BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
They used to be really plentiful and huge in the Great Lakes way back. Now, a rarity but they are making a comeback thru breeding programs and fishing size limits. I know in Lake Erie they are immediate release if caught. Every once in awhile you read about someone catching a big (and old) one.Oh shoot, I meant I’ve caught a good 300+ of them, but i actually have caught big ones That might have been that heavy.. They do get old. And they are prehistoric creatures. Another reason why I mostly caught and released.
"In 1860, this species, taken on incidental catches of other fishes, was killed and dumped back in the lake, piled up on shore to dry and be burned, fed to pigs, or dug into the earth as fertilizer. It was even stacked like cordwood and used to fuel steamboats"