#7 A Fish Story

You can pretty much be sure that a National Park will be a special place, and its no different for a National Seashore. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore stretches for about six miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline and is comprised of a variety of coastal topography, the most striking of which are the 450+ foot tall sand dunes right next to the lake.  Forests, open fields and scenic shorelines add to the great scenery. Unfortunately for us, the cloudy weather and some rain has diminished our experience here.

What hasn’t been diminished is the fishing, because the fishermen seem to be everywhere. The fishing is very good this year, and we wanted to learn more about it by visiting the nearby Platte River State Fish Hatchery, the largest one in Michigan. With several acres along the Platte River, the Hatchery offers a self guided tour that starts at the Visitor Center and has many interesting exhibits describing the various aspects of  the fish and fishing in Michigan.  

 Since the hatchery is where many of the Coho and Chinook salmon were hatched and spent about a year, its where they return to spawn. Some are diverted from swimming upstream by a barrier called a weir, and the eggs and milt (sperm) are harvested at the hatchery. More eggs are harvested at the fish weir near our campground, which is on the Platte river.

 Most interesting was watching the many fish and their pursuers along the Betsie River at a dam.  State law requires that fishermen must be at least 100 feet downstream from the dam – 100 yards at the weir.

 Large and smaller Chinook and Coho were jumping like mad to clear the dam and get upstream, some 4 or 5 feet into the air. 

We saw several fish hooked, but none actually caught. However, three or four fisherman were dragging their limit of 5 fish back to their cars. 

These are big fish, mostly over 2 feet long and heavier than20 pounds. We did see a chinook caught when we went to another spot where the Platte empties out into Lake Michigan.  

Interestingly, we asked a number of locals where we might be able to purchase a salmon steak for the grill, and were told that roadside or other vendors sometimes sell salmon, but we found none.  We also received conflicting advice about the suitablilty of the salmon for eating at this time of the year; some said it was unpalatable and others said it was fine. We, and the cats, were disappointed……….