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The Michigan DNR reminds anyone who plans on operating a watercraft this year to take a boating safety course.
Classroom and online options are available, and boating safety is required for anyone born after Dec. 31, 1978, who wants to operate a personal watercraft (PWC) and those born after July 1, 1996 who want to operate a motorboat. Children under the age of 14 may not legally operate a watercraft in Michigan.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Little Manistee WeirThe Michigan DNR announced the annual collection of steelhead eggs on the Little Manistee River in Stronach is underway.
The Little Manistee Weir
Since 1968, the Little Manistee River Weir has served as the sole source of winterrun steelhead eggs for fish hatcheries in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Yearling steelhead produced through hatchery operations are stocked in select tributaries of all the Great Lakes. Steelhead provide one of Michigans premier sport fishing opportunities for both open water and stream fishing.
Egg-take operations began when the weir grates were lowered this month. This stops the upstream steelhead migration in the Little Manistee River and diverts them into holding ponds. Usually during the first two weeks of April, the fish ripen and egg-take operations begin. These activities continue daily until the established egg quota has been reached.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit today announced fishery management actions and activities for the 2013-2014 angling season. These include fish stocking, habitat rehabilitation projects, creel census, fish community surveys and angler access programs.
These management updates are provided as a means to notify anglers and the public of changes in management and to make lake and stream property owners aware of our survey activities, said Jay Wesley, Southern Lake Michigan Unit manager. We also value and encourage public input regarding our management actions and activities.
The Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit covers the Grand, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Galien river watersheds and all the lakes and streams within that area. Each year, fisheries biologists and technicians evaluate management options on various water bodies in order to achieve increased fishery benefits. Fish stocking actions are reviewed at least every six years based on fish community or creel surveys. Counties with specific management actions and waters that are planned for surveys in 2013 are listed below.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR will be taking walleye eggs below Croton Dam starting the third week of March.
The DNR plans to collect approximately 45 million walleye eggs from the Muskegon River in 2013 that will result in 7 million fry for transfer to rearing ponds throughout the Lower Peninsula. These walleye will be raised to fingerling size and stocked this spring in lakes and rivers throughout the state.
Lake Michigan walleye populations in the Lower Peninsula are dependent on the fingerlings produced from Muskegon River eggs, as well as many inland lakes in the Lower Peninsula. The size of the walleye spawning run in the Muskegon River is presently about 40,000 to 50,000 each year. DNR crews will strip milt and eggs from approximately 250 adult fish, which will be returned to the river except for 60 which will be sent to Michigan State University for fish health testing.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR announced that new muskellunge and northern pike regulations will go into effect for all anglers on April 1. In Michigan, only one muskellunge (including tiger muskellunge) may be harvested per season per angler.
Anglers who would like to harvest muskellunge must have a new muskellunge harvest tag thats now available. Anglers are not required to obtain this harvest tag to fish for muskellunge; its only for those anglers that intend to harvest a muskellunge.