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LAKE STURGEON DRAWING GUIDELINES ANNOUNCED LANSING--Sturgeon fishing in Cheboygan County's Black Lake
this February will be limited to successful lottery
participants whose names will be chosen at random, Michigan
Department of Natural Resources fisheries managers have
announced.
Successful anglers in the lottery drawing may fish between
the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the day they are eligible
to fish. A 36-inch minimum size limit will apply. The total
season harvest for this limited lake sturgeon fishery is
five fish. The season opens February 15, and runs through
February 28, or until the total harvest of five fish has
been reached, whichever comes first.
Persons registering for the lottery drawing may call the DNR
Report All Poaching Hotline
at 800-292-7800, or apply in person at the Black Lake Hotel,
1712 N. Black River Road, Cheboygan.
All applicants must hold a valid Michigan fishing license.
Registration for the first day of fishing on Friday,
February 15, will begin Tuesday, February 12, at noon.
Please call the contact listed above for the Black Lake
Sturgeon Lottery Drawing Schedule, which outlines the times
and dates for open registration and when drawing results
will be announced. Each registration period is for one
specific day of fishing, which is the day following each
drawing. Unsuccessful applicants may reapply.
Following the daily drawing, which will take place at 7
p.m., the list of successful applicants will be available
from the RAP Hotline, and it also will be posted at the
Black Lake Hotel. Important note: Please do not call the
hotel.
All tags, flags and other items required by successful
applicants to fish, will be available at the Black Lake
Hotel, beginning at 7 a.m. on the morning for which they are
valid. Successful applicants must pick up tags by 10 a.m. or
forfeit their opportunity to fish for sturgeon that day.
Unclaimed tags will be made available to anglers present at
the Black Lake Hotel by means of a secondary drawing to
begin at 10 a.m. Tags are not transferable and anglers must
present proper identification when picking up tags.
In the event there are not enough entrants for available
tags on any given day, the additional tags will be available
on a first-come, first-served basis at the Black Lake Hotel,
starting at 7:30 a.m. All anglers whose names are selected
through the lottery drawing will be served first.
The lottery was designed to provide anglers with a winter
lake sturgeon fishery on inland waters, while addressing the
need to rehabilitate seriously depleted sturgeon stocks by
reducing the harvest.
For more details on sturgeon fishing regulations, see the
2001-02 Michigan Fishing Guide, or visit the DNR Web site at
www.michigandnr.com.
Source: MDNR
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