“It could have been much worse”

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), the nation’s largest advocacy, services and safety group for recreational boaters, estimates that more than 63,000 recreational boats were damaged or destroyed as a result of both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, with a combined dollar damage estimate of $655 million (boats only). These numbers are strikingly close to 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, which remains the single-largest industry loss with more than 65,000 boats damaged and more than $650 million in estimated losses.

Breaking down the 2017 season storms, Hurricane Irma damaged or destroyed 50,000 vessels with approximately $500 million in recreational boat damage. About 13,500 boats were damaged or lost costing $155 million in boat damage as the result of Hurricane Harvey. Read more

Gull Lake access siteThere are two large inland lakes in southwest Michigan, both of which are profiled in this month’s edition of Reel in Michigan’s Fisheries. Gun Lake is featured first, or keep reading for Gull Lake.

Located in both Barry and Allegan counties and spanning 2,680 acres with a maximum depth of 68 feet, Gun Lake features two basins, east and west, separated by a large point on the northeast side of the lake. It is very popular with anglers who take advantage of bass fishing opportunities there and its good access.

“The lake is next to the Yankee Springs State Recreation Area,” explained local fisheries biologist Matt Diana. “There is a public access site there for boats and shore fishing opportunities. There’s also a County Park ramp on the southwest shore of the west basin that offers additional access.” Read more

Native to Europe and parts of Asia, brown trout were introduced to Michigan – one of the first states to import them into North America – in 1883 and they now thrive statewide. Though they are often thought of as denizens of Up North, brown trout are more tolerant of warmer water temperatures than other trout species. As a result, browns have become the principle target of anglers in many rivers across the state, ranging from Michigan’s best-known trophy waters to small, marginal trout streams in southern Michigan.

Brown trout provide good fishing in many, mostly northern Michigan, inland lakes. Anglers use a wide variety of methods, from fishing with live bait on the bottom to trolling with minnows or artificial baits. In the Great Lakes, brown trout can offer outstanding sports in the early spring – often before other species begin to bite – to anglers who wade, fish from piers with live bait or artificial lures, or who troll in largely inshore water with imitation minnows or other plugs. Browns are often taken in conjunction with coho in the spring or incidentally with other salmon during the summer.

Brown trout in streams – especially large specimens – seem to be photo-sensitive and are usually more cooperative on rainy or overcast days. Though they will take all manner of live bait as well as spinners or artificial minnows, brown trout are a favorite of fly fishermen, many of whom pursue them after dark during notable insect hatches, especially the giant Michigan mayfly (Hexagenia limbata). But large streamers and big splashy surface flies, such as mouse patterns, produce well, too.

Some of Michigan’s best known trout streams – such as the Au Sable, the Pere Marquette and the Manistee Rivers – are noted for their brown trout fisheries. Inland brown trout lakes include Higgins, Burt, Mullet, McCormick (near Atlanta) and Bear (Kalkaska County). Read more

state record lake herring held by Michael Lemanski

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wednesday confirmed a new state-record fish for cisco (formerly known as lake herring). This marks the second state-record fish caught in 2017.The fish was caught Friday, June 9, at 10 a.m. by Michael Lemanski of Florence, Wisconsin, on Lake Ottawa in Iron County in the western Upper Peninsula. Lemanski was still-fishing with a homemade jig. The fish weighed 6.36 pounds and measured 21.8 inches. Read more

NMMA saw a win for the recreational boating industry last week as a bill that would have allowed for year-round sales of higher blends of ethanol was defeated and won’t get a vote in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this year. This is good news for the industry and follows countless meetings and discussions NMMA had with with key Senate offices to ensure they knew of the damaging impacts of E15 on marine engines. NMMA also activated the industry’s grassroots platform, Boating United, resulting in thousands of boaters throughout the country adding their voice to the issue.

