Contact: Jay Wesley, 616-490-5090 or Dave Caroffino, 231-350-8654

GW:  Some good eating comparable to walleye.

To help support conservation and restoration of Great Lakes whitefish, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources starting this month will collect lake whitefish eggs in the nearshore areas of Lake Michigan between South Haven and Muskegon. During this monthlong effort, DNR crews will deploy nets across nearshore and reef habitats in southern Lake Michigan to capture lake whitefish for spawning. To collect mature fish, electrofishing will be used in river mouths. Anyone fishing or boating in the area are advised to watch for flags and buoys indicating nets, and to follow best practices for net safety. When on the water or wading during electrofishing work in river mouths, use caution and follow any instructions from staff to exit the water. Fertilized eggs from these collections will be incubated and hatched at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Van Buren County. Funding for this work is provided by the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust and a $350,000 general fund appropriation by the Michigan Legislature for fiscal year 2027.

Why whitefish?

Lake whitefish are native to the Great Lakes and have immense ecological, cultural and economic value in Michigan. In lakes Michigan and Huron, threats including pollution, habitat loss and invasive species have changed the food web, causing whitefish population decline. Invasive quagga mussels have had a particularly negative effect on whitefish by filtering out the plankton that larval whitefish depend upon for food and making the water much clearer, reducing their survival.

Changing environmental conditions could result in lake whitefish populations surviving in limited places, possibly leading to the species lacking the genetic diversity necessary to adapt and thrive. The egg-collection project will preserve some of that genetic diversity by allowing these whitefish eggs to be raised into hatchery broodstock (parent) fish.

In turn, the broodstock will allow the DNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or other partners to raise lake whitefish in controlled conditions in a hatchery system. Some fish will also be stocked back into Lake Michigan, in drowned river mouth lakes, and possibly inland lakes as other means to preserve genetic diversity until ecosystem changes allow for better survival of naturally spawned fish. This will keep these genetic lines going, even if the wild population suffers further decline.

Learn more about lake whitefish monitoring and management by visiting the DNR’s lake whitefish webpage.

This summer’s hot streak of record fish continues to churn out some impressive catches. Congratulations to Benjamin Smith of Thatcher, Idaho, who made fishing history on Aug. 28 when he caught a new Idaho catch-and-release state record brown trout from the Bear River in Franklin County.

Smith’s catch barely beats the recent record set by Caroline Langdale by 0.5 inches, who caught a similarly huge brown trout on the South Fork Snake River only a few months prior in May 2026. The only thing more surprising than a brown trout over 30 inches is how quickly the previous record fell. Given how rare a fish of this class is for Idaho, most anglers should have expected the previous record to stand for quite a while. Read more

Oct. 20, 2026
Contact: Sandra Svoboda (TNC), 313-574-0645, Christina VanDoornik (LRBOI), 231-398-2197, and Scott Heintzelman (DNR), 231-433-9782

Do you fish the Muskegon River between Croton Dam and the river mouth at Lake Michigan? This fall you might see in the channel lake whitefish carrying acoustic telemetry tags and acoustic receivers for tracking the fish.

The devices are part of work the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and partner organizations will be conducting to determine whether rivers like the Muskegon could serve as alternative spawning areas for lake whitefish, a species facing steep population declines in lakes Michigan and Huron.

Anglers in the Muskegon River area are asked to release any tagged whitefish they catch and report any they harvest to assist with this effort. Read more

Adjusting daily possession limits to allow for harvesting smaller fish in select lakes and removing an unnecessary spawning closure are part of updated northern pike regulations now in effect following Michigan Natural Resources Commission action earlier this week.

