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| Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] Walleye Fishing -> General Discussion -> Setting Dinasaur Traps on the Tittabawassee River. |
walleye express |
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 Member Posts: 2680 Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | |||
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| BeFishin |
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| Richfish |
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| Jayman |
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Member Posts: 1656 | And by the way.....they don't go tap-tap........it's more like setting your hook into a snag that swims upriver.  | ||
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| walleye express |
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Member Posts: 2680 Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Richfish - 10/21/2004 12:26 PM Dan, We have hook and line season for them here in WI. In the fall, just got over. On two of the rivers, some years the min. size limit is 70 inches. We hook in to them all the time and at times they are a pain, while walleye fishing. Richfish. At the risk of sounding like one of those (English Gentlemen) fishermen, that treat carp like a Rocky Mountain Cut Throat Trout. I'd really like to make a trip over to your neck of the woods to fish for, catch and take a picture of me and my first Sturgeon.  And heres todays report as promised. Wulp....I'm back. Had a very nice/short day on the river with two very nice gentlemen. One from Dow Chemical and the other (James Boase), a fish biologist from the Fish and Wildlife Service. Might be the easiest charter money I've ever made. And even though the launch site is now in great shape because of the DEQ's dredging effort, the river was/is (snake belly low). There were three places running up to the dam, where my (Bungie) kinda sucked in a little. One especially, where calling it a foot deep, would have been really stretching it. I already knew a lot about what Jim shared with us today about the sturgeon, but did learn a few new things. I'll share all with you here. Jim decided in a hurry, that only about the first 1/4 mile below the Dow Spillway would qualify as decent spawning area for Sturgeon. He plans on setting both the traps and egg screens just below, and in some good looking pockets just downstream from the spillway. Being sturgeon spawn around the same time as walleyes, these will be set and checked during that time that the river is closed between March 15th and open day of the walleye season. Sturgeon do not fan out a nest in gravel, but broadcast their eggs similar to the way a walleye does, over baseball size rubble and rock. Good oxygenated water is also a prime ingredient, but does not have to be shallow or near a source where the waters are getting churned up to be adiquate. He says they've documented sturgeon spawning sites in waters as deep as 80 feet deep on the St.Claire River. The Sturgeon we have here in the Great lakes are simply called "Lake Sturgeon". There is not any sub-species or different types like I thought there was. They don't get to Gigantic sizes like the White Sturgeon do over on the West Coast, but can tip the scales up to 200 pounds. They have no bones in their entire body, but have an ancient skeletal cartilage that runs from head to tail. They were here before the dinosaurs and haven't changed a bit in all those millenia. They were historically very plentiful in Lake Huron and the Saginaw and Tittabawassee Rivers were a main spawning nursery, up until the same polution that destroyed the walleyes natural reproduction territories, destroyed the sturgeons as well. I asked Jim the Goal of the F&W concerning the sturgeons reintroduction to the Saginaw/Tittabawassee Rivers. And if sturgeon played an important part, or any part in the rivers ecosystem. He said, there first goal is to establish if there are enough if any, besides the (pie in the sky) sturgeon being hooked on the rivers now. Then and only then would they consider helping/suplimenting the specie along somewhat. Sturgeon do not play an important part, prey apon to a serious degree, destroy other species nests nor hurt much of anything in the ecosystem when plentiful in a system. They are not even a great gauge of the waters quality, as they can survive in turbid waters. It's the things they eat that show the waters quality, and having them around would simply be another indicator or a clean ecosystem. The sad part. Sturgeon sexually mature only during or after their 20th year of life. So the chances of catching any of these (cartilage monsters) any time soon, at least for us, is still going to be like hitting the lottery. Our kids on the other hand, may start to look forward to the coming Sturgeon season. Oh, by the way... I caught 5 different species up near the dam today after I dropped the boys back at the launch. 1 walleye, 1 smallmouth, 1 Rock bass, and foul hooked (not on purpose) 1 carp and 1 salmon. Edited by walleye express 10/21/2004 2:58 PM | ||
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