Category: Fishing

MI DNR asks anglers to report tagged walleyes


The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently jaw tagged 3,000 walleyes in a number of Saginaw Bay tributary rivers. Anglers are asked to collect information on tagged fish they catch and to report it to the DNR.The DNR has tagged more than 100,000 walleyes in the Saginaw Bay area since 1981. Jaw tagging is part of a long-term research project to monitor survival and harvest rates and to learn about walleye movement. The program depends on anglers to report when and where they catch a tagged walleye, as well as the fish’s length, weight (if known) and tag identification number. Once reported, anglers will receive a letter back detailing the history of their fish.

About 10 percent of the tags include a $100 reward for reporting the tag. Each tag is stamped with a unique identifying number and a P.O. box address. If anglers prefer, they can report their tagged walleyes online at michigandnr.com/taggedfish/. Anglers can keep the fish, of course, or release it if they prefer. Anglers are reminded that in order to be eligible for a reward, photos are required of the flattened tag. If the fish is released and an angler is not interested in being eligible to receive a reward, the tag should not be removed from the fish’s jaw. Read more

Fishing

Multiple openers kick fishing season into high gear


The Michigan Department of Natural Resources would like to remind anglers to dust off their fishing gear and get ready for the opening of two fishing seasons Saturday, April 30. The statewide trout season and the Lower Peninsula inland walleye, northern pike and muskellunge seasons all open that day.In Upper Peninsula waters, the walleye, northern pike and muskellunge seasons open Sunday, May 15.

Don’t forget the catch-and-immediate-release season for largemouth and smallmouth bass is open all year on nearly all waters (unless otherwise closed to fishing – check the Michigan Fishing Guide for specifics). The possession season for bass opens statewide Saturday, May 28, except for Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River and the Detroit River, which open Saturday, June 18.

Fishing is a major economic driver in many parts of the state. In Michigan, anglers typically spend 28 million days on the water and generate $4.4 billion in economic activity, which produces $623 million in local, state and federal tax revenue. On top of that, sportfishing in Michigan is estimated to support nearly 38,000 jobs. Read more

Fishing

Senate Passes Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Priorities in Energy Legislation

April 20, 2016 (Washington, DC) – After five years and multiple attempts to pass a comprehensive sportsmen’s package of legislation through the U.S. Senate, a bipartisan amendment containing many provisions of great importance to the hunting and fishing conservation community was adopted with a vote of 97-0 under the Natural Resources Title of the Energy Policy Modernization Act (S. 2012).

Read more

Fishing, Hunting

New Nightstick Headlamps


3 new AAA headlamps add perfect balance to existing models by combining performance with affordable pricingBayco Products has announced the introduction of 3 new Nightstick all-LED multi-function headlamps with Nightstick models NSP-4603B, NSP-4605B, and NSP-4606B. Each engineered polymer headlamp features a multiple-position tilt head design and single top-mounted switch for ease of operation. All three headlamps are IP-X7 rated waterproof, are drop-rated at 2 meters and are now available starting under $20 USD globally starting this month through Bayco Products expansive network of distributors. Read more
Fishing, General, Hunting

Dam Removal Rehabilitates Michigan Streams


With the crisp chill of autumn in the air, they made their way north. Negotiating obstacles along their way, these hearty, determined travelers normally would be stopped at the old dam on Thompson Creek – but not today.For the first time in more than half a century, Chinook salmon were able to reach graveled spawning areas upstream of the dam.

This historic event occurred thanks to a recent cooperative project to remove two old dams, which were associated with the Thompson State Fish Hatchery, along Williams and Thompson creeks in Schoolcraft County.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists, who had been hoping for this outcome, were thrilled.

Chinook salmon are shown swimming over the gravel bottom of Williams Creek in autumn 2015, the result of a dam removal and stream restoration project.”Salmon and steelhead have returned to the creek,” said Jan VanAmberg, manager of the Thompson and Marquette state fish hatcheries. “It was the first time salmon had ever had access to the creek since the dams were built prior to the Great Lakes salmon program.” Read more

Fishing

Sportsmen’s Community Opposes Proposal to Restrict Scientific Fish and Wildlife Management in Alaska

GW:  Centralized government’s big nose and the push for more control over its subjects.  Let the individual states manage their own affairs and stick to more important matters such as sidling up to Cuba or getting Hillary off the hook.

