diving with salmon!

[BaerClaw]

i found these vary cool vid's of people diving with salmon and thought about the milwaukee river. im from mequon and spent most of my childhood on it or in it! haha Both my grandparents and uncle lived on it and i lived a block away from it, i still know it like the back of my hand in that area. but i was thinking at this time of the year the steelhead are in it and it some times is clear with the colder temps. there are some shallow runs that i use to fly fish and watch them swim through and some deeper holes right before that that they congregate in, behind and to the left of the BP gas station on main st. so idk just thought I'd share the idea







maybe someone knows of a river that this might be possible in the state. i get done with school in 5 weeks which is probably to late for salmon/steelhead but normally just in time carp bow fishing on the river if its not to flooded the water on the river gets to brown by that time to dive.

 

[Whopperhead]

Baerclaw- That would be awesome! When we went to Lake Mich in Early October I thought we might be swimming with the Salmon- but no Dice. It was cold and we saw a couple but not like I expected. I wonder if the rivers would be packed with fisherman? It might be worth a shot. It would be a few weeks for me- as ILDiver and I are heading down to FL for about 2 weeks. Maybe after that- I know I want to hit the Big Lake more this year.

 

[Fondueset]

We get them here in the fall. Heres a video I shot a couple falls ago.

http://photos.imageevent.com/blueroom/lakemichiganfreediving/SalmonVideodwmvar.wmv

 

[Whopperhead]

nice song Good Video- what camera are you using there?

 

[BaerClaw]

wow cool vid Im so jealous Michigan has much better rivers then the WI side almost all natural producing salmon, trout, steelhead in the lake come from Michigan. we do have runs on this side but its all stocked fish because the rivers here have mostly muck bottoms witch dont support the eggs. just look at that nice rock bottom and clear water in his vid! still jealous

http://forums.deeperblue.net/../members/whopperhead.htmlWhopperhead- Thats cool that you saw some at all in the lake! finding them within diving/swiming distance and they dont congregate as much in the lake.
good luck in FL

im planing on getting a dive kayak this spring so maybe ill get it out on the big lake this year.

 

[Fondueset]

The are pretty much stocked here too. Last fall I found an open water spot they come into as well. Got some nice footage but haven't compressed it yet.
Camera is a Canon S80

 

[Jon]

I've dove with them up in the Oconto river- Bagley's rapids. If you dive under the standing waves in the river they are just sitting there hanging out.

I've also dove with them out on the wrecks in Lake Michigan. We get these huge bait balls of alewives and the salmon will circle them and dart through to grab a mouthful ever couple of minutes or so- it's just like the ocean on those days!

I've also had schools of them follow me around on my dive scooter when on scuba doing search patterns- I think it was something to do with my batteries that attracted them. They would follow me along for quite a while in groups of 8-10.

I had one come up shallow, almost on the beach, in Milwaukee and I got to watch it swim with my lab for about 30 minutes. People out for walks would stop and watch as the two would just swim in formation making big circles just off the beach- you could see the fins moving along right next to my dog.

Jon

 

[BaerClaw]

cool the Oconto I've been on that tubing Ill have to cheek that out again. that is really weird with your dog and that fish!

what would be the good place to dive on lake Mich closes to Mequon 15 min North of milwaukee? to see or spear for any type of fish. thanks for the help i dont know much about the Big Lake.

 

[bglaeser]

hmmmm.... once i snuck up on a salmon in Lake Michigan.... then realized it wasn't all my stealth..... he only had one eye!

I tapped him on the nose with my speargun and sent him on his way.

 

[Marwan]

are you allowed to shoot them? i get the feeling from your posts somehow that its not allowed..otherwise id be hearing yeah last year we got 3 big ones

 

[Fondueset]

It is among the stupidest fishing regulations around here. Hunting salmon in open water would not be easy. These videos were taken while they are spawning in rivers. Moreover they are 'put and take' fish - that is they are planted and, as far as I know, do not reproduce in the great lakes.

 

[fleshy]

That is interesting, and frusterating. I wish we could shoot salmon "bluewater hunting" as well. And it might be a possibility if the government ever decides so. Around where I live there is a lake where the DNR stocks "warheads" and these are legally spearable! They are a mix of sunfish/bass, and get to be like rockbass size. My brothers shot them, but never I.

 

[BaerClaw]

that would be cool to spear salmon but only in the lake.

a few years ago i was a part of Trout Unlimited Milwaukee chapter and we had some DNR biologist come in and talk about the lake's trout, salmon, and steelhead they told us that a small % of the fish in the lake are natural produced and almost all of those are coming from Michigan side but the Milwaukee river might have a creek or 2 off of it that might have some natural production. (but this could have ment the trout and steelhead and not salmon) but true most of the fish are stocked or put and take.

also spearing could be hard in the lake because the trout, salmon, and steelhead all look a lot alike. people would need to be vary good at telling them apart. and we all know shooting trout is not legal.

take a look at the fish here Chicago Lake Michigan Fishing Charter|salmon fish Id|Waukegan fishing charter|Chicago salmon fishing boat

and this Trouts and Salmons/Fish of the Great Lakes by Wisconsin Sea Grant

 

[Fondueset]

I'm of the opinion that in open water, for freedive spearos, they should all be legal. With the possible exception of Lake trout during spawning season. But they are actually pretty easy to tell apart. 'blue water' hunting for Salmon would be awesome. Theres no way freedivers will ever take even a fraction of a percent of what is taken by anglers. Access to these species in open water is very limited for divers.

 

[Jon]

I was talking to a warden here in Wisconsin a couple of years ago who also happened to be a, saltwater, spearo. He and his dive buddy, who is also a warden, petitioned the state to allow spearfishing of salmon out in Lake Michigan. He was open to whatever restrictions they wanted to tack on- buy a stamp, one fish a day, freediving only, etc. He didn't think there was much of a chance to shoot one, but just wanted the chance to try. In the end it went no where.:head HE thought if the local diving community came together to push forward with it they might stand a better chance to get it through than a couple of guys who work for the department.

My father-in-law works as a back-up captain on the research vessel Neeskay. HE said they were out in the middle of the lake last summer doing sampling of salmon fry on the reef out there- starts at 400' and comes up to 120''. They had some kind of a robotic camera with a suction nozzle on it. They could move along the bottom and suck up selected samples to examine them on the boat. Seems the science guys were pretty impressed with the fact that there was some natural reproduction going on out there. He was pretty bored with the baby fish and wanted to see if there were any shipwrecks out there. rofl Who knows how long it will last with the quaga invasion?

Jon

 

[land shark]

I hope the lake trout are making a comeback

 

[Fondueset]

Around here I see them on all the breakwalls in late fall - good numbers, healthy. Usually one or two lamprey but within a week or two I see the same individuals with no lampreys. Fun to get pictures of. Long breathholds - no moving!