Holy Places...

If you are a Steelhead bum like myself you are most certainly familiar with the "Manistee Strain" of Great Lakes Steelhead. These genetics are both desired and enjoyed by anglers throughout Lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie. All of these fish are hatchery raised from eggs collected in the spring at the Weir Facility on the Little Manistee River. There is no stocking or planting of Steelhead on the Little Manistee. By this I mean every egg collected at the Weir comes from a wild self sustaining steelhead population. This is what makes the Stocking program so unique and successful. All fish raised are once through the system. According to Darwin's evolution the genetics should only get better.
When you really sit down and ponder the entire concept it is amazing how one system can single handedly sustain the entire states requirments not to mention others and still maintain its own healthy population. The Weir facility on the Little Manistee river provides all of the steelhead stocking requirements for the entire state of Michigan as well as surplus that is sold into Ohio and Indiana for their programs. For a steelhead bum it really is a holy place.

You can read more about the Weir by clicking on this sentence.