During its Oct. 14 meeting, the NRC enacted regulation changes to Fisheries Orders 204 and 206, effective Oct. 15, 2026. These changes are expected to boost fishing opportunities. The NRC – a public body whose members are appointed by the governor – has the exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game and sportfish in Michigan.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries managers use fish survey data to determine which regulations should apply to a waterbody and recommend changes to the NRC when necessary to benefit the resource and angling community. Here are additional details about each of these fisheries order updates:

Fisheries Order 204

Otsego Lake pike marsh (Otsego County), which was previously closed to fishing from March 16 – June 15 to protect fish during spawning migrations, is now open year-round. Spawning closures prohibit all fishing activity on specific waters to protect fish during spawning migrations. The pike marsh has not been operational since the early 2000s, and so a spawning closure is no longer necessary. Ending this unnecessary closure increases angler opportunities and simplifies regulations.

Fisheries Order 206

Au Sable Lake (Ogemaw County), Clear Lake (Mecosta County), Gibson Lake (Iron County) and Hanbury Lake (Dickinson County) are now on the list of waters with a daily possession limit of up to five northern pike, with only one of these fish 24 inches or greater allowed. Data from these waters indicate a slow-growing northern pike population, meaning fewer larger fish are present. Allowing anglers to harvest smaller pike increases angler opportunities, and both anglers and law enforcement officials supported this change.

Please note that these regulation changes are not reflected in the printed version of the 2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations. Anglers are reminded to check the digital version of the regulations online at Michigan.gov/DNRRegs or in the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app for the most current regulatory information.

Oct. 14, 2026
Contact: Paul Stowe, 231-325-4611, ext. 122 or Joe Mickevitch, 231-389-2211

A Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant supported new pavilion, trail and more

Avid anglers, school groups, vacationing families and curious Michiganders making the trek to Platte River State Fish Hatchery in Benzie County will notice several upgrades, including an accessible paved trail, thanks to a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant. “Now, more guests can explore this historic facility and learn about Michigan’s hatcheries and fisheries,” said Paul Stowe, natural resources manager at Platte River State Fish Hatchery. “These improvements have met and even exceeded Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines for accessible design, improving the experience of visiting our hatchery for all guests.”

Platte River State Fish Hatchery was established nearly a century ago, in 1928, and became the state’s primary salmon hatchery in 1972. This historic hatchery is considered the birthplace of Great Lakes salmon; some of the first coho salmon in Michigan were stocked on-site in the Platte River by Dr. Howard Tanner (chief of the Fisheries Division of the DNR, then known as the Michigan Department of Conservation) in 1966. The hatchery is open to the public, and more than 10,000 people visit every year. Given the age of the facility, renovations were needed to better accommodate visitors, and the Disability Network of Northern Michigan conducted a site audit and made recommendations to enhance access. In 2022, the hatchery was selected in a competitive process to receive a Trust Fund grant of $300,000 for accessibility upgrades. Read more

Oct. 1, 2026
Contact: Pat O’Neill, ONeillP@Michigan.gov or Patrick Hanchin, 231-330-5290

A new 66-foot, steel-hulled vessel to monitor Lake Michigan fisheries is replacing an older vessel and will mean more efficient and safer operations for Michigan Department of Natural Resources crew members.

During a ceremony Wednesday in Charlevoix — the new vessel’s home port — DNR officials and other fisheries leaders gathered to commission the vessel, which was christened Research Vessel Steelhead, after its predecessor Survey Vessel Steelhead, by DNR Deputy Director Shannon Lott. DNR Fisheries Division Chief Randy Claramunt granted the vessel’s commission.

“The importance and meaning of this new vessel to Fisheries Division and the DNR cannot be overstated,” said Chief Claramunt. “Lake Michigan is one of the largest freshwater lakes on the planet, and the RV Steelhead and crew will serve as the State of Michigan’s primary means to collect data and inform fisheries management decisions on this Great Lake.” Read more

Contact: Emily Martin, 231-495-1310 or John Bauman, 906-786-2351

Any night fishing plans in your future this fall? Michigan Department of Natural Resources personnel will be conducting nighttime walleye recruitment surveys from late September to mid-October, so be on the lookout for survey crews when you’re on the water.

These surveys are an important tool for fisheries managers to determine whether walleye that hatched in the spring (known as young-of-year) did so in the wild or were stocked, as well as how many of those fish are present in an area. This information about the status of young walleye in lakes helps the DNR make informed management decisions. Read more