Category: Fishing

Michigan DNR Battling Grass Carp in Lake Erie Basin

Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Cleyo Harris makes an incision into the stomach cavity of a grass carp so the fish can be tagged with a transmitter.

An acoustic transmitter is shown being inserted into the stomach cavity of a grass carp. Blood is also being drawn from the fish to use in determining whether this carp was capable of reproducing (diploid) or sterile (triploid).

An incision on a grass carp is being sutured closed after a transmitter has been placed into the stomach cavity. Once suturing is complete, the fish is released.

Talk to anyone familiar with Michigan’s invasive species and you’re likely to hear their concern about carp – voracious, prolific, invasive carp.

News of electric barriers and fish flying into boats by the dozens may sound like a big fish story.

However, while they are sizable creatures, there is nothing exaggerated about the ecological and environmental damage that would occur if bighead and silver carp were ever to enter the Great Lakes.

Therefore, a good deal of attention is being paid to the work done by researchers and biologists in the Great Lakes states and Canada to help stop invasive bighead and silver carp from moving through the Chicago Area Waterway System toward Lake Michigan. Read more

Fishing

Lake Sturgeon Management Plan for Michigan’s Black Lake

Several agencies recently finalized a management plan for lake sturgeon in Cheboygan County’s Black Lake, with the goal of attaining a population of naturally reproducing lake sturgeon. Here, Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Tim Cwalinski holds a sturgeon from the Black River./

A collective effort among agencies dedicated to the restoration of lake sturgeon populations in Michigan has produced a management plan for the species in Black Lake (Cheboygan County). Read more

Fishing

Senate Unanimously Passes Outdoor REC Act

In an early holiday gift to the outdoor recreation community, the U.S. Senate unanimously and without amendment passed the Outdoor REC Act! The bill was led by Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) with a total of 15 cosponsors. The bill unanimously passed the House November 14, where it was sponsored by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and received bipartisan support, with 13 Republican and 12 Democrat cosponsors.

The bill will formally assess and analyze the outdoor recreation economy in the United States – which supports an estimated 6 million jobs and generates $646 billion in economic activity annually. Congress’ action is necessary to make sure the outdoor economy receives official government recognition for years to come. Federal agencies play an important role in outdoor recreation, managing lands and waters which host more than a billion recreation visits each year. The Outdoor REC Act will help shape good choices in allocating federal funds through the budget process and in investing private funds which enhance recreation on public lands and waters.

The bill now moves to the President’s desk, where it awaits his signature.

To read more, including text of the bill, click here.

Fishing, Hunting

Michigan: DNR Stocks Muskellunge into 12 Waterbodies

DNR employee hoisting new full of fingerling muskellunge

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently stocked 25,740 muskellunge fingerlings into 12 waterbodies located throughout the state in an effort to further enhance Michigan’s world-class fisheries.

Michigan is home to two strains of naturally reproducing muskellunge, Great Lakes and northern. The DNR has been rearing muskellunge in its hatcheries since the 1950s. While the hatchery program initially focused on the northern muskellunge strain, it has shifted focus in recent years to the Great Lakes strain, as it is native to Michigan and widely distributed in waterbodies throughout the Lower Peninsula and eastern region of the Upper Peninsula. Read more

Fishing

MI DNR’s Habitat Improvement Account to fund three projects on key rivers

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has announced three recipients of grants awarded from the Habitat Improvement Account (HIA) for fiscal year 2017. The HIA funds projects to improve aquatic habitat, fishing access, water quality and the DNR’s understanding of the resources on the Au Sable, Manistee and Muskegon rivers and was established to mitigate resource impacts from hydropower dam operations. Read more

Fishing

Michigan state harbors offer slip-specific reservations as part of pilot for 2017


A new pilot program from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources now allows boaters to make slip-specific reservations in select Michigan state harbors during the 2017 season.The five facilities participating in the pilot project are:

  • William G. Milliken State Harbor (Wayne County).
  • Straits State Harbor (Cheboygan County).
  • Grand Haven Marina (Ottawa County).
  • Lake St. Clair Marina (Macomb County).
  • Saint Clair Boat Harbor (St. Clair County).

Read more

Fishing

Lake Superior Goes Wild for Salmon

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced its decision to suspend Chinook salmon stocking in Lake Superior due to the success of the self-sustaining wild population. Department officials called it a very positive development for anglers, salmon populations in the lake and the DNR.

More than 99 percent of angler-caught Chinooks in Michigan waters originate from natural reproduction. This was determined through DNR creel surveys, which documented ratios of unclipped (wild) versus clipped (stocked) Chinook in Lake Superior since 2012.

Consistent harvests of Chinook salmon during the period when creel clerks have collected data provide a strong argument that anglers will continue to catch Chinook salmon, despite the conclusion of stocking efforts. Read more

Fishing

DNR sees southern Michigan success in fall walleye stocking


Fall is harvest time in Michigan, and while most may be thinking of picking apples or plucking pumpkins, Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries crews are thinking about walleye.Specifically, they’re collecting the last of the walleye fingerlings that are raised in rearing ponds for stocking and getting the fish to where they want them to be.

For the most part, walleye are reared for a short period of time in ponds and stocked as spring fingerlings – most at less than 2 inches in length – in high densities. But fisheries biologists know that fall fingerlings can be stocked at much lower densities and produce better results than spring fingerlings. Read more

Fishing

Seasonal Lake Sturgeon Releases Put Nearly 8,000 Fish into Michigan Waters

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and several partners released more than 7,800 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 juvenile fish were collected from the wild last spring and reared in streamside facilities until they reached at least seven inches or larger in size. Most fish were tagged prior to being released into their respective rivers to allow future evaluations of stocked fish. Read more

Fishing

Michigan: Target Sturgeon on the St. Clair River


For some, catching a lake sturgeon is the thrill of a lifetime. For many…that thrill will never be experienced. But what if it could be – simply by making a trip to the St. Clair River?According to Mike Thomas, a DNR fisheries research biologist at the Lake St. Clair Fisheries Research Station, the St. Clair River is one of the only waters within the Great Lakes (and their connecting waters) where you have a very good chance of targeting and catching a lake sturgeon.

“When someone calls and indicates they’re interested in getting involved in lake sturgeon fishing, the north channel of the St. Clair River is the first place I tell them to go.” Read more

Fishing
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