The Michigan Department of Natural resources is rolling out some new regulations for the 2022 fishing season beginning April 1. The goal is to protect fish populations in certain areas.
Among the new rules are expanded opportunities to use a spear to hunt lake trout, northern pike and walleye in southern Lake Michigan.
Jay Wesley, the Lake Michigan basin coordinator with the state DNR, says people who want to participate in this sport will need a free underwater spear fishing license.
"They'll have to report their catch [so] that we get a better understanding of how many people are participating in this and how many fish they're harvesting," Wesley said.
Additionally, Wesley says during the spring, anglers on certain rivers will have to throw back some of their catches.
“Basically, reduces the bag limit between March 15 to May 15 to one rainbow [trout] or steelhead per day, and that's only on a select few rivers," he added.
Those rivers are the Muskegon River, the Pere Marquette River, the Manistee River, the Little Manistee River, Bear Creek, Manistique River and the Carp River.
Along Torch Lake and Rapid River, anglers will be able to fish for suckers in the spring using a single point hook measuring one half inch or less from point to shank.
"This would be from May 1st to July 1st on the Torch and Rapid rivers," Wesley said.
Licenses for the 2022 fishing season go on sale starting Tuesday, March 1. The licenses are required for those 17 and older.
