Any way to get those little?

Lake Ontario my good man,,,,for me the south shore


as mentioned they used to be so thick beaches were closed and they were 2 feet thick

and the salmon don,t eat the dead ones, just the ones twirling around in death spirals quite an event to see

what caused such massive #s of alewives way back then?

thx, Ralph

Knuguy,

At the same time I found (and we discussed it many times in the family) that salmon here (in Ontario waters) is not fatty at all. I think that fatty salmon here would be only Atlantic salmon which I never got chance to catch. All other fish in here are not quite oily or enough fatty for me with exception of whitefish.
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As for you question where to get Atlantic herring... we used to buy it 2-3 years ago in polish store Starsky for a very good price but I didn't see it there since. I guess you can buy now almost any fish in Chinese stores....

Longshank,
Could you give me more info on this? It's not because I really want to get the fish for the table, but it is also interesting from theoretical prospective: why this die would occur?
Thanks!

Ontarians don't tend to like fish very much in general. Bear in mind that food/diets tend to be very cultural. I was raised on more of a fish diet than a meat diet. I like all sorts of fish, but I'll pass on that ling liver, though. I have heard ling referred to as a 'poor man's lobster' presunably by people who have not tasted a good lobster!

I was one told by a young guy in a fish store that 'fresh herring are not very good'-----let me be the judge of that, kiddo! Pickled herring on a bun is a lot more popular in Amsterdam than it would ever be in TO. Mackerel, which are quite oily, is prob the most healthy food you could possibly eat!!

I do find though, that oily fish lose their flavor in the freezer. I think the oil migrates into the flash. I have found that to happen even with small Muskoka lakers

when the great lakes, Ontario were depleted from commercial fishing in the 50's and the ST. Lawrance seaway opened up for more shipping , both alewives and smelt just proliferated and were unchecked until the introduction of the chinook salmon, coho, brown and lake trout


real fatty fish are best not frozen

I was fishing frenchmans bay a few weeks ago and there was a bunch of dying alweif. As mentioned they were doing the death spiral. It lasted about 2 weeks. I kept waiting for a pike or bass to come flying out of the water to get one but it never happened. No need i guess,easy pickings throughout the water column.

Fascinating!

I thought poor ‘man's lobster’ referred more to cod than to ling, even though ling is essentially freshwater cod.
English is not my native language and it is still quite limited after years in Canada, but I believed that ‘man's lobster’ means - unlike you say - that cod/ling tastes the same good as lobster but without that fancy entourage.... I might be wrong.
You pass on ling liver? Well... I’m from Russian and for most Russians of my age and culture ling/cod liver is among the most delicious treats…

I can't be a judge on that as my taste and nose not really finesse and quite ordinary. However, theoretically, the taste and smell come mostly from oily/fatty substances which are the mostly well preserved in the freezer.

I'd agree, at least it was like this.... Now with the plastic and other crap in the ocean approaching to the amount of fish in there it may not unfortunately be the same as years ago. This is the reason I'm restrained to buy fish in the stores, as well - honestly - to fish in LO.
Still fish, though...

Any proof of that? I mean can you give an example of domestic fish that I would catch and try fresh and frozen to compare?

Generally speaking, could it be a reason for slow fishing in some times? For example, I had very good experience catching pike and bass last year, but could barely catch some fish this season. I'm not much frustrating being empty handed but mostly puzzled WHY?

The bass fishing has been slow for me too. I blame it on the late spring causing the lower temps.

If we talk about GB I was thinking that unusual high water level may be the cause. But really, this year is very slow on bass and pike comparing to the previous one.
But there was a post somewhere that the guy with his buddy caught several dozen of pike in a day. So it is not generally slow bass/pike fishing year but locally only. Or may be we just not lucky this year.

Just a piece of info.

Alewife die off after spawning. The mass die offs 50-60 years ago were motivated by the introduction of Coho salmon first then Chinook a few years later.

Disco,

Could you please elaborate a bit further?
I never herd that alewife die after spawning. I couldn't get any info about it.
I also don't understand how a predator fish may cause mass die off its prey.
Thanks

Alewives live for about 6 to 7 years and usually begin to reproduce around two years of age. In its native range, alewives are anadromous, meaning they spend most of their life in the ocean and migrate to freshwater rivers to spawn. In its introduced range, it is quite capable of completing its life cycle in freshwater environments. Spawning once a year from late April to early June, this species can randomly deposit 10,000 to 12,000 eggs. In less than a week, the young alewives hatch and begin feeding primarily on zooplankton. In the fall, the young alewives make their way back to the sea or into the deep waters of freshwater lakes or rivers. Adult alewives feed on zooplankton, aquatic insects, and small fish.

It is great info, however it tells me nothing about mass die...
It is also about ocean alewife, not freshwater Great lakes ones. I never heard that alewife spawn in the river and creeks as salmons do in Ontario.
Do they really go in the creeks here?