What's really going on with salmon in Lake Michigan? 

Fantastic video explaining what's currently happening in Lake Michigan. Very well done

I agree with Johnny. Where there is a will,...there is a way! The DNR should, if not already, be working with all the major State Universities to find a biological solution to curbing zebra mussels. "Go Fish" is not the answer!

I worked in the Michigan hatchery system many years ago. One of my former Managers had a great idea. Let's drain the entire system and start over. That really is the only way. While I loved rearing Chinook Salmon and other non-native species, I would have preferred to get the lakes back to natural species. Hi Jay, if you see this I hope you remember me.

Ya a old guy i met told me the dnr used to stock the bait fish in Muskegon to help the salmon.........

Why we don't have any underwater documentary for our lake Michigan????

Thanks for this informative summary of the Lake Michigan situation. It helps ease the confusion about the decline of Chinooks and the feasibility of the various management options that have been suggested.

The News & the DNR spin a different story on the fishing in Michigan. The last salmon run in Petoskey Michigan, they weren't catching any fish... And in Cheboygan, Michigan, at the same time, The salmon were coming in to spawn, some where only 10 inches long!

Thanks DNR for staying on top of this issue and all our fisheries. • Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway 🚂

So in this case, Agricultural fertilizers that makes it way to the lake via run-off from fields to ditches to rivers to the big lake would actually be beneficial for plankton? Heard that western Lake Ontario has a great alewife population and awesome salmon numbers because of the “dingy” Lake Erie water dumping into it.

Good information here.

Foarte frumos

DNRs all around the Great Lakes need to stop the zebra muscle BS and start taking responsibility for OVER STOCKING.

Nice❤

This is about the mussels. The DNR isn't to blame, the problem has to do with international treaty-impacting laws about discharge from ships, botched long ago, which allowed the invasives into the great lakes. As sportsmen we are a minority complaining about the importance of good management. The lack of majority support for protection of the lakes from invasives is at fault, and there isn't any simple turning back of the clock to the 1970's.

I hate those damn zebra muscles my favorite lake I use to visit as a kid where our cabin still is in Michigan Did not have zebra mussels in it But now they are there and it pisses me off My little brother got his foot sliced open by the shells 😰 Idk if they are still really bad but I know the Higgins lake officials were trying to do something about them. But I don't remember what it was.

That’s why you gotta go to Lake Ontario

Seems hypocritical to suggest that anglers enjoy the current state of the fishery, while you plod on with your plans to rehabilitate the native Lake Trout.

"It can be really different, but also fun" Don't sell your boat yet. It will be fun when the Asian Carp get in. You will be able to go after them with your pheasant gun. I am not sure the DNR has a plan to deal with them either.

Wi has increased stocking

this is an uneducated opinion compared to the knowledge we all hope our DNR has. I've read where one Alewive can produce up to 60,000 eggs. That seems like a huge! number to me. One that is so big that it would seem that if this fragile little fish could get a few good years, the population would rebound. With a bad years for the Alewives in regards to disease and a few years ago when lake Michigan completely froze over they've had it pretty tough time to survive. It seems counter productive to be wishing for an invasive species to thrive. But, we have to roll with the changes mother nature gives us. It seems like this year I've seen more alewives in Salmon and trout than I've seen in the past 20 years in my boat. they've been loaded! and we've seen the typical huge bait balls on our locators. As much as all of us hate to see stocking numbers decrease, it's probably the right call. I just hope once the Alewives population rebounds ( and I believe they will) so do the funds required for stocking salmon back to previous levels had better follow. It's a $Billion dollar fishery. And everyone from the gas stations selling fuel, coffee, donuts up to the charters who support there families off this fishery depend on that restocking level rising back up when the DNR say the alewives are at healthy numbers again.. When will that be??? That's why they're smarter than me. But the coho, bows and kings Caught out of my boat this summer have been of what I'd call average size compared to the last 6 - 8 years. Now 20+ years ago.... we'd catch many kings in the mid 20# range. Hopefully, slowly it'll get back to that level. That level of stocking and producing healthy fish to catch over the four year period is what we all dream of. Hopefully, soon, this once seen huge financial shot in the arm that is funded by fisherman and provided to ALL local businesses will be upon us again. It's critical for that to happen. For us and our generations to follow.

there sure do seem to be a lot of biologists commenting on this video with the "right thing to do". it's hard to read most of the comments.

Time to put someone in charge who is willing to attack the invasive mussel issue.

In other words, stop bitching! It could be a lot worse! 🤣 I've not been to Michigan in quite a while but I've had a blast fishing up there in the past! DNR must be doing something right. Our DNR is awesome here in GA! My suggestion is that if it means that much to people, then find out what's going on. Find out what you can do to get behind and help your DNR instead of just beating them down. They most often don't have the support they need by the politicians and the holders of the purse strings.

Stock it with California sheephead or something similar they will eat all the muslls and there is nothing else that a lake has that they can eat unless nvm

I'm disappointed with the lake trout .The original lakers genes are gone ,they're stocking fish that are way different ,some did survive in waters not directly connected to the lake up by traverse bay , these fish like colder water than what they put in .It would be nice if they at least try some different types ,these today don't get the size they used to be. All fish are smaller today because of alewife pop. they said salmon would never reproduce …. why is there still pink salmon here and there?

Well thats it. The DNR has thrown in the towel on salmon and the fishery is official dead. Another Lake Huron repeat. .. Me and my friends predicted this 5 years ago on Michigan Sportsman Forum but was kicked off by all the crony admins.

Why not care about lake huron. We lost our chinook salmon! Bring them back!

More research needs to be done on zebra mussels to find out some biological way to get rid of them.

The DNR don't give a shit! It's all about the money!!!

Increase chinook bag limits everyone wins in the end

Bring Back the Smelt!!

Really not the end of the world if elawive bait fish vanish like lake Huron as native bait will return so would smelt. walleye fishery has exploded on lake Huron without elawive eating the young walleye at the river mouths. lake Huron has more bait then Michigan also fish feeding smelt and emerald shinner taste better. Atlantic salmon return rates have doubled sense elawive have vanished. return rates up 8% have been recorded. people will come from all over the world to fish Atlantic salmon. very few stocked kings showing up time lower limits on wild fish. out west they release wild kings time for charters to look at releasing kings load there customers up on lake trout plenty of lake trout out there with 6 million stocked every year into the system

DNR=do nothing right

Perhaps stock the lake with mussel predators like Sturgeon, sunfish and others.

nobody targets lake trout , stop stocking them

Salmom eats open water bait fish ,alewife are an inVader the great Lakes ,no one knew they become big in the great lakes, therfore, I'm sure their is a bait fish that's would grow big in the greatblakes and will eats more than just plankton maybe even gobles, and that will boom in population in the great Lakes. so we need to do research on a new bait fish to bring in ,never say never. They thought that salmon would never make it in the freshwater . Never Give up !

Lol all the lazy DNR got to do is remove the dams on the river.. what they going to do next . Probably stop the Bird s fr flying south in the winter.. pls remove all dams in Michigan