The Department of Natural Resources reminds anglers and retail minnow dealers of the baitfish regulations that need to be followed in Michigan. Although the requirement for state-licensed bait retailers to provide customers with receipts upon purchasing live minnows was recently removed, all other regulations with respect to minnow use continue to be enforced.

Baitfish regulations were enacted in 2006 to reduce the potential for baitfish to move fish diseases as the state saw multiple fish die-offs in lakes Erie and Huron from viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSv).

“While fish kills from VHSv have become less common, we do not want this fish pathogen to spread across Michigan,” said DNR fisheries biologist Tom Goniea. “Our regulations are designed to prevent this from occurring.” Read more

To improve its knowledge of walleye populations in Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay, the Department of Natural Resources’ Fisheries Division is set to tag nearly 3,000 walleye in Saginaw Bay tributary rivers over the next two weeks. A total of 1,000 walleye will be tagged in the Tittabawassee River and the remaining 2,000 in other tributary streams. To get the most information from these efforts, anglers are asked to collect data on tagged fish they catch and report it to the DNR. Read more

The Department of Natural Resources today announced that nearly 3,200 steelhead were stocked this week in the Red Cedar River at Michigan State University.

In 2013, an ordinance was changed by the MSU board of trustees to allow hook-and-line fishing on campus grounds between the western edge of Brody Complex and what’s sometimes referred to as the Sparty bridge connecting West Circle Drive to Chestnut Road. Prior to that, anglers had not been allowed to fish from the Red Cedar’s shores since the 1960s. Read more

The Department of Natural Resources’ Fisheries Division recently stocked adult trout in the Clinton River at Riverside Park in Auburn Hills, Huron River at Proud Lake Recreation Area in Commerce Township, and Spring Mill Pond at Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton.

The Clinton River was stocked with 600 brown trout from 15 to 17 inches; the Huron River was stocked with 1,800 brown trout sized 15 to 22 inches and nearly 1,400 rainbow trout sized 16 to 22 inches; and Spring Mill Pond was stocked with nearly 400 brown trout sized 15 to 22 inches and nearly 600 rainbow trout sized 16 to 22 inches.

This annual activity uses unneeded brown and rainbow trout broodstock from Michigan’s state fish hatcheries to release in special regulation areas. Read more

Overland Park, Kan. – Bushnell, an industry-leader in high-quality sports optics and outdoor products since 1948, has introduced a new portable, easy to use personal GPS device for anglers. The simple and affordable FishTrack provides anglers of all skill levels with a palm-sized tool to help them spend less time searching for fish and more time reeling them in.

Built on the award-winning BackTrack platform, FishTrack allows anglers to store up to 25 distinct waypoints and provides simple distance and direction back to marked locations while the integrated digital compass provides universal latitude and longitude coordinates. In addition, FishTrack offers a host of valuable information including time, temperature, solunar information, weather conditions and barometric pressure. Read more