Lake Huron's Chinook salmon used to be king. 20 years after rapid decline, native fish back on top

Many of the 300 anglers vying for the top prize at the 47th annual Bluewater Anglers Salmon Derby in the southern half of Lake Huron aren't counting on catching any record-breaking Chinook salmon, commonly called king salmon. 

According to biologists, if anglers want to take full advantage of what's in the lake, they should get comfortable luring in more native species of predator fish.

"We're trying our hardest to bring in a king salmon," said Ryan Sharpe, owner of Grand Band Fishing Charters and a competitor in this year's derby, which began April 28 and wraps up Sunday. "They're also the most fun to fight. But of course, they are the hardest to catch."

Sharpe, a derby participant for 20 years, won in the youth category in his first tournament.

Once plentiful in Lake Huron, the Chinook salmon fishery collapsed after its main food source, the herring-like alewife, dried up in 2003. The salmon — a species that is not native to the Great Lakes — never fully recovered, and although many fishermen competing at the derby prefer it, it's unlikely to fetch the weights of 20 years ago.

"Opening day, we had great luck," said Sharpe, 31. "We got a 12-pounder and that actually took the lead for Day 1 and now that's down to eighth."

"The alewife population crashed and it really had a big effect on the Chinook salmon in Lake Huron to the point where the fish aren't quite the size," said derby chair Daniel Harbaugh. "It's unfortunate, but it ebbs and flows. You have good years with big fish and then you'll have down years."

As of Friday, the biggest salmon of any variety on the Bluewater Anglers Association derby leader board was 18.28 lbs. The association also runs a hatchery and stocks Lake Huron with 125,000 fish on average each year.

"Way back when, it would have been pretty close to in the 30s," said Harbaugh. This year, there's some big ones out there and there's been some big ones caught, so we're on an upward trend, but time will tell."

Don't hold your breath, said David Fielder, a fishers research biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The Chinook salmon population is probably a tenth of where it was pre-2003, said Fielder.

Although Chinook salmon haven't been able to adapt when the alewife disappeared, other fish species, such as the native lake trout and walleye, have and are thriving, he said. They now feed on the bottom-dwelling round goby.

"But Chinook feed on the mid-water column," said Fielder. "They don't adapt well to trying to feed on the bottom where the gobies are." 

There's still a great predator fishery — just a more diverse one, he said.