Inside Look Commercial Whitefish Fishing on Lake Michigan

[@STEVE_M439]

Much respect for these guys. Grandparents on both sides of my family were commercial fisherman. One side still going.

[@johncronk9422]

Thanks Larry for your words of wisdom and your courage to put out videos that may stir up controversy. I think the trap nets are better for the release of non target fish which helps the fishery and whitefish are stocked now to ensure the populations stay up. And I sure do love to eat them at home or any restaurant so keep fishing.

[@ThomasOchs]

My dad used to captain the VIKING when she was owned by Wiegand Fisheries and then later by Kishman Fisheries when sold out. Both companies wete in Huron, Ohio. I found out her whereaboughts a couple a years ago and am glad she is still alive. Looks like she's been stretcted and had major cabin mods but still looks good for a 73 year old trapnet boat. Kudos to Larry for this presentation and I hope he does some more on this ancient industry.

[@markward469]

Thanks Larry for making sure my fall was in the video. Lol. Good job on the video. (Mark)

[@donaldberg3068]

IM glad they follow the regs now ! years ago i still feal they hurt the lake perch !

[@Wally66-d4c]

Great video. Thanks.

[@Wally66-d4c]

I watch your show every week Larry. Good stuff. I too like Sundrop Cola but haven't seen one in years.

[@shawnfollmer4491]

Great show. Need more exposure with stories like this. I've been an avid outdoorsmen for 50-plus years and found this interesting and informative. Thank you!

[@footagezombie8637]

Here we are the guy scooping up hundreds and hundreds of white fish out of water and here I am having DNR check my first 2 white fish of the season in the bucket that I spent 3 hours jigging at the pier with frozen weather to see if it was legally hooked. WTF 😂

[@jeffamckee]

Cool video. The irony is that when we go out in November to jig for them off of the pier, if that hook isn't right in the white fish's mouth, and you keep it, you're in a heap of trouble. It's normal to have a DNR officer writing a report on who caught what and checking to see where they were hooked. Yet, if you pay the government for permission, you can haul them in in nets.

[@leonardcollings7389]

You are paying the government with License fees, license plates, sales tax, property tax.

[@johnnypea43]

Nice piece. Thanks.

[@robertstonebreaker8394]

I just had some smoked whitefish at Hagens fish market in Chicago Delicious .

[@ballistic350]

We fish these things during the ice fishing season...😂 soon there will be no more for us up in sturgeon bay😂

[@paulnokio1199]

Big bay in november, could you have shot a limit of divers out the back larry?

[@jessedavis3514]

he did! gutted the diver pulled the smelt out tossed the duck back in the water

[@geraldmcclintock2567]

That is an open deck boat . Most of the commercial boats on Lake Michigan are super old covered boats with loud engines. Are the covered boats for gill nets only ? Would like to know the history of the covered boats because they seem unique to Lake Michigan

[@andrearayne3964]

I live in Grand Marais, Michigan and there is an old boat named Arbutus in town here. An ojibwe fisherman and I were drinking beer in lawn chairs sitting on top of this old wooden boat listening to songs about the great lakes. He opened the doors on the side of this wooden boat and it still had all the original trout nets with aluminum floats on it. This man told me he grew up on that boat, it was home made and the guys took it out until it got so worn out from the years of flexing, the wheelhouse would shift approx 14". If you're ever around here they also have 2 smaller covered fishing boats like that sitting half submerged in harbor. I'm not too knowledgeable of engine specs n such but I have heard guys talk about the boats having Chrysler or Buick motors in them. Just thought I'd share a bit of my experience for ya.

[@OutdoorPursuitsLife]

massive walleye @ 3:04

[@mikemiller9024]

Nothing wrong as long as everyone follows the rules. Commercial Fishing has its place. Several Commercial Fishermen have been arrested and charged multiple times over the years for over fishing and keeping illegal fishing same as Kentucky with paddle fish. No different than recreational fishermen double and tripling limits to sell perch. Get rid of bad ones. Ohio perspective for Lake Erie and Ohio River. Love some White Fish on Michigan Vacations.

[@purelymispearfishingdiving6278]

As a member of the Lake Michigan citizen advisory committee for the DNR. The whitefish population is collapsing. Requirement from spawning is the lowest it has been and dropping. You’ll see the dnr is “trying” to stabilize this right now with regulations prohibiting spearing and bowfishing and restricting hook sizes to minimize snagging in certain spawning areas like Muskegon. Not saying commercial fishing is causing it but harvesting large numbers of these fish when they’re struggling isn’t going to help them bounce back either.

