Changes are coming for anglers who fish in Grand Traverse Bay.
That’s due to last year’s excessive amount of lake trout harvest.
The state recreational harvest in the bay reached 93,000 pounds in 2018.
The limit is 77,200.
There’s now a penalty for this season because fishermen exceeded that harvest limit.
That means recreation anglers on the bay must reduce their catch by nearly 32,000 pounds.
“This is a difficult situation and there’s no sugarcoating it to say this is no big deal because people are going to be impacted by this,” said Dave Caroffino, DNR fisheries biologist. “The fishery is going to have to be closed at some point during the season.”
The DNR will hold a public forum on March 6th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the DNR Customer Service Center in Traverse City.
These are the three options being considered:
- Allow the Grand Traverse Bay fishery to be open June 15-Sept. 2 with a 15-inch minimum size limit, and a two-fish daily possession limit. (Estimated reduction: 30,900 pounds)
- Allow the Grand Traverse Bay fishery to be open July 1-Sept. 30 with a 15-inch minimum size limit, and a two-fish daily possession limit. (Estimated reduction: 31,400 pounds)
- Allow the Grand Traverse Bay fishery to be open May 25-Sept. 2 with a 15-inch minimum size limit, and a one-fish daily possession limit May 25-June 30 and a two-fish daily possession limit July 1-Sept. 2. (Estimated reduction: 27,400 pounds)
© 2023 - 910 Media Group