I asked that a few weeks ago, and got no replies.... very few it seems !.....I'm done holding my breath about fish populations anymore....redspot then vhs then vhs again !?!?....
We got one 40" this spring, if you remember the 1st time we talked on the water, that's the spot ....and it looked pretty beat up, don't know if it was from spawn or not ?.....
Probably enough fish out there to keep us semi happy, but how hard is it going to be ?....I might start thinking about Carp fishing !?....cheers....
Went out yesterday morning. My rider started pulling in and then said he had a Muskie on. I saw that he was going to try to flip the fish into the boat and I screamed "No way....keep it in the water." He almost fell out of the boat at that point. I just handed him the needle-nose and he got the fish off.
Had to explain to him that us wire-liners do not want Muskie flopping all over a river boat what with the spools of leaders, boxes of Raps, boxes of spoons and whatever I might have laying on the floor. We have more important things to do rather than cleaning Muskie slime off our tackle.
He was new to the upper Det. River but happy with the several Walleye he took home, his Smallmouth catch and release and his Muskie catch and release.
I hope that is the incidental type of catch you are asking about??
I got a 35" in the upper mid April. I got bit off by something today in a good musky drift. Also got a couple small musky last weekend on St Clair fishing for bass.
I've been wondering the same thing. Usually U C quite A few by this time. I've seen 3 or so caught while out Walleye Fishing but we haven't gotten any. Seems like lots of Sturgeon this Year.
I was only out on the river twice this spring & no muskies but was bit off once. Seen plenty of dead ones at the ramps, near shore & floating down the river. Did catch one in Anchor Bay while bass fishing. I have a buddy that usually catches a lot of musky while bass fishing LSC in the spring (he's usually out there at least 3 times a week) but this year he said he hasn't caught nearly as many as he normally does.
Four bite offs wb fishing today. Pike? Probably musky. A 12-14" wb is really just a snak for a 50" So much food and they hit our jigs!!! Presentation must have been perfect. Lol. Sorry slimshady. I'll do better nxt time!!! Landing a ski on fly this summer. Who wants to go? I need help!!! All pms welcome. Shrubby
Seen a dead one belly up one trip down on way out from alter, guessing high 30's low 40" fish. We thought it was a giant walleye until we looked harder
well let's hope they're just stacked up elsewhere. Last VHS outbreak I think 3 or 5% of the population died. Can't remember the exact estimate. It's a lot of fish but not the end of the world.
In 2006 I think they estimated that the musky population in LSC/SCR/DR was around 60,000 & around 2,000 died from VHS.
At one of the Muskies Inc. meetings I went to a couple of years ago their speaker was Mike Thomas (DNR Biologist, now retired) he had stated they estimated the LSC/SCR/DR musky population at around 80,000.
A few seasons ago I was catching so many 20" to 30" musky in Anchor Bay I stopped fishing there because I didn't want to deal with unhooking them. Those small ones never stop fighting & are harder to get unhooked plus they get the lure tangled in the net. It got so bad on one trip that once I seen the little guys following I'd pull my bucktail out of the water & the damn things would jump out of the water trying to get my bucktail.
All I'm going to say is this....when I hear the pop. #'s and they lump both rivers along with the lake all together it means nothing on the D....
I started Musky fishing in the mid 80's and ALL I did was troll for at least a 1/2 doz years, all on the D....I keep a journal and every trip is in it, every trip !....
When I started I avg. a Musky EVERY 2.5 hours trolling....I couldn't do that today to save my life !....for the last several years the pop has been down....and so has the Walleye....I'm talking all year not spring.....and that's not an opinion, it's fact....
Things change and fish move....and so do we, lol !.....but all my great Walleye bottom's are still there, just not either fish,not like they used to be...fact....
I'm on my 6th journal , and their not small books ....will say this....seems big fish has been better during the #'s decline....but that might be due to technique too....years ago NOBODY jigged deep !....
For the record, our longest was trolling in @17'.....heaviest was jigging in @ 20', only because she still had eggs, 2nd weekend of opener....but the overall beefy monster and the best I think was 4' casting in July !.....biggest ever seen was fishing Walleye and it spit out a 15" Sheapshead that it swallowed WHOLE !!!.....
No matter the #'s we'll be out there !!!.....cheers and best of luck all !....
Seen a dead one belly up one trip down on way out from alter, guessing high 30's low 40" fish. We thought it was a giant walleye until we looked harder
Four bite offs wb fishing today. Pike? Probably musky. A 12-14" wb is really just a snak for a 50" So much food and they hit our jigs!!! Presentation must have been perfect. Lol. Sorry slimshady. I'll do better nxt time!!! Landing a ski on fly this summer. Who wants to go? I need help!!! All pms welcome. Shrubby
Not happy with fisheries estimating. Where I wrk there r plenty of dnr meetings. I was told the VHS in lake st Clair and surroundings has been in continuously at least since 2003. Starting in 2005 there has been a huge kill off and it has not stopped. I have experienced fewer walleye and musky. I seen 1 dead one floating this spring by belle isle. In 2008 I seen and reported many dead walleye in LSC. I was told it had to do with dredging. A very horrible situation with VHS, the mich strain.
My buddy sent my a picture of a 51" 38lber that a guy caught in the cheboygan river. It was an incidental albeit along ways away. He was fishing for walleye. I guess they said it had a pit tag in the meat and the fish was from Wisconsin.
Grandson caught this Tiger Musky near Metro Beach on 5/21/17 while we were casting for bass. Caught a sizable Pike also but only one Bass.
View attachment 256924
Those r cool, just caught this 24" hog fishing with a hellhound Sunday. Caught 24 northerns. No musky but my fishing partner that day had about a 45"r come to the boat. In Burt lk.
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