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Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive MarineTournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine

By JOHN BAUMAN, Michigan DNR

Trout lakeTrout lake

The Michigan DNR manages many inland lakes in the Upper Peninsula for brook, brown and rainbow trout.

These trout lakes - less than 100 acres each - are often considered small compared with other inland lakes.

Depending on the lake, various regulations are in effect for anglers hoping to catch trout. In some of these lakes, anglers are restricted to the use of only artificial lures or all tackle is permitted, except minnows. On other lakes, all tackle is allowed.

Again, depending on the lake - designated by letters A through D in the Michigan Fishing Guide - there are minimum size limits for trout, ranging between 8 and 15 inches. There are also seasonal restrictions on some lakes, while others are open year- round.

These regulation variations provide anglers with diverse fishing opportunities.

"Many of these small inland lakes are also remote and provide an exceptional wilderness experience," said Darren Kramer, a DNR fisheries biologist in Escanaba. "For example, a series of remote wilderness lakes located in Alger County have been managed for brook trout since the 1950s."

IDNR Report

The Indiana DNR is holding two public meetings in January to discuss the current Lake Michigan Chinook salmon stocking plan.

The first meeting will be held on Friday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Michigan City Fish and Game Club, 3091 E Michigan Blvd., Trail Creek, IN 46360.

The second is Saturday, Jan. 7 at 10 a.m. at the Indiana Harbor Yacht Club, 3301 Aldis Ave., East Chicago, IN 46312.

Indiana DNR recently announced that 275,000 Chinook salmon will be stocked in Lake Michigan annually starting in 2023, an increase from 225,000.

During the meetings, Indiana DNR will also announce details of a plan for soliciting public input regarding future plans for the species.

“We have a lot of dedicated and informed anglers, and we’d like to get their thoughts to help shape future stocking plans for 2023 and beyond to create the fishery that works best for all Hoosier anglers,” said the agency’s Lake Michigan biologist, Ben Dickinson.

For more information about Lake Michigan fishing visit wildlife.IN.gov/3625.htm.

MDNR Report

Salmon Forage BaseSalmon Forage Base

Michigan’s DNR’s survey vessel Steelhead and vessels from two other agencies cooperatively plied the waters of Lake Michigan in August, sampling key forage fish populations critical to the health of salmon, steelhead and lake trout, and found forage fish numbers to be improving in Michigan waters.

The 2022 hydro acoustic survey comprised 26 transects spanning nearshore and offshore regions around Lake Michigan. A transect essentially is a predetermined line, from point A to point B, that determines the survey route.

The S/V Steelhead completed 13 of these transects in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey research vessel Sturgeon (eight transects) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service R/V Baird (five transects).

IDNR Report

King salmonKing salmon

Indiana DNR will increase Chinook salmon stocked in Lake Michigan by 50,000 starting in spring 2023, per Lake Michigan Committee agreement.

The change will increase the annual production target for Chinook from 225,000 to 275,000.

Baitfish populations have rebounded from an all-time low in the mid-2010s after lake-wide stocking reductions made by all state agencies during the past decade.

Ben Dickinson, Indiana DNR’s Lake Michigan biologist, says the improved predator-prey balance in the lake allows for the increase, which should benefit anglers, but biologists will be monitoring for the need for future adjustments.

“Anglers should realize increasing stocking does increase predation pressure and may increase future risk to baitfish populations,” he said. “We will continue to closely watch the predator-prey balance to help ensure the long-term health of the fishery.”

MDNR Report

Lake Michigan ChinookLake Michigan Chinook

After decades of fish stocking decreases to balance the alewife and Chinook salmon populations, the Michigan DNR is seeing good indicators that a modest stocking increase may be warranted in Lake Michigan.

To discuss this proposal and receive public feedback, the DNR will host a virtual meeting Monday, Sept. 19, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

“We have seen several years of good Chinook salmon growth and have a slight increase in the alewife biomass, or abundance of those fish,” said Jay Wesley, the DNR's Lake Michigan basin coordinator. “Although the alewife biomass is a fraction of what it was historically, we have a good 2021-year class and have seen up to six-year classes of alewives in our fisheries surveys – that means there are up to six different age groups in the current population of alewife." 

A "year class" refers to all of the fish of any species hatched, either through natural reproduction or through fish-rearing efforts, during that year's spawning period.