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I don’t know if my memory is distorted by time, but it seems to me that there were many more fishing lakes when I was a kid then there are now. I don’t remember having to plan out lake fishing trips. I know that my father and my grandfather handled the details, but I can’t help to think that it was simply a matter of packing up the fishing tackle, heading out to the lake and going to work. Our fishing trips were always pretty spontaneous and impromptu and we went lake fishing all over the state of Michigan.
Don’t get me wrong, some fishing lakes were better than others. Lake Michigan fishing, for example, was always some of the best, but you had to know what you were doing. You needed excellent fishing equipment and a good deal of strength. I remember that my dad would always have to help me reel in the bigger catches for fear of me losing my fishing rod. When I caught my first Lake Michigan fish single handedly, it was a big deal in my family. We actually had a party!
Today, fishing lakes are few and far between. I think that part of it has to do with the popularity of lake fishing in general. A big fishing lake like Lake Michigan still has plenty to catch, but some of the smaller lakes have been all fished out. Besides that, there is the introduction of non-native species. Between zebra mussels and that weird jumping Chinese fish that everyone is talking about, I am sure that the local aquaculture has been messed up.
The most tragic thing that has happened to fishing lakes has to do with pollution. A lot of the time, there are plenty of fish to catch, but you just can’t get at them. If you eat many of them, you will get sick or even die. Some of my favorite fishing lakes now have signs posted that tell you that it is unsafe to eat fish during certain seasons and that pregnant women should never eat lake fish. Apparently, biological magnification is worse in the lakes. The pollution builds up and builds up, concentrating most heavily towards the high end of the food chain. That means the big fish, the ones that we catch which eat smaller fish, get the lion’s share of pollutants like lead, mercury, PCB, And other contaminants. It really is a shame that we have been so shortsighted!
Tags: Adventure, Boating, Fishing, Nature
