April 18, 2018 Media contact: John Pepin, 906-226-1352
Trout season opener will see additional 10-brook-trout bag limit streams in the UP
Five streams removed from list of 10-brook-trout bag limit streams
Anglers
heading out for the trout season opener at the end of the month will have portions
of nearly 40 Upper Peninsula trout streams where an additional five brook trout
may be kept as part of the daily bag limit.
The new regulation approved
last fall
added a suite of 36 streams, or portions of streams, where 10 trout is the
daily possession limit. For streams not on the list, the daily bag limit
remains at five.
During
the 2016-17 fishing season, there were eight U.P. research area streams where a
10-trout bag limit was allowed.
Five of
those streams were removed from the final listing proposal and no longer have a
10-brook-trout bag limit. These five streams include portions of Bryan Creek
(Marquette and Dickinson counties); East Branch Huron River (Baraga and
Marquette counties); East Branch Tahquamenon River (Chippewa County); Presque
Isle River and tributaries (Gogebic County) and Rock River and tributaries
(Alger County).
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With the
exception of Menominee County, 14 of the U.P.’s 15 counties have at least one
stream included on the 10 Brook Trout Possession Limit Waters list.
“The
intent of the regulation change is to diversify fishing opportunities across
the whole U.P. landscape, while simultaneously being protective of brook trout
populations,” said Jim Dexter, Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Fisheries Division Chief.
Over the
past six years, at the request of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission,
and with input from members of the Coldwater Regulations Steering Committee,
DNR Fisheries Division staff investigated social and biological aspects of
increasing anglers’ brook trout possession limit from five to 10 on a subset of
U.P. trout streams.
Public
opinions were gathered using several methods, including more than two dozen
public meetings, various surveys conducted via the Internet, postcards and
creel clerks (384 responses received), consultations with sport clubs and other
governing agencies, and from e-mails, letters and telephone calls.
Biological
information was gathered on seven streams using electrofishing surveys, while
creel clerks collected catch, effort and harvest data on four streams.
“Staff
worked to select specific stream segments or sub-watersheds to be considered
for the 10-brook trout possession limit, based on criteria proposed by the DNR
Fisheries Division and accepted by the Natural Resources Commission,” Dexter
said. “Staff also looked broadly across all fisheries unit boundaries.”
The
opening day of inland trout season on Type 1 streams, which include the
increased bag limit, is Saturday, April 28.
For a complete listing of the
streams where a 10-trout bag limit is allowed, see the 2018 Michigan Fishing Guide
available from DNR offices, where fishing licenses are sold an online at mi.gov/fishing.
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Note to editors: Accompanying photos
are available below for download. Suggested captions follow. Credit: Michigan
Department of Natural Resources.
Survey: A crew performs an electro-shocking stream
survey on the Rock River in Alger County.
Trout: A catch of brook trout from an Upper Peninsula
stream./
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