Michigan angling news

The Michigan DNR announced a few weeks ago that they are introducing another fishing permit option, 72 hour, in addition to the currently available 24 hour and year-long permits.  This makes a lot of sense and should be a good way to drive revenue for the state and increase fishing tourism.

The second regulation change, however, is somewhat more disconcerting.  It will increase the daily creel limits on several species including salmon, rainbow trout, pike, and walleye.  While I don’t have specific details about the regulations, in terms of where and when, i.e. lake charters vs. inland rivers, the driving force behind this change seems to be the desire to put more fish in tourist’s freezers.

While increasing harvest is a good tool for managing fish populations, not all waters in the state benefit from increased harvest rates and we are interested to learn more about the details of these changes.  These regulations are to take effect April 1, 2011.  April fools?

In other news, while you may want to, don’t touch baby animals in the woods this spring.

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