Aug. 8, 2025
Contact: Kesiree O’Brien (DNR), 517-388-4536

With America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative funding, the DNR and partners have removed seven stream barriers

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, with help from many conservation partners, is halfway through completion of a $5 million grant project to remove 27 stream barriers, including 16 DNR-managed dams. Efforts to date have reconnected more than 140 miles of streams.

Funding for this work was awarded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (formerly the America the Beautiful Challenge), which seeks to conserve and restore aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, improve resilience to flooding and other threats, and expand community access to nature.

What’s been accomplished so far Read more

Following the tours, enjoy the release of hatchery-reared sturgeon fingerlings into the Black River and Mullett Lake

If you’d like to get an up-close look at lake sturgeon and learn more about what goes into rearing this unique fish, you’re invited to take a free tour at the Black River hatchery Saturday, Aug. 23. Tours will run from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the facility, located northwest of Onaway.

“Visitors will see 3-month-old lake sturgeon currently in the hatchery and learn about early life history, as well as how we can all play a role to keep this species healthy in our waters,” said Tim Cwalinski, Northern Lake Huron Unit supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Read more

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. — Summer is in full swing in southern Michigan, which means the smallmouth are starting to feed up just in time for the 2025 Yokohama Tire Bassmaster Elite at Lake St. Clair according to Michigan native Aaron Jagdfeld.

“We had a late spring, so everything has been a little behind. But the last week or two, these bass are swinging into summer patterns and a lot more fish are getting grouped up,” said the St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN angler. “They are getting fatter, and it should set up really well for the tournament.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if someone put together a total somewhere in the high 90s and close to the 100-pound mark.”

Tournament days are scheduled for Aug. 7-10 with tournament headquarters located at Brandenburg Park in New Baltimore, Mich. The 101-boat field will launch at 7 a.m. ET each day and return for weigh-in beginning at 3 p.m. The field will be cut to the Top 50 anglers after the Day 2 weigh-in, and the Top 10 anglers after the third competition day will compete on Championship Sunday.

The winner earns the $100,000 first-place prize and a coveted blue trophy. Read more

Fishing with kids is one of life’s great joys—but it also comes with responsibility. Here’s how to help shield young skin from harmful UV rays during a day on the water.

For many families, a day spent fishing together is the stuff memories are made of. Whether casting for bass or panfish from a dock, trolling the back bays or spending hours in a skiff chasing trout and reds under the summer sun, it’s an experience that brings generations together. But that same sun that glints so beautifully off the water is also a silent risk—particularly for kids. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, just one blistering sunburn during childhood can more than double a person’s chances of developing melanoma later in life. Read more

Skeeter Boats announces the “Blazing Hot Summer Savings” sales event, a new promotion arriving just in time for the final days of summer. From July 21, 2025, through September 5, 2025, the promotion offers customers who purchase select, new, eligible Skeeter Boats an instant rebate.

“The ‘Blazing Hot Summer Savings’ event gives customers even more reasons to choose Skeeter Boats before summer winds down,” said Jeff Martin, Advertising, Creative Services and Co-Op Coordinator, Skeeter Boats. “This promotion applies to an expansive variety of models and gives customers a great opportunity to build in great value when they purchase a Skeeter.”

Through the new promotion, customers who purchase eligible, new, model year 2024 and 2025 Skeeter Boats have an opportunity to receive an instant rebate up to $5000 on select models. Read more

July 21, 2025
Contact: Caitlin Boon, 517-449-1180 or John Buszkiewicz, 248-296-2498

While bowfishing recently in Monroe County, an angler from Newport, Michigan, caught a new state-record fish: a flathead catfish weighing in at 64.46 pounds and measuring 45 inches!

Codie Carlson was bowfishing Plum Creek in the early-morning hours of Sunday, June 29, when he brought in the record-breaker.

This fish beats the previous state-record flathead catfish — 53.35 pounds, 43 inches — caught in 2022 by Lloyd Tanner, of Hobart, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River in Berrien County.

DNR fisheries biologist John Buszkiewicz, who works out of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Lake Erie Fisheries Management Unit, verified Carlson’s new state-record fish. Buszkiewicz and his crew may have even caught this exact fish during a survey in the same location in 2020; at the time, the fish caught weighed 55 pounds and measured 43 inches.

Carlson, a self-described “true fishoholic,” said, “I thought I was about to shoot a channel catfish for dinner. Turns out, I guess we do have flathead catfish in these waters.”

About state-record fish

Michigan’s state-record fish are recognized by weight only. To qualify, fish must exceed the current listed state-record weight and be weighed on a certified commercial scale, and identification must be verified by a DNR fisheries biologist.

To view a current list of Michigan state-record fish by species, visit Michigan.gov/StateRecordFish.

July 18, 2025
Contact: Cory Kovacs (DNR Fisheries) 906-287-0816, Mitch Koetje (EGLE) 906-202-1464 or John Pepin (DNR media), 906-250-7260

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy have investigated reports of high and discolored water on Lake Angeline, located south of Ishpeming in Marquette County.

The cause was determined to be a naturally occurring breach of a beaver dam. There are no known or safety concerns preventing public access to the lake.

The beaver pond upstream of Lake Angeline drained early Thursday, causing reddish sediment in the water and water level rise on the popular fishing lake.

Officials from the city of Ishpeming are aware of the lake conditions and met with DNR and EGLE staff on site Thursday. No dead fish were observed by personnel during the investigation. However, the public is encouraged to report any observations of fish kills at Michigan.gov/EyesInTheField. Read more