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MDNR Report
What Happened to the Au Sable North Branch Trout Population?
When last winter finally relented, and anglers were able to get out and enjoy fishing their favorite spots, the DNR Fisheries Division’s Northern Lake Huron Management Unit started getting phone calls from concerned anglers about their lack of success on the North Branch of the Au Sable River.
The unit receives “there are no fish in my lake” calls on a regular basis, and usually they are based on an angler’s couple of days of poor fishing. This year on the North Branch, however, staff received calls from professional trout fishing guides who had never complained about the fishing before. They told local staff they were experiencing extremely low catch rates and weren’t seeing the feeding activity they normally would during insect hatches.
The North Branch was scheduled for Fisheries Division to conduct population estimates in the late summer at three different sites. However, with the number of anglers reporting startlingly low catch rates of trout, the division decided to conduct electrofishing spot checks on May 30.
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MDNR Report
Two new counties likely will be added to the list of Michigan counties where chronic wasting disease has been found. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose.
A 4-year-old hunter-harvested buck in Pine River Township (Gratiot County) and a 2-year-old hunter-harvested buck in Carmel Township (Eaton County) are suspected positive for the disease. The samples were sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for confirmation.
Chronic wasting disease currently has been confirmed in Clinton, Dickinson, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Kent and Montcalm counties.
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MDNR Report
A 4-year-old doe killed on a deer damage shooting permit in Dickinson County's Waucedah Township has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, marking the first confirmation of the incurable deer disease within Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The finding was verified by Michigan State University's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in East Lansing and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.
The deer was shot on an agricultural farm about 4 miles from the Michigan-Wisconsin border.
"We remain committed to maintaining healthy Michigan wildlife for the residents of, and visitors to, this great state, now and into the future," said Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Keith Creagh. "Fortunately, over the past few years, with the help of hunters, the U.P. CWD Task Force, DNR staffers and others, we are far better prepared to respond to threats posed by chronic wasting disease in the U.P."
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By MAKENZIE SCHROEDER, MDNR
Michigan Continues Efforts to Bring Back Grayling
It's been a little over two years since the Michigan DNR, in partnership with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, announced a new initiative to bring back a long-gone historical species Arctic grayling to the Great Lakes state.
Michigan's Arctic Grayling Initiative - with more than 45 partners, including state and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses and universities - is committed to reintroducing this culturally significant species, with steady progress made since June 2016.
"Our formal mission as an initiative is to restore self-sustaining populations of Arctic grayling within its historic range in Michigan," said DNR Fisheries Division Assistant Chief Todd Grischke.
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MDNR Report
Largemouth Bass Virus Re-emerges; Confirmed in Iosco County Lake
After a 15-year hiatus, largemouth bass virus has re-emerged in a new northern Lower Peninsula water.
The virus has been confirmed as a factor in a fish kill in Cedar Lake in Iosco County, Mich., with additional lakes in the area being examined. This virus previously affected adult largemouth bass in the early 2000s in southern Michigan lakes. Cedar Lake is near Lake Huron and north of Saginaw Bay.
Largemouth bass virus is one of more than 100 naturally occurring viruses that affect fish and is closely related to viruses found in frogs and other amphibians. Its origin and how it is spread are unknown, but anglers are considered a likely path for transmitting the virus through the movement of live, infected fish from one water to another, or by using contaminated and uncleaned gear or boats in uninfected waters. LMVB is not known to infect humans, and infected fish are safe to eat - as long as the fish is thoroughly cooked.