Yes, many of these super tankers are the Seeforellen Strain. They genetically get big and spawn in the late fall/early winter as opposed to the Domestics. The domestics will push up the rivers in late summer/early fall when the water is still warm and get a fungus that would eventually kill some of them. This happens much less frequently with the Seeforellens. So they spawn, and make it back into the lake to pig out another year... and another year....
The other factor is the Browns ability to adapt to an alternative food source... the goby. The salmon wont do it. They need the pelagic baitfish population which was down for a couple years. As the Salmon were getting smaller and leaner, the Browns were getting bigger and fatter. They pig out on gobies near shore.... an endless supply and an easy target. They can also tolerate warmer near-shore waters where the gobies reside. Browns, Smallmouth, and Lakers who all feed well near the bottom are getting big and fat on a goby diet. If the alewives aren't around, they pound the gobies.
This years Sturgeon Bay Smallmouth Open saw 9 fish over 6#, one over 7# and one at 8.45#... The stage is being set for a new state record here. You catch Smallies up there now and instead of coughing up crawfish parts, they are spitting up gobies. If any of you get BassMaster Magazine, Sturgeon Bay was ranked #1 in the top 100 hottest bass fisheries this year. Incredible multi species fishery.
