Lake Michigan is
located entirely within U.S. borders, the only Great Lake not shared
by the U.S. and Canada. This means, you can fish to your heart's
desire without worrying about border patrol.
Luckily, fishes know no
borders, and can swim into any lake they please. So it won't be
unusual to see fish from neighboring Lake Huron to swim through that
narrow channel in the north to Lake Michigan and vice versa. One
notable species of fish that thrives in these lakes is the Atlantic
salmon.
Transitioning from
fresh water to seawater may not be something other fish species take
to kindly, but the Atlantic salmon can handle it beautifully. They're
anadromous fish, spending most of their lives migrating from fresh
water to seawater and back again. The salmon can come from either St.
Mary's River or from the coast of Maine, and make their way into the
Great Lakes.
The Atlantic salmon can
grow up to 30 inches long and weigh as much as 12 lbs. Decades of
changes in the environment, natural and manmade, however, have
whittled down their numbers to achieve endangered status. If you
manage to catch one, take a picture of you holding the salmon and let
it go. Right now, the journey from fresh water to seawater is the
least of their worries.
