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Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Hey Dan:
Yes we got the launching ramps Creel Sensus numbers back. Walleye catch rate for the open water period (April - Oct) on Saginaw Bay went up again to the highest rate we have measured. Catch rate is the number of walleye per hour of fishing. The walleye harvest total for the same period went down slightly (still around 1/4 million walleyes!). The reason the harvest dropped slightly even when the catch rate went up was because overall fishing effort (pressure) went down. Total number of open water hours was the second lowest rate we have ever measured. Fishing effort in the bay has slipped back to what it was before the walleye recovery even began back in the early 1980s. We're not sure why participation has declined like this in the bay, especially when the walleye fishery has exploded. My biggest hunch is that trends in perch availability has driven a lot of fishing trends in the bay. Despite the great perch reproduction, as you know, they are not surviving well beyond young-of-the-year so with adult perch getting scarce, many people are not fishing as much. Also I think Lake Huron as a whole has a bad rep right now. Saginaw Bay gets painted by that same brush sometimes (although it doesn't deserve it). There's also the economy and other reasons. Generally fishing participation is declining everywhere due to less kids getting into the sport.
We'll be presenting our Saginaw Bay findings for the year at the annual Sea Grant sponsored "fishery workshops" coming up in April (see attached). Jim Baker will be presenting the findings at the Bad Axe workshop and I'll be presenting at the Alpena workshop. One of those would be a good chance for you to see all the information.
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Saginaw Bay 2008 Creel Sensus.