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CONTACT: David Borgeson, 517-732-3541 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-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 29, or until the total harvest of five fish has
been reached, whichever comes first.
Persons registering for the lottery drawing may call the
Department of Natural Resources 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 Tuesday,
February 15, will begin Saturday, February 12, at noon.
Please see the attached 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. 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 Department of Natural Resources is very appreciative of
the efforts of Gil and Brenda Archambo of Sturgeon for
Tomorrow, and Black Lake Hotel owner Gary Roberts for their
hard work in helping organize this lottery drawing," said
Kelley Smith, Fisheries Division Chief.
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.
The limited season and lottery system implemented on Black
Lake this February is just one of several regulation changes
made following the adoption of the Lake Sturgeon
Rehabilitation Strategy by the DNR in 1997.
For more details on sturgeon fishing regulations, see page 6
of the 1999 Michigan Fishing Guide, or visit the DNR Web
site at www.dnr.state.mi.us.
Source: MDNR
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