Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
THIS LIMIT of healthy brook trout in a Department of Natural Resources photo came from an Upper Peninsula stream. Inland trout season for Type I and II streams and Type A and D lakes opens on the last Saturday in April and closes Sept. 30
By RALPH ANSAMI
Weekend rainfall in the western Upper Peninsula means streams should be flowing high and cold for Saturday's trout season opener.
With most of the snowmelt gone, creeks had dropped low, but more than two inches of rain over the weekend restored flows to more normal spring levels.
Inland trout season for Type I and II streams and Type A and D lakes opens on the last Saturday in April and closes Sept. 30. The daily bag limit is five trout, with no more than three fish measuring 15 inches or larger. Size limits for various trout species vary, with many streams having seven-inch limits for brookies, while some are at 10 inches.
George Madison, MDNR fisheries manager for the Western Lake Superior Management Unit in Baraga, said U.P. conditions should be much more favorable than for the past three trout openers.
Madison said an early warm spell stimulated aquatic insect activity, prompting trout to begin spring feeding behavior patterns.
"Past spring trout openers have presented anglers with snow-blocked roads and frozen lakes. We have seen some anglers (in the past) actually ice fishing on trout season opening day," Madison said.
Nightcrawlers and various forms of spinners usually work well for trout early in the season, while fly fishing is best later in the summer, when hatches arrive.
Barbless hooks are a good idea, with sizes 6 to 10 working well on two- or four-pound test line for brookies.
Temperatures aren't expected to get higher than the 50s for the next week or so, meaning the water will be cold.
Cory Kovacs, MDNR fisheries biologist in Newberry, said, "Following a near normal summer in 2015, brook trout populations should be in good shape."
Near average temperatures last summer and limited heavy rain events in the fall were good for trout recruitment, which means fish moving into the next age class, Kovacs said.
Many of the brook trout caught from streams are 2-year-old fish. Some brookies can live to be 4 years old or more, however, if they can survive winters and predators for that long.
"Overwinter survival in the U.P. is critical for brook trout, considering long periods of snow pack and possible anchor ice impact fish movement in the streams," Kovacs said.
In the U.P., on portions of eight streams there is an experimental regulation allowing anglers to keep an additional five fish each day. Included are the East Branch of the Ontonagon River in Houghton and Iron counties and Presque Isle River and its tributaries in Gogebic County.
Refer to the new Michigan Fishing Guide, available online or from fishing license dealers and DNR offices, for more details. The two-year guide contains regulations, fish identification, stream and lake classifications and other helpful information.
Annual all-species fishing licenses for Michigan residents are $26 and $68 for non-residents. Seniors (65 or older) may purchase a license for $11. Those under 17 may fish without a license, but must abide by all regulations. Resident and non-resident all-species, 24-hour fishing licenses are available for $10 and $30 for 72 hours.
