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Black Lake sturgeon rules announced
State Fisheries officials today announced this year’s guidelines for the annual winter sturgeon fishing season on Presque Isle County’s Black Lake.
The winter sturgeon season on Black Lake was designed to provide a winter lake sturgeon fishery while addressing the need to rehabilitate seriously depleted sturgeon stocks by reducing the harvest.
This year’s harvest limit is five fish, and a 36-inch size minimum applies. Anglers are selected randomly from a daily lottery. Selected anglers may fish between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. of the day their name is drawn. Registration begins Feb. 12 at noon for the first day of fishing on Feb. 15. Unsuccessful applicants may apply for the next day’s drawing. The season runs until the end of February, or until the harvest goal is met.
Anglers interested in registering for the drawing should call the Department of Natural Resources’ Report All Poaching hotline (800-292-7800), or apply in person at The Bluffs Resort, 10905 High Bluffs Dr., Cheboygan. All applicants must be at least 17-years of age and have a valid Michigan fishing license.
Following each daily drawing at 7 pm, the list of successful applicants is posted at the Bluffs and available by calling the RAP hotline. All tags, flags, and other items required by anglers to fish this special season are available at the Bluff’s Resort beginning at 7 a.m. on the morning for which they are valid. Participating anglers must pick up their tags or notify participating DNR personnel by 10 a.m. or forfeit their opportunity for that day. Any unclaimed tags will be available to anglers at the resort through a secondary lottery drawing. Tags are not transferable, and anglers must present proof of identification when pickup up their tags.
Those taking sturgeon illegally face jail time, fines up to $3,000 and loss of one’s fishing license. These measures were implemented as part of the state’s commitment to rehabilitate Michigan’s sturgeon numbers. Source: MDNR |