[@chrismulry6792]

Can I use a net to get my limits?

[@NathanErskine-pv6zy]

Pretty sure some use gill nets, killing everything that swims into them, in an area where there are salmon and lake trout, oh and how about ghost nets I’ve snagged some trolling no where near their nets

[@kyledulek5564]

At the end with the guy giving the speech….how do commercial fishermen give back? And, how are they protectors of the lake? I’m so confused. All I see is taking.

[@ballistic350]

Lol they don't protect shiet but kill off the population, soon there will be no more for us fishermen in the greenbay, sturgeon bay area. 😢

[@geraldmcclintock2567]

@@kyledulek5564 True

[@kdholtan2646]

Commercial fisherman do what they do for money. It’s about profit, plain and simple.

[@kenneth9874]

They create many jobs while supplying food and support conservation with their license and gear fees and obeying size and quota restrictions.

[@jonkooi1583]

The fish are their livelihood. They care more about the health and continuation of the fish than anyone else.

[@ThreeBoysFishing]

When I start watching the video I knew there was going to be a lot of negative comments. Do people really think there out there trying to put themselves out of business there probably more of a conservationist than most fishermen. No different than people fishing when fish are spawning and they keep them how many fish are you talking out of the system then same thing. Just comes down to good management from top to bottom

[@RamBo-uu9so]

There is still alot of haters of Indians. Fact. We hear it, see it all the time.

[@EarlyRound]

Thanks for sharing this video. I doubt there is much interest in shutting commercial whitefish fishing down on either side of the aisle. The only reason to shut it down would be to protect the resource to prevent catastrophic population decline. Anyone who fishes for them can tell you that isn't happening.

[@johncronk9422]

It has happened in little traverse bay look it up

[@EarlyRound]

@@johncronk9422 Kind of looks like they are all too busy worrying about who sits down where behind which laboratory door to get anything like that done. On the other hand the trend towards disinformation as entertainment could mean anything can happen.

[@erubritius]

Not sure how old you are but we currently have about 10% of the commercial fishing outfits we had back in 1985. The politicians and therefore the state has made it extremely difficult for anyone wanting to enter the profession. Very expensive licensing, very intrusive regulation.

[@Kepe63]

You said people are misinformed about commercial fishing because of lack of knowledge .BUT, you formed an opinion about this w/o fairly stating any oppositions opinion on the matter. Practice what you preach on your show. stating your point through the influence of media w/o being objective loses creditbilty.

[@fishnwiz]

What??? Larry actually did a show WITHOUT running a livescope?? Incredible.

[@scottgarbs7761]

Commercial fishing isn't a "right". Neither is recreational fishing. If the resource is righteously managed and non-target species aren't harmed, I'm not convinced commercial fishing is bad.

[@CaseyMcElhatton]

So you picked one of the very few non native to film🙄. The vast majority of the commercial licensing is held by natives that don’t have the same rules. And the rules they say they abide by are an absolute joke because they have to go before a tribal council that 99.9% of the time does nothing!

[@leighmorris7158]

They are native. Actually the captain is a board member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians

[@JoeLesch]

So, I can identify as a commercial fisherman and keep way more fish?

[@johnzoulek9383]

If you can afford the per pound fine then sure.

[@kenneth9874]

Sure, if you get the proper license

[@ThreeTs223]

Yeah they just take and ruin the lake. Disgusting. I fish and hunt myself, commercial fishing needs to go.

[@STEVE_M439]

Well, I could see maybe like a season every 2 or 3 years. Give the fish a chance to grow and rebuild.

[@montanastrongremodelrenova1632]

I like this perspective but their is plenty of evidence that commercial fisheries do a lot of harm via by catch along with DNR survey netting doing harm via by catch... A huge portion of those lakers, walleye, ciscoes, salmon, steelhead etc might swim off but then die from the stress and the fatigue due to struggling in the net.. So the spokesperson saying they don't catch the little fish is bs and that they don't do harm is such a blatant lie its offensive! FYI i am for controlled and managed commercial fishing as it keeps certain species numbers in check and in many cases improves the biodiversity of the water body!

[@kenneth9874]

Actually gill nets are very size specific, different mesh sizes determines the size of the catch

[@tcf190]

Two sides to every story. Fish made into cat food by some fishing companies I question.

[@kenneth9874]

@tcf190 that's usually unpalatable fish..