GOBIES

[52niner]

Any type of gobie in michigan is fair game to throw on shore. You are not allowed to collect them or transfer them live, or use as bait in other waters. Hefty fines for that.

[blackbeast]

Here in wisconsin hook and line you can keep one dead and transport it directly to the dnr office but netting you are supposed to throw them back as to what i understand same thing goes for the ruffies but i have talked to a few game wardens that say if you catch any kill them on the spot when smeltin this year we caught millons of them it looked like a mine field around the dock of dead gobies and ruffies me personaly i would take the gobies over the ruffies any day of the week like you guys said you can use gobies as bait and fish will eat them unlike the ruffies i have a feeling that this will be just like the smelt some one will figure out how to work the system so you can catch them to use as bait then some one will figure out how to eat them and it will be a good thing in the end

[Keith becker]

I have caught several in Irondequoit Bay.
They make great bass baits.

walleye love them in LBDN they even sell them up there

[Mainehazmt]

Don't ever return them to water,

   Just like we do with the  nasty perch up here  pitchem or ice em leave them for the eagles     becareful, people on here whine about wasting garbage fish!

[KingPerch]

   Just like we do with the  nasty perch up here  pitchem or ice em leave them for the eagles     becareful, people on here whine about wasting garbage fish!

I just happen to like that "garbage fish" PERCH that is!!!! LOL I'm not whining, just laughing --KingPerch

[pooley]

feed them to the buzzards, athough, turkey vultures are not native up here. the followed the roadkill from automobiles northward.

[KingPerch]

POOLEY, Is that a picture of Danica Patrick on your page? If so, you got taste man!!!!! My 11 yr.old son has quite a spread of her on his bedroom wall!! Thatta boy JOSH!! makes dad proud! --KingPerch

[pooley]

POOLEY, Is that a picture of Danica Patrick on your page? If so, you got taste man!!!!! My 11 yr.old son has quite a spread of her on his bedroom wall!! Thatta boy JOSH!! makes dad proud! --KingPerch

yup, that's her.

[infectedtoe1952]

gobies, like some people that say perch are garbage fish, are weird and here in ny we kill the pias bottom feeding gobies because they are real messing up prime bass areas.

[niagarajiggin]

throw the water varmints to the gulls.

there are even "gobie buckets" at certain areas around NY - I have seen then at the inner cement dock at Wilson Pier - fill 'em up

[Jimmy]

That's so weird that they can't be collected in New York since they are invasive as heck.  I do remember the BassMassters Tour on Lake Erie two year ago though, where the SMALLIES were the main target because they had grown so huge on Round Goby's!!!  The winning total was like 55lbs, all SMALLMOUTH!!!  Sure enough, the dude was drop-shotting goby imitations and beating the snot out of some serious bronzebacks!

They sound like a wicked problem, but it also sounds like pretty much every gamefish likes to eat 'em and get FAT!!!

Here is the low-down on these little exotics.  From the Cornell Cooperative Extension site:

"The round goby, a native of freshwater and marine waters of Eurasia (particularly the Black and Caspian Seas and the Sea of Azov), was first observed in the Great Lakes Basin in 1990 when recreational anglers caught a specimen in the St. Clair River. It is believed that the species was introduced via international shipping ballast water discharge. Since that time, the fish has spread to all of the Great Lakes (Lake Erie, 1993; Lake St. Clair, 1994; Lake Michigan, 1994; Lake Superior, 1995; Lake Ontario, 1996; Lake Huron, 1998), where it is undergoing a dramatic population explosion (densities of several dozen per square meter of lakebed have been reported). Spread upstream to Lake Superior is believed to have been a result of interlake ballast water transport; downstream spread is most likely attributable to both ballast discharge and natural migration. Round gobies may prey on small fish such as darters, as well as lake trout, sculpin, and darter eggs and fry.

Adult gobies take over prime nearshore spawning sites and aggressively prevent use by native species. Long-term impacts are expected to include declines in native species populations. N. melanostomus has a well-developed lateral line which may give it a competitive advantage over native species feeding in turbid waters. Round gobies are also prolific breeders, spawning every 20 days during the spawning season.

Round gobies are problematic to anglers in that gobies are proficient bait thieves.

N. melanostomus has the beneficial impact of consuming large numbers of zebra mussels; however, given the contamination found in some populations of zebra mussels, this may result in bioaccumulation of toxics in gobies and biomagnification up the food chain to shorebirds and other species which consume the fish.

A link has been suggested between round gobies and the recent outbreaks of Type E avian botulism on Lakes Erie and Ontario."

[taxid]

No one knows "exactly" where they originated from but it is beleived that they came into the Great Lakes region via Bulge tanks on Oceanic vessels. Where ever they came from get used to them because they are here to stay. They reproduce like crazy. I'd rather have them then Asian carp.  Don't ever return them to water, they make great live bait to because they stay alive forever if you hook them right. You will find them on the bottom mainly by rocks or alot of cover.

I think you mean Ballast tanks and they came from the large inland seas of Eastern Europe. Not native anywhere in North America. Do a google search.

[trapper2000]

acutally gobies  are the largest family of  fish  with over  2000 sub spieces alone  and  live in salt brackish and fresh water the  round gobie  whish invaded the  great lakes  is believed to have come  from the Black and Caspian seas

[taxid]

acutally gobies  are the largest family of  fish  with over  2000 sub spieces alone  and  live in salt brackish and fresh water the  round gobie  whish invaded the  great lakes  is believed to have come  from the Black and Caspian seas

Like I said the species of gobies we have in the Great Lakes came from large inland seas of Eastern Europe. The Black Sea is 168,500 sqare miles and the Caspian is 144,244 square miles.

[trapper2000]

more mid east  really thing is dealing with  them and weather ya call it ballast or  bulge water  same differance  gobies are still a big problem, hopefully like zebra's the fear  is worse then the outcome ,i don't think culling them is  going to have a impact on them ,but it won't hurt.... well i'm off to lake ontario before the storms  ,going gobie fishing!!!!! if i can keep them darn small mouths off ) have a good day