http://graydrakelodgeando...-trout-salmon.html?m=1

Did I misread or did this guy say Ontario had a Thiamine deficiency because of too many bait fish in the  system because Ontarios bait can come in through the ST Lawrence ??
Sounded like the Ontario gamefish were overeating on an abundance of baitfish causing thiamine issues  while the other lakes had issues because of heavy icing and too few baitfish.
 
Everyone can have an opinion but this one is wayyyyy far from any this reader has seen as yet.
Some of his other stuff bout climate change and overharvest or Govt funding for fish may or may not be relative depending on where ya fish or your political views.
 
We had a rule in the Narc Division --when a snitch came in and told ya stuff ya wanted to hear- but had a fact or two that ya KNEW were BS -ya had to discount this ENTIRE story- no 'cherry picking'. 
 

"...push on harder, pummel it even harder, harvest even the last one- go to any length like a crack addicted drug addict to get the chrome fix. "
 
Agree that a lot of it requires at least hip boots to wade through, but he does hit some nails.
 
I have never heard anything about the ocean currently contributing significantly to the LO Alewife population.  The issue here, at least hypothetically, is that the longer periods of ice cover and assumed resultant reduction in phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass,  and the longer periods of cold temperatures, cause increased thiaminase production in the alewifes, who also suffer in terms of body condition from less available food and the harsher conditions.  The predator gets a higher dose of thiaminase in each prey fish consumed, and has to consume more prey fish per unit of energy needed, and as a result is not able to get enough Vitamin B for maintenance of metabolism.  After one bad winter in 2014, this exhibited most dramatically as the chrome die off in the SR.  Then, a second winter even worse than the first, and the deep lake pretty much shut down after mid-June.  It seems logical that if this condition became advanced enough in large numbers of the trout and salmon out in the lake in 2015, they hit the bottom instead of making into the tributaries.  Some of the fish survived, but no where's near what would be expected from "normal recruitment" (I've seen west coast numbers where 1-2% return is considered good, but we don't have seals and seal lions and Orcas and the commercial and Native American fleets in LO!), and the Salmon and Steelhead were both affected (I saw pretty good numbers of browns in the CNY tribs I have been on, maybe they are more focused on the gobies).  A silver lining in all this for the long run is that as long as the hatchery is selecting the healthiest fish, these are possibly individuals with a genetic resistance to the thiaminase, as they have some how managed to survive and make it back to the hatchery, so the genepool gets "stronger."  But if it takes a long time to get things "back on track," it's little consolation for geezers like me and Twobob. 

Well I can certainly agree with a lot that he wrote about.The Erie tribs in Penna. have no where near the fish that were there 10 yrs ago.However I did n't read anything about the Walleye contributing to the decline.From what I gather the eye's had some very good spawning years recently and lake Erie is loaded with them.They are gobbling the smolts in the spring as they enter the lake,lots of pictures posted of walleye stomachs loaded with smolts to prove that.So what's the answer to that problem? Some think the DEC should hold the smolts until they get larger and can escape the eye"s,or maybe encourage a larger eye harvest,who knows? I hope something changes soon 'cause I'm not getting younger!

Pretty much as I agree with Lucky . My only comment / question is ( salmon ) did not hit well in the coolers on the lake in 2015 . If they were out there in " normal " numbers wouldn't one think the creel would have shown those results and they didn't end up on the lake bottom because they were not out there ?
Flip side and story goes that they hid from all the pro and novice anglers with fancy electronics somewhere on the lake that no boats dare to go .
Get ready folks, the lake trout fishery is going to BOOM >>>> then CRASH from over harvest again .

I'm suggesting that they died off in late spring into early summer, when the Charter captains with whom I've spoken say it got very tough out there. Earlier, they reported a nice mix of species.  If they had just disappeared way out into the lake, they should have showed up in the tribs in better numbers.

Agree with you guys on the lack of fish and why- NOT what this guy said bout too many bait.

Well here is a question that might bare asking?
Assuming the issue is with the larger, adult bait fish.....since their life span is only about 3 years.....shouldn't the fingerlings being stocked now be in good shape in 2-4 years depending on the severity of the next couple winters?

Might think so Bear- especially if the bait have a decent spawn.
HOPE----and easy winters.
 
OOps---- that guy says Ontario  already has too many baitfish.

The river pimp of Michigan has spoken.