Bob Gwizdz: Most of Michigan’s Deer Management Initiative recommendations won’t help deer herd
I’ve spent a lot of time poring over the conclusions of the recently completed Deer Management Initiative, but I’ll be darned if I can see what the hours of effort, expended in that exercise, actually accomplished.
Most of the recommendations that came out of it are rehashes of ideas that have been floating around for years. And not many of them are going to do much to move the needle toward responsible deer management. It’s more about what hunters want for themselves than it is about what’s good for the herd.
Michigan Legislature approves $1M for Traverse City fish passage
The Michigan Legislature approved a $1 million grant for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to build FishPass, a facility on the Boardman River at Traverse City.
The new facility will replace the lowermost dam on the river, which was in danger of failing, but will also allow fish passage upstream. FishPass is designed to allow desirable species to get upstream, but prevent undesirable species – i.e. sea lamprey – from doing the same.
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Bob Gwizdz: Is it time for a hunting, fishing license fee increase in Michigan?
You might not have heard much about it as the players are holding their cards pretty close to the vest, but the topic of potential license fee increases for Michigan hunters and fishermen is the talk of the conservation set in Lansing.
The Department of Natural Resources quietly is discussing the issue internally as well as with some conservationists. We all knew it was coming. Have you noticed the difference in the price of, say, a pickup truck in the past decade?
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Cisco making a comeback in Michigan’s Saginaw Bay? Stocking efforts show positive signs
Efforts to rehabilitate cisco populations in Michigan’s Saginaw Bay are beginning to show positive signs, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is leading the mission.
Ciscos, members of the whitefish family, have the potential to provide a recreational fishery as well as serve as forage for walleyes, and it’s thought they will help take the pressure off the bay’s depleted yellow perch population.
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Bob Gwizdz: Big trout love streamers
Big fish eat little fish. It’s the way the world works, but I sometimes think anglers lose sight of it.
What brings this to mind is a float I made on Michigan’s Pere Marquette River with Frank Willetts, the proprietor of Pere Marquette River Lodge.
Our original plan was to head out in the evening, hope for a hatch – it was prime time for the gray drake hatch, but that particular bug has been in decline here in recent years – and then throw mice after dark. But two days before our trip, it rained, hard, for about 10 hours, raising the water level and coloring it up.
I, for one, was very pleased by this development.
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It’s time to fish the Hex hatch in Michigan, and big trout can be caught
Were fly fishing for trout a religion, we would be in the midst of the high holy days in Michigan.
It’s the Hex hatch, the time of years when the biggest bugs emerge, bringing out the biggest trout. Anglers flock to those streams with notable hatches of Hexagenia limbata, the biggest mayflies in these parts, as though they were making a pilgrimage. It is the highlight of the season for dry fly fishing, when many anglers have their best chance of catching their fish of the year. Or maybe even their lifetime.
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Grayling release in Michigan streams could occur as early as spring ’25
If all goes well, the Michigan DNR could begin stocking some state streams with Arctic grayling next spring. That’s the word from Ed Eisch, assistant chief of Fisheries Division, who has been involved with grayling since the idea of re-establishing them in Michigan popped up about a decade ago.
“We’re in a pretty good spot right now,” Eisch told Michigan Outdoor News. “It’s been 10 years since it was first talked about. We knew from the get-go it wasn’t going to be a sprint to the finish. It was going to take time if we were going to do it right.”
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Are whitetail hunting changes coming to Michigan?
The Michigan DNR’s Deer Management Initiative – which involved two series of virtual meetings (a series in each peninsula) – has concluded and resulted in an order generated by the recommendations that the Natural Resources Commission will consider. If the NRC adopts the order, it could result in some significant regulation changes for the upcoming deer season.
The DMI, aimed at evaluating and responding to present-day deer management challenges in the Upper and Lower peninsulas, was the result of a request by the NRC in late 2023. The DNR acted quickly, requesting volunteers, appointing working groups, and holding the first meetings in late February. By the end of April, it had finished its work.
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Bob Gwizdz: Year-round bass fishing was a long time coming in Michigan
One of stated objectives of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is to provide recreational opportunities.
There is no better example of this than the current bass regulations, which allow angers to catch and immediately release ol’ Micropterus year-round, when the “possession season” is closed. The rules allow anglers to enjoy what I believe is the best bass fishing of the year – the pre-spawn, when the bass are easy to find (they’re shallow) and have the feedbag fully engaged – without damaging the resource.
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