Michigan Natural Resources Commission to Meet April 11

GW: No discussion about the NRC’s maneuver to protect coyotes!
The draft agenda for the April 11 meeting of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission has been posted to the NRC website at Michigan.gov/NRC. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. at Lansing Community College, 600 North Grand Ave., in downtown Lansing.

Meeting topics include a presentation to recent Pure Michigan Hunt winners, a discussion of falconry regulations, a look at Saginaw Bay walleye and yellow perch populations, an update on chronic wasting disease monitoring and surveillance, several land transactions and more. Read more

Sturgeon for  Tomorrow  seeking volunteers to protect sturgeon along Black River

DNR says fish kills may be common during spring thaw

Less mortality expected this year because of much limited ice cover

After ice and snow cover melt on Michigan lakes this spring, it may be more likely for people to discover dead fish or other aquatic animals. While such sights can be startling, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds everyone that it is normal, since winter conditions can cause fish and other creatures such as turtles, frogs, toads, and crayfish to die.

“Winterkill is the most common type of fish kill,” said Jeremiah Blaauw, DNR Fisheries Division biologist. “As the season changes, it can be particularly common in shallow lakes, ponds, streams and canals. These fish deaths are localized and typically do not affect the overall health of the fish populations or fishing quality.” Read more

The Spin Seat From ThermaSeat

Transform any five-gallon bucket into a comfortable dual-purpose dream seat for your outdoor activities. ThermaSeat has produced a seat that adapts to any standard five or six-gallon bucket, giving you the comfort and added versatility you need, whether you’re in the woods, on the job site, or on the ice.

“The Spin Seat is great! I love it. I use it at my kid’s baseball games and while we are out hunting or fishing. It’s nice and thick making it extremely comfortable.”-ThermaSeat Customer Read more

Gear Up for Spring Fishing and Get Your 2024 Michigan Fishing License

Michigan’s new fishing license and regulation season kicks off Monday, April 1, so anglers need to be sure they have purchased a new license for this fishing season in order to enjoy some great fishing opportunities. The 2024 fishing licenses are valid through March 31, 2025.

Fishing licenses can be purchased at Michigan.gov/DNRLicenses or by downloading the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app and purchasing your license through the app.

Michigan DNR Hunt Fish, an official app of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, gives you a mobile path to buy and store hunting, fishing, ORV and snowmobile licenses and permits, report harvests, access guides and digests, and get the latest outdoor recreation updates.

Make future online fishing license purchases even quicker by selecting auto-renew at checkout to automatically receive licenses in the future.

2024 fishing seasons Read more

Large trout stocked in southeast Michigan’s Clinton and Huron rivers, Spring Mill Pond

Approximately 2,800 adult trout recently were stocked by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in the Huron River (Proud Lake Recreation Area, Oakland County) and Spring Mill Pond (Island Lake Recreation Area, Livingston County) in southeast Michigan. These fish are retired broodstock from Michigan’s state fish hatcheries.

  • The Huron River, downstream of the Proud Lake Dam, was stocked with approximately 1,370 brown trout and 1,400 rainbow trout, all ranging in size from 13 inches to 19 inches.
  • Spring Mill Pond was stocked with approximately 450 brown trout and 200 rainbow trout, also ranging from 13 inches to 19 inches.
  • In addition, 400 yearling rainbow trout were stocked in the Huron River and 100 in Spring Mill Pond. Anglers should be aware that some portion of these yearlings may at first be smaller than the minimum size limit of 8 inches.

Special regulations apply for anglers interested in targeting these trout, as follows: Read more

Michigan Government Land: Keep or Sell?

lush green wetlands spread out against a backdrop of tall, deep-green pine trees and a bright blue skyDNR’s nearly four-year intensive land review effort recently completed

By SARAH LAPSHAN
Senior Communications Advisor
Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Three and a half years, nearly 9,800 individual parcels and more than 167,000 total acres comprehensively evaluated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources – it’s all part of the DNR’s agencywide state land review process that concluded in February with approval of the final group of staff recommendations on which parcels to keep, swap or sell.

It was a massive undertaking prompted by Michigan’s Managed Public Land Strategy (initially developed in 2013), which directs the DNR to evaluate how well the lands under its care contribute to the department’s mission.

The review focused on two basic types of parcels: those that are either 200 acres or smaller in size or those irregularly shaped with a significant shared private-public boundary that makes them difficult to manage.

Just how much land are we talking about? Read more

Kite Fishing 101 with Tigress Outriggers and Gear

Kite fishing is gaining popularity in the offshore fishing community as anglers note the productive results behind a very exhilarating fishing strategy. Tigress has designed many options to give anglers all the gear they need to succeed when trying this method.

The kite keeps live baits on the water’s surface, creating a realistic presentation for surface-feeding fish. As anglers deploy the kites, a large surface area across the ocean gets coverage as the bait fish entices the target predator to come up for a quick bite. This technique is most known for catching sailfish. However, kite fishing will attract other species, such as dolphins, mahi-mahi, wahoo, king mackerels, and tuna.

Offshore fishing often comes with a wide variety of winds and sea conditions. Like the traditional kite, the wind will play a role in the kite’s ability to fly. One of the fantastic features of the kites offered by Tigress is no matter the wind circumstances, multiple kite selections are available and fine-tuned for each type of wind, whether light or strong. The options available are the Specialty Lite Wind Kite, the All Purpose Kite, and the Hi-Velocity Kite. Read more

Spring and Summer Cast & Blast Doesn’t Get any Better: Fishing Tom Guide Service

That Southwestern Louisiana is a sportsman’s paradise for both anglers and hunters is no secret. Did you know that you can now successfully experience both world-class inshore fishing and hunting for wild hogs and coyotes on the same trip by booking a cast & blast adventure with Fishing Tom Guide Service?

“We get on popular inshore fish species like redfish, flounder, sheepshead, tripletail, trout, bass, and other prized saltwater and freshwater species all year around,” said Captain Tom Adams. “Our area is also full of wild hogs and coyotes. We have the land to hunt them and know where they are. Combining both fishing and the hunting in one trip makes for a truly unique and exciting adventure!”

Captain Adams and his crew have fished and hunted this area their entire lives and know the bayous and marshes of Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes like the back of their hands. On their highly sought-after fishing trips, anglers fish aboard a 24-foot Nautic Star center console boat equipped with a 250 HP Mercury outboard motor that gives gets you safely where you need to be in a hurry. The boat is fully equipped with all the latest electronics to help locate the most productive fishing spots each day. A wireless trolling motor allows the boat to move through the area’s tranquil waters without disturbing the sought after fish. State-of-the-art rods & reels will be on hand along with tried-and-true terminal tackle and bait. Read more

Michigan DNR hiring conservation officers

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