President s Message AT THE HELM BY PRESIDENT LEPEAK A big hello to all my fellow Steelheaders in the water wonderland of Michigan. Speaking of water, i wonder where it is all going. On November 23rd 2012 lakes Michigan and Huron officially hit the low water mark set back in 1964. All indications are the water will continue to drop thru the winter. The Army Corps of Engineers stated in our local paper the Chicago shipping canal and the dredged out St. Clair River has little to nothing to do with the lowest water level in modern times. Of course not, both of those projects are of their making! I am sure this will be a hot topic in the upcoming year. Let s hope we get plenty of gulf moisture in the form of snow in the great lakes watershed this winter to start the process of refilling the lakes. Our members cannot afford to drive their boats on sand bars and rocks again next year! This past year as president of the Thumb Chapter of the Michigan Steelheaders has been a very exciting and busy one for me and the rest of the executive committee. Getting the net pens into the water, conducting two large fishing tourneys, a kids fishing day and the veterans fishing day, pig roast, club picnic, fish fry and having a booth at the Sanilac festival takes time effort and good planning to insure a top notch event. Our club is blessed, we have a core group of membership volunteers to advance the Steelheaders agenda at all these public events. If you were unable to help out in 2012 there is a new year ahead to get involved. Without membership involvement this club will slowly just fade away like coastal fog on an early spring morning. For those of you who were unable to attend the October meeting, I have decided not to run again as president as my wife and I are planning to do more traveling next summer. Here is a rundown of your club leadership for the 2013 calendar year. As president we will have Jack Noble back at the wheel. Vice president will be Kevin Ramsey. As recording secretary Jerry Lawrence will be returning along with Phil Allen as treasurer. Serving a three year term as state representative will be Jack Noble. Serving a one year term on the executive committee as past president will be Steve Lepeak. Serving in two year terms as directors we will have Brandon Stanton, Doug Vatter and Tom Smith. Serving in a one year term as a director will be Dr. Ken Merckel. There are two one year positions unfilled at this time. As per our bylaws these slots will be filled by presidential appointment next year by our club president. In closing I would like to thank everyone who had kind words for me and my wife Cherie and other club volunteers as we worked to make the Thumb Chapter grow and become the only chapter in the state to hold onto its membership! The wheels are already turning to insure 2013 will be more exciting and event filled than 2012. I bet we pack the house with our special speaker we are already working on! The year that had begun so long ago has ended and another is set to take its place. I shall look back on that year with fond memories as president of the Thumb Chapter of the Michigan Steelheaders. Steve Lepeak January, 2013 It is critical that all fishermen return tagged fish. See instructions at all cleaning stations in the area. Upcoming Events March 21 Regular Meeting @ 7:30 April 18 Regular Meeting @ 7:30 April 27 May 4 May 16 May 18 June 8 Fish Fry-Fox Hunter Club. Bring dish to pass. Eat at 6:30. Note: Event is tentative Can2Can Tournament Regular meeting @ 7:30 Bring your used equipment to sell. Offshore Challenge Fishing Tournament Veteran s Free Fishing Day call Kevin Ramsey (989)550-9227 June 20 Regular meeting @ 7:30 June 22 Club Picnic @ Stafford Park July 18 Regular Meeting @ 7:30 July 20 Kid s Fishing Day. Call Let s Go Fishing to sign up @ (989)479-0777
Water Levels in the Great Lakes On Oct. 12 2012 I attended an Army Corp Meeting in Port Huron. The discussion focused on the state of infrastructure on Lake Huron from Monroe to Saginaw Michigan and water levels on the Great Lakes. The Army Corp is predicting a loss of 18 inches in the Great Lakes at the beginning of the 2013 shipping season. This spells major problems for both fisherman and recreational boaters. Boat Launches are high and dry at the present time. The only boat launch with access to Saginaw Bay is at the end of the Saginaw River. Take a ride to your favorite launch site, harbor or marina.check it out and visualize this water 18 inches lower. Both the U.S. Army Corp and MDNR stated there is no money available for dredging. U.S Army Corp has had no funding for recreational harbors since 2007. The Waterways Commission and the MDNR are writing the Michigan Delegation in Washington for funding. At the present time the State is surveying all the harbors to establish which ones may be dredged if funds are available. The next issue is adipose fin clipped brown trout and steelhead. If you catch an adipose fin clipped fish we need the head because it has a wire tag embedded in it. At the present time 20% of the steelhead catch at the AuSable River at Oscoda are fin clipped. If no heads