Thursday, August 6, 2009

A Closer Look at Lake Michigan Lake Trout

I had the pleasure of photographing a Lake Trout caught from McKinley Pier in Milwaukee, WI that a fellow angler caught last night around midnight. His name is Keith and I thank him for giving me the opportunity to break out the macro lens and flash to light this large trout up in the dark.

Lake trout over 27" should not be eaten as they are older fish and have high levels of mercury and other substances that should not be consumed. Additionally lake trout take 8 years to reach sexual maturity and are trying to be re-established in Lake Michigan after being harvested to extinction decades ago. In addition to over harvesting the invasive sea lamprey did a lot of damage to this beautiful fish, the only native salmonid to the great lakes.

I unfortunately didn't have enough light at my disposal to adequately light the whole fish for the Great Lake Fish Project, and this rare catch will have to wait until I find the opportunity to photograph one during some daylight.

I fished last night as well, we casted glow spoons and rolled them along the bottom, only 3 fish were caught while I was there among the 25 or so anglers along the wall. 2 King Salmon and this lone Lake Trout were taken. Fishing off piers has been hot lately but it certainly is hit and miss, like all salmon fishing tends to be.

Thanks for reading, any day from now until the end of the salmon run in November you should be able to grab your rod, head to your favorite pier and have a chance at hooking up. This won't last all year and once it's done it is a long winter, spring, and summer before they come around again. So get out there and wet a line. See ya out there.

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