In recent weeks, a wide array of key entities, including the state and national sportsmen’s community and members of Alaska’s Congressional Delegation, have highlighted concerns with proposed rules from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) that would severely restrict the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s (ADFG) ability to carry out traditional, effective wildlife management techniques on National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) lands in Alaska. The FWS rule docket, titled “Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska (proposed rule),” would severely inhibit ADFG’s ability to engage in predator management practices that have historically been used to sustain populations of key big game species critical to subsistence users in Alaska.

Among the chief concerns expressed by the aforementioned parties are that the proposed FWS rules:

  • Run counter to Congressional direction on fish and wildlife management authority given to FWS in both the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (NWRSIA);
  • Abridge wildlife management primacy given to the state of Alaska in both the Alaska Constitution and the federal Alaska Statehood Act;
  • Constitute an arbitrary assertion that managing for “natural” diversity takes precedence over all other management considerations, despite the fact that no scientific justification for the rules was ever provided or demonstrated by FWS, and that humans are considered by ANILCA to be a natural part of the environment;
  • Did not take into any real consideration feedback and concerns expressed by ADFG on the negative consequences that the proposed rules would have for scientific fish and wildlife management efforts in the state;
  • Would almost certainly have a negative impact on populations of key big game species in Alaska, which constitute a critical component of the diet of the many subsistence-based users that reside in the state;
  • If passed, would represent a dangerous precedent for federal overreach into the fish and wildlife management duties that have traditionally been carried out by state fish and wildlife agencies, the primary managers of fish and wildlife resources in the United States; and
  • Run directly counter to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, the unique and hugely successful ethic that has guided fish and wildlife management in the United States for over a century by relying on science-based management efforts carried out by trained professionals. Read more
Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Michigan: Large Trout Stocked in Clinton, Huron Rivers


The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently stocked adult trout in the Clinton River at Riverside Park, Huron River at Proud Lake Recreation Area, and Spring Mill Pond at Island Lake Recreation Area.The Clinton River was stocked with just over 900 brown trout from 11 to 15 inches and 150 rainbow trout ranging from 20 to 22 inches. The Huron River was stocked with 1,800 brown trout sized 11 to 21 inches and nearly 1,200 rainbow trout sized 15 to 21 inches. Spring Mill Pond was stocked with nearly 350 brown trout sized 11 to 21 inches and nearly 600 rainbow trout sized 15 to 21 inches. Read more
Fishing

Court Approves the Largest Environmental Settlement in History

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has approved the settlement reached between the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (Trustees) and BP for natural resource injuries stemming from the spill and also a settlement of the Clean Water Act violations with the United States. This settlement is the largest settlement of environmental claims in history. The Trustee Council, which includes the Alabama Trustees, will now begin implementing restoration as laid out in its comprehensive restoration plan. Read more

Fishing, Wildlife

New fishing regulations adopted for 2016-2017 season take effect today

2016-2017 Michigan Fishing Guide cover

The Department of Natural Resources annually adjusts fishing regulations to ensure Michigan’s fisheries resources are managed properly and provide the best benefits to anglers and the public.

For the coming 2016-2017 angling year, which starts Friday, April 1, the DNR would like anglers to be aware of the following new or changed fishing regulations:

  • Lake Michigan – Lake trout and splake are now covered by the same regulations in MM 1-8.
  • Michigan-Wisconsin Boundary Waters – The Menominee River lake sturgeon protection zone was expanded and now encompasses the Grand Rapids Dam downstream to the end of the breakwalls in Green Bay.
  • Anglers fishing for trout on inland waters should double-check the regulations for where they plan to fish as regulations for several waters were changed.
  • Regulation changes effective last fall (November 2015) are highlighted in red text in the 2016-2017 Michigan Fishing Guide.

Anglers should note that this year’s fishing guide covers a two-year cycle, 2016 and 2017. A new guide will not be produced in 2017. The guide is available at all major retailers and online at michigan.gov/fishingguide.

Fishing
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