To all you Great Lake Folks - I dig your lakes, a lot!

[Dinsdale]

@Chronos

There’s some good sport fishing in the Lakes, if you’re into that sort of thing, but I would never eat something that came out of them (especially not Erie) if you paid me. You might have heard that the pollutant levels in the water are much lower than they used to be, and that’s true. I’d have no hesitation about swimming in the water. But what doesn’t get so much press is the reason why the water is cleaner. When the zebra mussels invaded, they filtered out many of the pollutants, especially the mercury. But matter is conserved, and that mercury had to go somewhere. It’s now concentrated into the food chain, and more concentrated the higher up the chain you get.

My understanding is that this explanation is somewhat simplistic and not necessarily reflective of the actual merits of various fish in the lakes. To the extent mercury and other pollutants may be present in fish, my understanding is that the majority of fishermen clean their catch. YMMV. Feel free to avoid eating Great Lakes fish. You are needlessly missing out on some mighty good eating.

The lakes are indeed huge in modifying the climate. One benefit of their effect is the existence of several fruit orchards in the area. The lakes limit extreme temperature fluctuations, so when it gets cold in winter it tends to stay cold, as most fruit requires a certain number of days of sufficient cold. Then, when things thaw, there tend not to be subsequent hard freezes that will damage developing fruit. Which means more pie and cobbler for me!

@Shirley

I’ve always figured you were from England.

Wow! Just … wow!
Or should I say, Blimey, I’m gobsmacked!

[Velma]

@Dinsdale

My understanding is that this explanation is somewhat simplistic and not necessarily reflective of the actual merits of various fish in the lakes. To the extent mercury and other pollutants may be present in fish, my understanding is that the majority of fishermen clean their catch. YMMV. Feel free to avoid eating Great Lakes fish. You are needlessly missing out on some mighty good eating.

The lakes are indeed huge in modifying the climate. One benefit of their effect is the existence of several fruit orchards in the area. The lakes limit extreme temperature fluctuations, so when it gets cold in winter it tends to stay cold, as most fruit requires a certain number of days of sufficient cold. Then, when things thaw, there tend not to be subsequent hard freezes that will damage developing fruit. Which means more pie and cobbler for me!

Wow! Just … wow!
Or should I say, Blimey, I’m gobsmacked!

He is unfortunately correct about eating the fish. I have just done some research on the subject, as my husband is about to go charter fishing on lake Michigan. Being pregnant I looked on the Mich. gov. website about fish quality to see if his catch would be safe for me to eat. They list each water body and the results of testing on the types of fish, and divide the fish into safe, limited, or unsafe categories for men and women based on the results of PCB and mercury levels. The larger species, like salmon (there is a slight difference in quality in the type) are only safe for women and children to eat once a month or so, and even then they recommend that you stick to the smaller, younger fish. Big Lake trout are right out for women, and IIRC, are even limited for male adults.

Men can eat more big lake fish than women of childbearing years and children, but the mercury levels are a concern. You are right that the PCB’s can be cleaned out somewhat if you prepare and clean a fish correctly, but the mercury is in the fish and cannot be cleaned out. If you have women or young children eating trout or salmon from the lake regularly, I would advise them to cut back.

It sucks because I love lake salmon and normally women are encouraged to eat salmon while they are pregnant because it is full of omega 3’s, but I am not risking eating the lake salmon right now.

[Musicat]

@Qadgop the Mercotan

Musicat is on the lake also, north of me. Check out his lake cam sometime.

Yes, I am, perhaps about 50 miles farther north from QTM. But my old webcam bit the dust recently, and I haven’t been able to get the replacement to work the way I want yet. I had intended to have a slo-motion streaming video version, but the technology has eluded me so far.

About 10 miles out on the lake from me is “The Bank”, a favorite spot of fishermen. With binoculars, you can see hundreds of boats of all sizes during fishing tournaments. Myself, I’d rather eat fish than catch it, so I rely on friends who have more than their freezer can handle to toss me some surplus.

If you like boats and fresh water, Door County, Wisconsin is a boater’s paradise. Our peninsular county has 300 miles of shoreline, reportedly more than any other USA county. Pretty easy to do when you are on an “almost” island. I have circumnavigated the “island” on three occasions with PWCs.

Door County has more than just water. The influx of summer visitors has spawned a concentration of art galleries, theater, music, restaurants and other entertainment. We have ferries and cruises and many state parks. You can do the cheap family camping trip or stay in a luxury hotel. The Nature Conservancy has a big following and influence here, and owns quite a bit of land kept as undeveloped wilderness. It’s a good place for canoe trips, although this year, many streams have dried up and Lake Michigan is near an all-time low.