are turned in chances are, future plants could be shifted to sites that have the highest return rates. Keeping secrets does not help Harbor Beach, the Thumb Steelheaders net pen projects or lower Lake Huron. Remove the head place in a freezer bag with information of date of catch, location, length, approximate weight on an index card or paper. Place in freezer or take to Let's Go Fishing in Harbor Beach. There are no creel clerks at Harbor Beach or Port Austin this year. We will set up a collection date in the spring. I think the March 2013 meeting of the Thumb Steelheaders should be how to purchase the right fishing kayak and the proper set up for electric downriggers. Be safe. Ken Merckel President MSSFA The future of stocking Atlantic Salmon in Lake Huron Over the last few years there has been a lot of discussion at the citizen advisory committee meetings pertaining to the stocking of Atlantic Salmon in Lake Huron, as a replacement for the disappearing Chinook Salmon. Based on a very successful study and an Atlantic Salmon experimental stocking program by the Lake Superior State University, the DNR has started its own Atlantic Salmon program. Currently there are approximately 90,000 Atlantic Salmon fingerlings. at the Platte River hatchery, that were hatched in 2012, They are doing very well and should be ready to release in the spring of 2013. The goal of the Atlantic Salmon program is to allocate available yearling salmon to stocking locations that will minimize fishing opportunities while maintaining a viable brood stock in the St. Marys River. The initial stocking locations are slated to be the St Marys River (50,000), the Au Sable River (15,000) and Thunder Bay (20,000). If every thing continues at the hatchery as well as expected, there could be more fingerlings available than planned for. The net pens at Harbor Beach just might be the most likely place to put them. This will be discussed at the citizen s advisory committee meeting on January 19th Jack R. Noble At the October meeting President Lepeak spoke on the water levels in Lake Huron. Here he is shown using a Tape Measure to show just how much the water has dropped from its High Water mark The Lake is down a Whopping 65 inches since 1986! Current info. 12-28-12. 1 inch below low water mark of 1964. 2 inch lower that last month. 16 inches lower than last year. 29 inches lower than normal average. 65 inches lower than high water mark of 1986.
At the October membership meeting President Lepeak honored Jerry Lawrence for all his service to the Steelheaders with a plaque that read "The Thumb Chapter Michigan Steelheaders presents this certificate to Jerry Lawrence For all your Leadership and Time in Making our Net Pen Project a Great Success and all Your Efforts to Make Your Chapter a Better Organization -- Your Fellow Steelheaders would like to say THANK YOU for a JOB WELL DONE October 18th, 2012. Signed by Dr. Ken Merckel President MS&SFA and Steve Lepeak President Thumb Chapter MS&SFA Sept. Regular Meeting: We had a very nice Prop Repair presentation by Stange s Prop Repair. If you have a prop problem call him at (989)893-7779 in Bay City. Oct. Regular Meeting: Very good ice fishing rod & jig building program by Bob Dean. Bob makes all his jigs by hand and tests them before selling them. All of his equipment was made by him. He sure sounded like he knew what he was doing. You can contact him at (989)553-0849 Please take a look at your address block on the back of this newsletter. Just above your name is the date that your membership will expire. If your dues are coming up in the next quarter, please reduce our mailing cost by filling out the form below and sending it along with a check for $30 to our membership chairman at: Tom Smith 1580 Deckerville Rd. Snover, MI 48472-9754
June, 2012 Take a Kid Fishing! Temp-Return Service Requested OFFICERS Steve Lepeak (2012) President (989)785-9100 Grant Sadler (2012) Vice President (989)635-2742 Jerry Lawrence (2021) Secretary (989)428-4937 Phillip Allen (2012) Treasurer (989)600-9179 Check Out Our New Website! Visit www.thumb.michigansteelheaders.org Sign up for email delivery of this newsletter! BOARD OF DIRECTORS Douglass Vatter (2012) (989)761-7556 Tom Smith (2012) (810)672-9932 Steve Schwab (2012) (989)479-0774 Jack Noble (2012) (989)479-0445 Brandon Standon (2012) (989)963-0215 Meetings are held the 3 rd Thursday of the month at the Ubly Fox Hunters Club on M-19, two miles south of M- 142. Board of Directors meet @ 6:30 PM and Regular meeting comes to order @ 7:30 REPRESENTATIVE & CHAIRMEN Jack Noble State Representative (2012) (989)479-0445 Tom Smith Membership Chairman (2012) (810)672-9932 Grant Sadler Pig Roast Chairman (2012) (989)635-2742 Doug Vatter Pig Roast Co-Chairman (2012) (989)761-7556 Jerry Lawrence Net Pen Chairman (2012) (989)428-4937 OPEN 50/50 Raffle Chairman (2012) OPEN Meeting Raffle Chairman (2012) Tom Smith Meeting Refreshments Chairman (2012) (810)672-9932 Jerry Lawrence Newsletter Chairman (2012) (989)428-4937 Jerry Lawrence Kids Fishing Day Co-Chairman (2012) (989)428-4937 Art Farden Kids Fishing Day Chairman (2012) (989)479-0777