Survey of pink salmon in eastern Lake Superior, 1981 / by F.C. Withler and W. Kwain.: Fs97-6/1317E-PDF

"In 1981 a survey of pink salmon in eastern Lake Superior, by fishing in open lake waters, in bays and monitoring spawners, was carried out to assess their commercial and recreational potential. Between July 29 and August 26, 292 pinks, 85 chinooks and 61 coho were caught in open lake waters in 80,600 m of gillnet sets and 27.5 h of trolling. Pacific salmon were 23% of the total catch. All gillnetted salmon were caught in off-bottom nets. Both gill nets and trolls appeared to select male pinks. Average size of gillnet-caught pinks was 0.59 kg; troll-caught pinks averaged 0.52 kg. All were maturing at age 1+. Pinks continued to grow during the survey. They fed mainly on mysids, smelts and terrestrial insects during August; later, close to spawning streams, they fed on smelts. Pink catches in gillnets improved in late August when fishing was concentrated near spawning streams, but never exceeded 20 per 1000 m of net in one set. Overall, trolled lures took 1.05 fish per rod/h; pinks and chinooks made up 2/3 of the troll catch. The remainder was mostly lake trout. Consumers' reaction to pinks showed them to be desirable for home cooking. Of 75 chinooks sampled, 4 were maturing and 71 were immature. Average weight of immatures was 0.74 kg; that of maturing fish was 1.8 kg. Of 51 coho sampled, 48 were maturing and 3 were immature. Maturing coho averaged 1.1 kg. Further trials in areas and times of known salmon concentration are recommended"--Abstract, page iii.

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