Door County tends to have a more constant temperature than inland, since the surrounding water has much influence. We are generally cooler than the rest of the midwest in the summer and a heat wave is just an excuse to take a dip in the water, not a reason to complain and sweat.

A diver I am not, but friends say exploring the many shipwrecks is fun.

To respond to Chronos, constant overcast is not a fair description of all lakeside living. There is a “lake effect” which increases snowfall, but that is more common downwind. Buffalo NY is the recipient of much of that, as they are downwind from all the Great Lakes. Where I am, it isn’t a big factor.

It’s not uncommon to have more fog in the coastal areas than inland when a moist, warm weather system moves in suddenly, and this phenomena may encompass only a few thousand feet in from the coast.

Another interesting weather phenomena is what I call “rim clouds” that form in the fall and winter when the lake is warmer than the air. These clouds form just over the lake and dissipate shortly after sunrise. Here are two examples.

It’s a nice place to be.

[Musicat]

@Phlosphr

…you even have Sea Gulls!

Do you know why seagulls fly by the sea? Because if they flew by the bay, they’d be bay-gulls!

If the joke eludes you, say it out loud,and sorry.

[Velma]

We get the lake effect snow in Grand Rapids too. I remember Cecil did a column about it once. But I don’t notice more overcast days in the summer, I guess that could be because I am used to them but I honestly don’t feel that it is overcast anywhere close to the majority of the time.

[Phlosphr]

@Musicat

Do you know why seagulls fly by the sea? Because if they flew by the bay, they’d be bay-gulls!
If the joke eludes you, say it out loud,and sorry.

:smack: Gee I’ve never heard that before…

[Dinsdale]

Everyone can make their own choice regarding what they eat. And as with many things, I suspect if you look hard enough you’ll find someone who is saying exactly what you want to hear about the health benefits/risks of eating Great Lakes fish.

Personally, I’m neither pregnant, brestfeeding, or a child. Accordingly, I tend to think as in this site, that “the nutritional benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks when the guidelines are followed.”

In the words of the immortal Joe Jackson, Everything, gives you cancer. But not everything is as tasty as grilled salmon fillets!

[Phlosphr]

@Dinsdale

Everyone can make their own choice regarding what they eat. And as with many things, I suspect if you look hard enough you’ll find someone who is saying exactly what you want to hear about the health benefits/risks of eating Great Lakes fish.

Personally, I’m neither pregnant, brestfeeding, or a child. Accordingly, I tend to think as in this site, that “the nutritional benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks when the guidelines are followed.”

In the words of the immortal Joe Jackson, Everything, gives you cancer. But not everything is as tasty as grilled salmon fillets!

Ahh, one of the finer points of living in New England. Never, I mean NEVER a shortage of fresh seafood. If I want seabass, I’ll wait until 7 pm-ish get my fly rod with a Storm Plug and walk out to the end of our dock. Throw a couple hand fulls of pebbles in the water [ old trick to get the stripers up close - they hear the mass flopping of pebbles and think it’s bait fish breaching] Once the Stripers show up, which is usually quickly, I start casting. Strike, Reel, Unhook, Gut, Filet, Grill. Nothing better.

Haven’t done that in a while. Perhaps this weekend.

[Sunspace]

@tomndebb

Nah. You’re just prejudiced by having lived in NE Ohio. The only places with consistent lake effect snow are the southeast shore of Erie, the northwest shore of Michigan’s LP, and a bit on the Keweenaw peninsula. You need a prevailing wind across an unfrozen lake encountering sharply rising highlands to generate the lake effect snow.

What are we Canadians, chopped liver? There is also lake-effect snow from Lake Huron on the southeast shore of Georgian Bay, and the Bruce Peninsula. Ask my relatives on the Bruce–my aunt and cousins were snowed in for two weeks last winter.

[Dinsdale]

@Sunspace

What are we Canadians, chopped liver?

You’ve got a lotta nerve, insulting chopped liver like that!

[Spoke]

Let me add my voice to the chorus. I was also deeply impressed by the beauty of the Great Lakes. I have seen Erie, Michigan, Huron and Superior. Camped on the shores of the last two. I was actually lucky enough to catch an unusal display of the northern lights over Superior. (I understand they are not normally seen that far south.) Truly gorgeous.

[Velma]

@Dinsdale

Everyone can make their own choice regarding what they eat. And as with many things, I suspect if you look hard enough you’ll find someone who is saying exactly what you want to hear about the health benefits/risks of eating Great Lakes fish.

