Many people agree that steelhead are one of the country’s top sport fish. The bulk of anglers take advantage of their spring spawning runs in March, April and May, but some rivers also have a fall run of steelhead when fish come into the rivers well before their normal spawning period and then hang out all winter. This means the next fishing opportunity is just around the corner.

Most parts of the state offer great waters to target steelhead on – and southeast Michigan is no different! Primarily you’ll find fall steelhead runs in the Huron and Clinton rivers, which both have lots of public access points along the stream. Read more

Next level Micro DVR-DT Underwater Viewing Systems unlock overlooked fishCrosslake, Minn. – Still so much we don’t know about what’s really happening beneath the surface.

Interesting to consider that beyond water and oxygen itself, perhaps the single most important fish-locating factor remains the least understood. Water temperature is so vital to fish that each species’ existence depends on an optimal range. Locate the ideal temperature at the right depth, and you’ll almost always land on gamefish gold.

But how to put these key pieces together and solve the puzzle? Read more

Youth and adult holding Chinook salmon on charter boatFollowing recommendations of the Lake Michigan Committee, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will adjust Chinook salmon and lake trout stocking in 2017 and 2018 to relieve predation pressure on prey (alewives) in Lake Michigan.

This will be the fourth significant stocking adjustment to predator levels since 1999. The five-member Lake Michigan Committee is made up from all state management agencies that border Lake Michigan and the Chippewa-Ottawa Resource Authority. Recommendations from the committee represent the consensus of its members. Read more

Last week, the Michigan departments of Natural Resources, Environmental Quality and Agriculture and Rural Development jointly inspected the Grayling Fish Hatchery located on the East Branch of the Au Sable River in Crawford County.The inspection was conducted following the discovery in June of New Zealand mudsnails immediately upstream and New Zealand mudsnails downstream of the privately-operated hatchery. New Zealand mudsnails compete with native snails and other macroinvertebrates that trout may eat.

Inspection of the Grayling Hatchery followed a letter from the hatchery’s operator, which invited the three state agencies into the facility to conduct an inspection, and to review procedures the hatchery has instituted to reduce the risk of spreading the invasive snails.

In July, the DNR required risk reduction procedures to the hatchery owner in order for him to be able to stock fish in public waters. The owner independently also implemented additional risk reduction practices, including use of well water for fish transport. The inspection last week confirmed a source of well water is available to the hatchery for use in trucks transporting fish. Use of this specific source of well water ensures invasive snails are not leaving the property in river water.

With well water being used for fish transport, the remaining required practice to implement – which aligns with industry standard – is to hold fish for no more than 36 hours without food before transporting them. The 36-hour maximum no feed period is designed to minimize the possibility fish will feed on snails and move them elsewhere, even though snails are not a preferred food source for trout.

The on-site inspection also included surveys for New Zealand mudsnails within the facility. A small number of specimens presumed to be New Zealand mudsnails were collected from the walls of the hatchery’s raceways, where trout are reared for the purposes of stocking in other waters and harvesting for market.

Results of genetic testing are expected by the end of this week to confirm if those specimens are indeed New Zealand mudsnails. Read more

Juvenile sturgeon in a colander The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, together with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and dedicated volunteers took on a unique project this past August to protect juvenile lake sturgeon from sea lamprey treatments conducted on the Big Manistee River.

Across Michigan, rivers are treated every few years with a chemical that aims to kill sea lamprey larvae – an invasive species that preys on salmon, trout and whitefish. The Big Manistee River is treated every three to four years in an effort to reduce sea lamprey populations. Read more