Bait Profile - Bloater

Chances are you’ve never heard of this “baitfish” before. The bloater coregonus hoyi is a Great Lakes fish, well all of them except Lake Erie. Think of it more like a small ciscoe instead of a baitfish. They stay deep usually 100+ feet except for the young of year which can tolerate warmer/shallower water (more on that in a minute). The deeper we are in Lake Michigan the more bloaters we see. The bloater name is fitting for them, they have a very pronounced “bloat” due to a rapidly expanding air bladder when pulled from the depths. It’s not something that most people will see unless you are a commercial fisherman or a Great Lakes researcher like myself. They aren’t large fish with the biggest ones I encounter in Lake Michigan around 10 inches although they can grow slightly bigger.

Bloaters feed out in the depths on mysis and zooplankton. One thing that is always interesting to watch on the research boat is their vertical migration every night. As it gets dark you'll notice the water column filling up with marks on the fishfinder as they leave the safety of the bottom for the night. Most of the year they’ll only encounter burbot, lake trout, and occasionally salmon in the Great Lakes.

That all changes in the fall though. High numbers of young of year bloaters (pictured in my hand) are in shallow warmer waters and are big enough to attract the attention of all sorts of predators. If you are a fall angler on Lake Michigan it is important to factor this in and you’ll notice that when you are cleaning your fish those small silver fish in the stomachs aren’t always alewives or smelt (at least in the Grand Haven/Muskegon area).

Another interesting fact is they are still a commercially fished Great Lakes species (Lake Michigan, Lake Superior). You’ll find relict “chub boats” that look like the Janice Sue that fishes out of Fishtown in Leland scattered throughout Lake MIchigan Ports. You may be able to find them in some fish markets in the Great Lakes region sold as “smoked chubs” or you can order a “Chubby Mary” from The Cove in Leland. It’s a bloody mary that comes with a smoked bloater and crackers, it’s a fishtown staple. While no where near historical highs bloaters seem to be clinging on despite all the changes to the food web in the lower lakes due to quagga mussels.