Politico reported on Thursday that both Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen.Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), author of the bill (S. 517 (115)), said it lacked the votes to get out of committee despite having five members as co-sponsors. Read more

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and several partners released nearly 6,000 juvenile lake sturgeon into various public waters across the state this summer and fall in an effort to rehabilitate this culturally significant fish species.

The table below shows which agencies stocked fish, how many were stocked, and the date and location of each stocking effort.

Agencies	Number of Stocked Fish	Date Stocked	Location Stocked
Michigan DNR & Michigan State University	549	Aug. 19	Black Lake (Cheboygan County)
Michigan DNR & Michigan State University	2,261	May 26	Lower Black River (Cheboygan County)
Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians	601	Sept. 7	Burt Lake/Sturgeon River (Cheboygan County)
Michigan DNR & Michigan State University	740	Sept. 19	Mullet Lake (Cheboygan County)
Michigan DNR	302	Sept. 8	Cedar River (Menominee County)
Michigan DNR, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Gun Lake Tribe	2	July 25	Kalamazoo River (Allegan County)
Michigan DNR	72	Sept. 11	Whitefish River (Delta County)
Michigan DNR & U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service	1,261	Sept. 19	Ontonagon River (Ontonagon County)
Michigan DNR & Michigan State University	193	Aug. 21	Tittabawassee River (Midland County)
Total Lake Sturgeon Stocked:	5,981

Juvenile lake sturgeon were collected from the wild during April and May and reared in streamside facilities until they were large enough to tag. Most fish were tagged prior to being released into their respective rivers to allow future evaluations of stocked fish. Read more

RV Tanner conducting fish community surveyThe Michigan Department of Natural Resources this week will survey the channels and embayments of the Les Cheneaux Islands, along the Lake Huron shoreline on the Upper Peninsula’s southeastern tip. Survey nets will be fished at sampling stations throughout the island chain to collect specimens representative of the overall fish community. The DNR has performed this survey every year since 1969; it is one of the longest continuous surveys in the Great Lakes.

“We’ll count each fish by species and weigh and measure them,” said Dave Fielder, DNR fisheries research biologist out of Alpena. “We’ll also collect spines from some species to allow us to age the fish.”

The data collected will be used to describe the health of the different fish populations and to compare to past years to determine trends. Read more

In 1959, 16 fishermen, united by their love of trout and the Au Sable River, gathered at George Griffith’s home east of Grayling, in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula. The sportsmen were concerned about the need for long-term conservation of Michigan’s coldwater streams. They were convinced that better and more scientific habitat care would help the state’s trout population thrive, creating not only better fishing, but also a better environment. Nearly 60 years later, Trout Unlimited, the organization founded by those fishermen, has become a national champion of fish habitat conservation.

Trout Unlimited’s founding on the Au Sable is showcased in the Michigan History Museum’s newest exhibition, The River that Changed the World, opening Saturday, Sept. 30. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day, visitors will get a first look at the new exhibition, and opportunities to engage with guest presenters and hands-on activities.

“The Au Sable River has influenced – and continues to influence – people around the world,” said Mark Harvey, Michigan’s state archivist and the exhibition’s curator. “The stories in the exhibition demonstrate the innovative and unprecedented ways private citizens and state government worked together to conserve and protect the river and sustainably manage its fish populations.”

The exhibition features George Griffith’s 24-foot-long Au Sable river boat, surrounded by river scenes. A re-creation of the Wanigas Rod Shop introduces fly fisherman and rod maker Art Neumann, another founding member of Trout Unlimited. Nearby, visitors of all ages can learn how to tie a fly and compare tied flies to real insects under a microscope. Read more

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently concluded a mark and recapture fisheries survey on Paint Creek in Oakland County to better understand the waterbody’s brown trout population.

Get an inside look at the survey work in this brief video.

The DNR manages a portion of Paint Creek, downstream from Lake Orion, as a high-quality brown trout stream – as evidenced by its inclusion in the department’s Trout Trails online application. Read more