What's New?
The Polar Bear Open ended its season appropriately with the Bob Evans Classic under cold, snowy conditions and the tournament’s namesake winning two of the prizes on the St. Joseph River at 6 Span Bridge.
Steve Martin and John Dixon teamed up to win the Polar Bear Open last weekend on the Waldron Chain at Duke’s Bridge.
New Gear
Adding depth to an already robust jerkbait collection, Strike King introduces the new KVD J300 Deep Sinking Jerkbait and an even wider color selection to the KVD Elite Jerkbait line up.
| How to Cut a Boneless Pike Fillet |
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Michigan Proposes 54% Increase in King Salmon Stockings; Plans Public Meeting
- Details
MDNR Report
Lake 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.
Michigan Deer Hunters Reminded of Reporting Requirement; Here’s How to Do It
- Details
MDNR Report
Whitetail Deer
Last year, nearly 7,000 deer hunters voluntarily reported their deer harvest online to help test the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ new reporting system. Starting with the fall 2022 deer seasons, online harvest reporting is required for all hunters who successfully take a deer.
Chad Stewart, the DNR’s deer, elk and moose management specialist, said there are several reasons the department is moving to online harvest reporting, but one of the most important is more precise data.
“The decline in response rate to our post-season mail surveys increases the amount of uncertainty in our harvest estimates, which can lead to incorrect regulation recommendations in some locations,” Stewart said.
Brian Frawley, the DNR wildlife biologist who manages the surveys, agreed.
“Twenty years ago, 75% of recipients responded to the survey, but in recent years we have seen a response rate consistently under 40%,” Frawley said. “If we’re going to provide hunters, wildlife managers and the Michigan Natural Resources Commission with timely, accurate data, we need to change how we collect it.”
Reporting options
Hunters will have up to 72 hours after taking a deer to report their harvest. The DNR estimates it should take about three to five minutes to complete the report, and there are two ways to do it:
- Report online at Michigan.gov/DNRHarvestReport.
- Use the DNR’s new mobile app – an even faster option – available in the Google Play store (for Android devices) and the Apple App Store.
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