Mike Durkalec and Pink Salmon .jpg

Aquatic Biologist Mike Durkalec of the Cleveland Metroparks discovered a rare pink salmon in the Wildwood Park section of Euclid Creek recently while surveying the small waterway for steelhead trout.

(Cleveland Metroparks)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Steelhead trout start to leave their summer waters of Lake Erie at this time of year and head up the Northeast Ohio rivers and streams. When aquatic biologist Mike Durkalec of the Cleveland Metroparks surveyed some of those waters in recent days, he found some surprises.

Durkalec and his crew were checking Euclid Creek during an electroshocking survey on Sept. 19 and were delighted to find a pink salmon, especially such a big one.

"I looked up the Ohio pink salmon record, a 3.06-pounder that was just over 20 inches long caught (by Andy Janoski of Chagrin Falls) from Conneaut Creek in 2004," said Durkalec. "The pink salmon we caught and photographed was bigger than that."

While the pink salmon, also known as a humpback salmon, was cause for elation, Durkalec's survey of the Rocky River last Friday was disheartening.

The numbers of invasive sea lamprey that kill Great Lakes salmon and trout has risen dramatically in recent years around Lake Erie. Aquatic Biologist Mike Durkalec of the Cleveland Metroparks shows off the raspy, tooth-filled circular mouth of one of two lampreys removed from trout captured during a survey of the Rocky River.

"We checked 11 steelhead trout, an impressive number in the river for this early in the season," he said. "Two of them had invasive sea lamprey attached to their bodies. We know lamprey numbers are up, but to have lamprey attached to two of 11 trout surveyed does not bode well for the fishery."

Lampreys attach themselves to trout and salmon with a circular, raspy-toothed mouth and drain them of bodily fluids, often killing them. For many years, state and federal officials have treated Ohio streams with a poison that kills lamprey. The experts are still puzzled at the increase in lamprey numbers in recent years after having had the saltwater invaders under control.

"We posted the photo of the lamprey and its sucker-like mouth on the Cleveland Metroparks website on Monday," said Durkalec. "We have had almost 200,000 hits."

Lamprey arrived in Lake Erie in the 1920s through the Welland Canal and quickly spread to upper Great Lakes. Their initial target was lake trout, causing the population to crash.

Pink salmon trying to spawn in Lake Erie tributaries is a display of true grit for the "humpies," which spawn by the millions in Alaskan waters. They were accidentally introduced into Lake Superior in the mid-1950s. Over the last half-century they have managed to reach lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie.

The pink salmon die after spawning as 2 year olds, and few are caught by sport anglers. The spawning males sport a pronounced hump on their backs and generally weigh between two and seven pounds.

Bloom could surface: The harmful algal blooms, or HABs, that now coat parts of Lake Erie every fall could display their ugly side this week. After windy, cool weather seemed to have kept the blooms at bay in recent weeks, the forecast of a warming trend and calm winds could cause slimy, green mats to coat sections of western Lake Erie.

The highest concentrations won't be around Cleveland or the Central Basin of Lake Erie. According to NOAA's Experimental Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Bulletin, the potential sliming of Lake Erie will be near Maumee Bay and off the Monroe, Michigan, shoreline in the southwest corner of Lake Erie.

Walleye secrets on stage: The national Cabela's Masters Walleye Circuit tournament will bring anglers from around Ohio and the country to Lake Erie today and Saturday. Weigh-ins are at 4 p.m. at the Huron Boat Basin, where big walleye will be on display and walleye fishing secrets might be shared.

The 6th annual Fall Walleye Challenge on Lake Erie has a full field of 110 teams competing on Oct. 4. The weigh-in starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Huron Boat Basin.

Bass tournament news: One of the most popular bass tournaments in Ohio, Mosquito Madness X in 2015 is being held May 2-3 on Mosquito Reservoir. Bass anglers that wait to enter might get shut out. Entries will be accepted starting Wednesday, Oct. 1, and the two-angler event usually fills in hours, not days.

Hosted by Rory Franks of Franks Bass Fishing Promotions, check the website (dobass.com) for details.

Ray Halter Sr. of the Rodmaker's Shop in Strongsville and his son, Ray Jr., won last Saturday's Electric Elite Invitational with a limit of five bass weighing 13.62 pounds. John Shriver and Steve McClung finished third, enough to take home the season points championship after weighing 11.84 pounds.

Deer seasons begin: Ohio's archery season for white-tailed deer, one of the longest in the country, begins on Saturday. The bowhunting season continues through Feb. 1 and season bag limits have been set on a county-by-county system by the Ohio Division of Wildlife. County limits range from two to four deer, although hunters are still limited to only one buck each year.

With too many deer roaming the urban areas of northeast Ohio, the season bag limit for Cuyahoga, Lake, Summit, Portage and Stark counties is four deer. Check the regulations at wildohio.gov. A new rule allows the use of rifles to hunt deer as long as the rifle shoots one of a long list of straight-walled cartridges.