Thread: thornapple lake report

got out of work Saturday with just enough time to run down to thornapple lake.
fired the boat up for the first time this year and all was well except one bad battery on the trolling motor, was nearly dead after only one hr of use. anyway, the report.
water temp was 57, fished brush along the shore, did find about a half dozer crappie, and a couple of decent gills, just enough for a meal.
females had eggs, probably about two weeks away from spawning yet, quite tight.
used minnows under a bobber, my favorite way to fish them..
first crappie of 2016
was a nice evening.

Oh Steve, you did it now.... mentioned the "Muskie"...

And I thought being from the U.P you would have the stance like many of the residents I spoke with last year!

When I was in the U.P last year, I spoke with a ton of locals. One of the things I noticed was how they all seemed to have a similar story when it came to local inland lakes. The story went something along the lines of: "The DNR has began to plant far to many predator fish in an attempt to either draw in the sport fisherman or big game fisherman... By doing so, they have ruined many of the inland lakes natural Pan fish population"...

Originally, I chalked it up to mild complaining that we always here about the DNR (everyone blames them for something). In the end though, I think the guys had a valid point. We see this going on in lakes all the time. If you look at stocking data in relation to different lakes in Michigan, the number one and two planted species in lakes are Walleye, and Muskie. Being that those are really popular fish (other than bass) it makes a valid argument on what they say. One thing I will state however is that we don't always know the intentions behind the action of the department of fisheries (others just say DNR). These plantings could be the result of a net report that indicates far too many smaller pan fish or stunted growth due to lack of food. The planting of said named predators could be their attempt to control the overcrowding of these species. We all know there is a healthy balance that needs to occur so that all species can grow to their target potential within their life cycle. I just found their insight interesting and figured I would share it.