Removing dams, and opening streams back up into their natural state is great. But one dam, on one stream will not increase offshore numbers of Rainbows.
I've been a steelie fisherman for years, just like many on this board. I've always had a great time fishing in any of the area tribs, and for the most part, I rarely catch a fin-clipped fish, or a fish with dorsal fin wear due to hatchery crowding. With that said, it's probably safe to say that the streams have self-supporting runs of naturally reproducing fish, with a few U.S stocked strays. Now, when I fish the U.S tribs, it's completely different. The fish are stacked like wood, easy to catch, and close to 100% are clipped or hatchery raised. For me personally, it's a treat to fish the Norfolk/Simcoe area tribs.
Yes, perhaps numbers are down offshore, walleye and bows. I fish hard all summer, and even though it was a great season, it was a bit slower than last. But I think there are lots of other issues that need to be addressed as well.
As for the walleye fishing, why are there so many open seasons on walleye during prime spawning? Why do so many of the spawners running up detroit river, or the large females in the western end of the lake end up on stringers? Yes, commercial fishing is huge too, but if the season were closed, or a slot put in place for the winter/ice season, maybe the walleye numbers would begin to increase?
As for the bows, the U.S side stocks such a huge number of fish it's incredible. Maybe a study should be done to see if there is a reason why many of those fish aren't utilizing the offshore waters of LPB? This season alone, I have caught 3 tagged bows from the Buffalo NY area that were tagged at Huron river at the far west end of Erie. When I called them in, I was told there were dozens of tags called in already, most from the far east end of the lake. The ones I caught were in Buffalo, at the extreme opposite end from where the fish were planted. So they ARE wandering, and using the entire lake, maybe for some reason not LPB.
But in terms of stocking, if local tribs have healthy numbers of spawners, why stock? If the available spawning water in the area is at it's proper population density, why add more?