Jimdski

Whitefish were the main target of commercial Lake Erie fish landings. The Irish Canal builders disassmbled their wives table linens to use the fine threads to assemble the gill net meshes into a size to target the whitefish when they schooled up to spawn in late fall on hard bottom waters. The linen threads were dried up to prevent rot 0n damp threads. Large spools were wrapped up to dry in the sun and breezes, Nylon plastic threads were unavailable then. Damp nets were stored in the trays since net rot did not happen now. Trap nets were chicken wire mesh weignted with rocks to hold the bottom and the wall of meshes directed the fish into the holding traps. Today traps nets are weighted with led weights to the bottom and anchored with steel anchors to lead the fish into the trapped areas. They are used to the Barcelona shore line as unwanted or protected species can be released alive. Shallow waters in the western Lake Areas are used after the meshes are dipped in asphalt to enlarge the mesh to direct the fish to the hearts of the trap. The nets are raised over the open stern deck areas to remove the catch. Trap nets were used in Alaskan waters where a 122 pound King Salmon was taken They were held in place by lines of pilings were placed from shore lines to deeper depths where migrating salmon were traveling to spawn. Nearby canneries were placed where the salmon are cooked in steam and cans which you find on your grocers shelves and do not need refrigeration.

The disappearance of the Blue Pike from the sport fishing catches was the result of the uncontrolled numbers of smelt in Lake Erie. Stocked by the Michigan Fish Agency in a lake Michigan waters as a food source for the Lake Trout fishery. They migrated to Lake Erie and decimated most Blue Pike reproduction around the year 1955. The smelt numbers consumed all the Blue Pike until the mid 1960"s when the Ontario Fish Agency opened trawler fishery for smelt control and Lake Erie was termed a dead lake for sport fishing. The smelt were packed up in iced containers and shipped to China by Kalitta Air at Detroit 747 air freighters. Although the bass, perch and walleyes returned by the mid 1960's, the blue pike were gone forever. Nightime fishing for blue pike was from small boats equipped with a couple of Coleman white gas lanterns that attracted schools of emerald shiners around the lights. The minnows attracted the blue pike and supplied the emeralds as bait where the blues were attracted by the bait that folllowed the bait odors under the anchored boats. After dark cities of boats were offshore in 55 foot of cold waters when dozens of blue pike were taken to feed the local families. Commercial tugs were used with gill nets to harvest the Blue pike and perch. Dunkirk harbor had two hundred tugs working there then. The Erie Railroad built a line to Dunkirk to ship the catch to the East Coast Cities An ice house was constructed there to ship box cars out and local men were contracted to cut Lake Erie ice in the winter. Today the yellow Perch numbers are high enough to land several hundred perch daily but the processing of the catch is a chore at the end of the day. Packing coolers of ice to protect the perch does not happen today.

Other fall season spawning fish returning to stream flows are King and Coho, Silver salmon and fall spawning Lake Trout with a forked tail. Red salmon are also a possibility but they are not Lake Ontario stocked. This year in Bristol Bay, Alaska is expected another boom run with they are prized as the best smoked salmon again and you can purchase them direct from Alaskan salmon processors who will air freight them to your home address.

The annual spawning run for Brown Trout in Tributaries such as Oak Orchard Creek and Burt Dam Creek has entered in tremendous returns of fall spawning Brown Trout and Spring spawning Rainbow (Steelhead } trout has begun . Get out there now!. With increased water flows from the Barge Canal drainage and Power turbine flows at Burt Dam the returns shows hundreds of trout visible in the stream flows. These are trophy mounted sizes fish visible for you. A 38 pounder Brown Trout was taken in the past. Log onto "You Tube" and pod casts are available demonstrating the methods that are successful for "green horns" to take your lifetime trophy sized trout. Also the lower Niagara River is producing in Lewiston and Youngstown shore or drift boats. Parking is is tough unless you arrive at 4:00 AM. Small flies, eggs and spinners work well also. Waders and landing nets are best.

The automobile deer damage is also the result of posting of deer occupied lands by at night who want the deer hunting to them selves and landowners stop trespassing that fails to allow the harvest of dangerous deer numbers that are now harvested by automobile deer crashes. When the damage to local residents, family members, worker opportunities and collision insurance claims hits the local economy is added together the deer losses are not worth the harm by overprotecting the harvest of deer numbers in rural areas. I live in a city where firearm discharge is illegal but I have fifteen deer at night under my oak trees and several fawns were produced in my back yard. It is time a review by the DEC managers to control the deer herds. When a State Trooper has four deer accidents calls in an evening while on his patrol things are being managed wrong.

