decline

Lake Michigan salmon numbers are way down from what has been the norm for the past 50 or so years.

It's going to be interesting (I fear not in a good way), to see what effect the reduced salmon numbers are going to have on the resident trout/bug populations over time. If a butterfly fluttering it's wings can cause a hurricane, what happens when you remove a couple million thrashing salmon tails.

In alot of respects, one might view a salmon as a semi truck, filled with biomass, making a delivery from the big lakes to consumers upstream. They provided tons (literally) of food in the form of roe and flesh to the resident populations every fall. That gave all the residents a chance to fatten up for the cold winter ahead.

If over time there aren't so many, if any, semi trucks delivering the bacon, it could mean lean times for river residents getting ready for winter.

I hope not, but of course, we'll see (whether we want to or not).

p.s. As I think about it, the big lake sourced feed bag continued well into the spring/early summer with massive numbers of hatching fry.