Stocking levels for rainbow trout/steelhead dropped 21 percent from mean levels to 1.6 million in 2004.

As for brown trout, 1.6 million were stocked, which is normal.

The usual level of about 2.3 million lake trout was also stocked.

Brook trout stocking levels continued to decline, with the 2004 plant numbering just 1,000 as compared with the long-term average of 200,000.

Splake stocking remained steady at 122,000 fish.

The decline in coho stocking numbers is easy to explain. Michigan simply ran out of funds to continue the program at the high level to which it was accustomed. While they did not destroy any fish and planted everything they were currently raising, one million fewer cohos went into production in the fall of 2005. As noted, this represents a 68 percent cutback in the lakewide stocking program for that species. At such time that the budget crisis eases, the Michigan DNR plans call for restoring the coho program to its former glory. We'll see.

The 21 percent steelhead decline is somewhat misleading, since that figure is not based on long-term stocking levels, but on a comparison with 2003, which was an unusually high stocking year. Actually, while the 2004 plant is on the low side, it is not 21 percent off plants for the past 10 years, and is unlikely to greatly affect angler success rates.

Brown trout and lake trout stocking goes on apace, so fishing for those species should remain steady or slightly improved. It must be remembered that fingerling trout planted in 2004 will not enter the sportfishery for several years.

Brook trout and splake are planted more on an experimental basis than on a sportfishery basis, as their stocking numbers suggest.

Now, we come to the biggest cause for concern -- the mighty chinook salmon. The problem with this critter is threefold: It grows too large, it lives too long and it eats way too much. The world-record chinook salmon weighed well over 100 pounds, and was 5 years old. Lake Michigan chinooks normally live four years, and achieve a weight of between 15 and 25 pounds. Still, these big guys are pure and simple eating machines. I once cleaned a 21-pound fish that had 22 fresh alewives in its belly, and still tried to gobble down a J-Plug. And that was just its breakfast.

The Lake Michigan forage base can no longer support unlimited quantities of chinook salmon. Foreign invasive species, such as zebra mussels, two species of water fleas and round gobies, have devoured massive quantities of the plankton and micro-organisms the once abundant alewife feeds on. As a result, alewife numbers have declined steadily, and the nutritional value of each of the little fish has dropped by as much as half.

The scarcity of the baitfish, along with their reduced calorie content, has forced the chinooks to forage far and wide to find food, and then eat twice as much to gain proper nourishment. Since chinook salmon are not designed to feed in this way, they become susceptible to stress-induced disease, and do not grow to great size.