Personally, I’m neither pregnant, brestfeeding, or a child. Accordingly, I tend to think as in this site, that “the nutritional benefits of eating fish outweigh the risks when the guidelines are followed.”

In the words of the immortal Joe Jackson, Everything, gives you cancer. But not everything is as tasty as grilled salmon fillets!

I agree that people can choose for themselves. If I were a guy, I would eat it. I hardly had to look hard to find info that said it was not safe for women though, so I just put that info out there. Believe me, I want to eat that fish, it is good! I was trying to find info that said it was ok, but the mich. website I saw just didn’t do it for me.

Mercury poisoning is a real concern for kids, and many people don’t know about it. Most people can eat at least some lake fish, like you said by following the suggested guidelines it is usually ok. I was just addressing the idea that it’s probably ok for everyone as long as you clean it, that is not true. Hey, believe me, I wish I could eat more of it!

[Athena]

@spoke-

I was actually lucky enough to catch an unusal display of the northern lights over Superior. (I understand they are not normally seen that far south.) Truly gorgeous.

Not to break your bubble, but they’re pretty common here on the south shore of Lake Superior. They’re not always out, but they’re out enough that they ruin Mr. Athena’s astronomy with regularity.

[Spoke]

@Athena

Not to break your bubble, but they’re pretty common here on the south shore of Lake Superior. They’re not always out, but they’re out enough that they ruin Mr. Athena’s astronomy with regularity.

Oh, it doesn’t break my bubble. Just adds to the allure of the place.

[tomndebb]

@Sunspace

What are we Canadians, chopped liver? There is also lake-effect snow from Lake Huron on the southeast shore of Georgian Bay, and the Bruce Peninsula. Ask my relatives on the Bruce–my aunt and cousins were snowed in for two weeks last winter.

I wasn’t trying to “hog” the lake effect. I was just not aware that the ground rose so quickly over Georgian Bay to produce it. (My couple of trips up that way near owen Sound and on to Tobermory and such left me with an impression (possibly false) of lower, flatter landscapes.

When I watch the regional radar on wunderground.com, I see lots of snow piling up from Ludington to Cross Village and inland as well as from the East side of Cleveland to Buffalo and a bit inland. While I occasionally see snow coming off the lakes as far South as Grand Haven and over by Parry Sound, those storms don’t catch my eye very often and I thought the lake effect was more rare, there.

[tomndebb]

my aunt and cousins were snowed in for two weeks last winter

Was that lake effect, or just winter?

[BobLibDem]

I grew up a few miles from Lake Michigan. To me, there’s Lake Michigan and Not Exactly. Lake Michigan beach sand is second to none. Sitting in the shallows of Lake Michigan and watching the sun set on the water never gets old. But if you visit, please be careful and respect the lake. Riptides are nothing to mess with.

[Walloon]

In June, Chicago has more sunny days than Los Angeles.

[Sunspace]

@tomndebb

Was that lake effect, or just winter?

Lake effect. Toronto, on the northeast shore of Lake Ontario, had almost no snow at the same time. The area southeast of Georgian Bay, almost as far as Barrie, is known as the “Snow Belt”.

The land rises quite quickly at Collingwood–it’s noted for ski areas on the north-facing slopes. The Bruce Peninsula is a tilted limestone plain, with cliffs on the east side and wide beaches on the west. It still gets a lot of snow, though.

But I’m not certain that Lake Effect snow has to do with steeply-rising slopes; as I said, my cousins get it every winter and the Peninsula only gently rises from the west. I think it’s more a temperature thing: sudden cold over the land versus winds blowing relatively-warm and humid air off the lake. Result: snow.

I experienced lake-effect snow in 1999 when I was living in Oakville, on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario, almost near the end of the lake. The shore at Oakville extends from the southwest to the northeast; we got an east wind in just the right conditions (open water, cold land), and had over a metre of snow in two days. It was amazing.

[Dinsdale]

One thing that kinda freaks this Chicago-boy out when he travels to Michigan is that the lake is on the wrong side!

Growing up in and around Chicago, the one constant is that the lake is to the east. That’s why Jim Croce’s song Bad Bad Leroy Brown was funny when it referred to “the east side of Chicago - the baddest part of town.” Sure, there is a SE side heading down towards the Steel Mills, but for a NW side boy, anyone on the east side of the city was swimming.

But then when I got married and we started going to her family’s place in SE Michigan - near Muskegon - going to the lake meant driving west!

Weird!