NEGAUNEE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Teal Lake in Negaunee may soon see a new fishing regulation, one designed to protect walleye populations for generations to come.
“We have an allowance of a harvest from fish between 15 to 18 inches, and then one fish over 23 inches. So the protections would be for fish between 18 and 23 inches,” said Cory Kovacs, of Michigan’s DNR Fisheries Division.
The proposed change would create a protected size class on walleye in both Teal Lake and Lake Independence. That means anglers couldn’t keep fish between 18 and 23 inches long, which is the prime breeding size.
“Typically, what we see in our walleye populations in Michigan and across the Midwest. That’s typically your spawning stock. So right around that 18, 19, 20-inch mark, that’s where we have a lot of our walleye populations. In Michigan, we say they pretty much stopped growing at about that time,” said Kovacs.
The current statewide rule allows for a 15-inch minimum and a daily limit of five fish. Under the proposal, the limit would stay at five, but only one of those fish could be over 23 inches.
“We’re seeing a phenomenon across the Great Lakes, and we’re thinking, if you can protect that spawning stock within those year classes and those inch groups, that would create that resiliency so you can have more consistent recruitment for a longer period.
If this proposal passes, the DNR is asking for the public’s help. Any regulation is only as good as the rate of compliance.