Last weekend my Ford Edge struck a deer. Insurance adjustor totaled the damage as "TOTALED". My loss of the vehicle was travel to work lost. The Trooper reported this was the fourth deer car accident this shift he had to deal with. Are all the deer harvest numbers fair to the public with the regulations on doe permits issued? The Automobile insurance cost that evening with four deer hits totaled over $100,000 and are the deer control sufficient?

Trifisk Manufacturing Company, 1 (519) 735 9275 .

Trifisk, Simor Fish Scalers

Simor Fish Scalers. Trifisk Canada.

Trifisk Manufacturing, Tecumseh

Trifisk company, Simor Machines. Search this out. These are professional Equipment.

We used a "potato peeler" which was a rotating Rough coated plate spinning in a water spray that worked well. Also a motor driven shaft with a rough sharped tool that peeled the scales off a perch or walleye. a Simor machine from Canada that pooled the scales off perch and walleye. Another machine that held the perch from the tail and scraped the perch and walleyes in a rough plated wheels. An electric motor driven shaft with a tool that scraped the perch or walleyes clean , hand tools that scraped the perch clean to filet the fish after descaling, also a rotating drum that descaled perch. All these methods were used by commercial fishermen to filet their catch. Finding them today is a lost system. A good wife, good child or a tired fisherman who stayed up till four AM to clean the catch brought in from Lake Erie now.

fish scaler

fish scaler

simor

New York State walleye regulations close the open season on walleyes but you can fish all season long in Ohio with upon years ago to protect the Why New York State has a closed season on Lake Erie is something that was passed to protect spawning walleyes statewide but has no effect on Lake Erie walleye populations.

As the lake surface waters cool down the walleyes move from deeper waters back to near shore surfaces or higher on the open waters .below 65 degrees. Sooner they will be near shore and deep below the ice in the winter.

Blue Pike fishing in 1950's till smelt destroyed the blue pike. Canadian smelt trawlers returned most hook and line fisheries in the 1960's and that was when the "Dead Lake returned." The smelt are air freighted from Detroit in iced packers for Asian foods. Fourteen years as a commercial gill net fisherman in Lake Erie. Thirty years as Charter Boat Captain and four plus years as a USCG engine man 2nd class Great Lakes, Alaska, Puget Sound from British Columbia down to Olympia, Washington... Cutters Kaw, USACE Tug Nash 9LT5, Dredge Lyman Derrick Boat McCauley,, Ketchikan waters to British Columbia, Also AK Cook Inlet and local Rivers, Florida Keys, Galveston TX waters and many local lakes and streams. Now 81 years old and slowing down but fuller alleged "RETIREMENT'. Also "Lighthouse Keeper, Rescue Boat service at Fairport harbor Ohio, Ketchikan, And Seattle. I stop at Ontario fishing boat operations for friendly visits and thirty years at Point Breeze RV Park on Angola, NY.

Health Depart shipment. ment guidelines require transportation of fish under ice Prescence. Live wells are not accepted un;less freezing temperatures are present as in ice fishing. Tuna taken in the Atlantic must be iced immediately upon landing in the boat, Bering sea water is considered cold enough such as halibut, cod and crab.

New York State allows the sale of yellow perch legally taken with hook and line methods. Oneida Lake areas have several public sales operations.

Tremendous catches of Lake Erie Yellow are being landed but the old fish processing facilities were shut down with the commercial fish tugs were outlawed by the governor and legislature. Fish scaling, cutting, transportatiom, freezer storage and ice production for handling the perch for processing in Hamburg, perch filets for safe public supply. All those jobs were lost but could be returned to our economy. New facilities should be constructed to process the perch hook and line fishermen take. Quick processing is needed and trained workers will be employed. Charlies Seafood in Hamburg brought in Freezer trailers of frozen saugers that were kept all year till orders came in from restaurants. Other wise only Carnadian Pech are processed and caught are sold in the area.

Southwestern Lake Erie has no closed walleye season in the state of Ohio. The warmer snow melt there warms the feeding tributaries with the resulting lake surfaces open early and walleye contests are more available there. Snap jigging on the near shore bottom waters are really effective there. Rivers are good fishing as spawning walleyes ascend there first. The average near shore water depths are close to 24 feet of water. Check out boat ramps there along with Ohio bait dealers or charter boat services. A lot of southwest winds blow warmer waters to Eastern bays and shorelines here and the walleye catches happen here in shallows and bays. The greatest amount of walleyes reproduction comes from Ohio waters and we end up with the arrival of the warmer waters here.

Usually, we drift with heavy sinkers in 100 foot bottoms over humps out there in Cook Inlet or at other offshore areas. Hauling in an anchor is with a winch available on the boat.

In Cook inlet out from Nome, the twice daily 30 foot tidal change creates currents like under the Peace Bridge and you need a 5 pound bottom bouncer to hold the bottom with a herring bait. A big problem is cranking the line back in the boat even to check your bait.