Successful spring and summer fish stocking bodes well for fall fishing opportunities

April showers bring May flowers, and spring and summer fish stocking bring fall fishing! This spring and summer, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources stocked a total of 18,958,970 fish that weighed more than 331.5 tons and consisted of 10 different species and one hybrid.

Fish stocking is an important activity to provide both Michigan residents and visitors with quality fishing opportunities. These efforts help bring an estimated $3.9 billion into the state's economy through the sportfishing industry, tourism and related businesses.

To complete the task of stocking, it took 417 stocking trips and 2,345 hours. Crews traveled just over 91,000 miles in 17 specialized stocking trucks to get to the 716 stocking sites. Despite the severe ice storm that affected northern Michigan, which caused a loss of power and transition to backup power for several days at Oden State Fish Hatchery, no fish were lost due to the storm, allowing the DNR to meet its stocking goals.

"We had another excellent spring and summer stocking season that will bring ecological benefits and fishing opportunities to Michigan anglers," said Aaron Switzer, DNR fish production manager. "Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff, healthy, high-quality fish were reared and delivered to stocking sites in excellent condition. The numbers produced and stocked hit the targets for most areas.”

The number and type of fish produced varies by hatchery, as each location’s ability to rear fish depends on the source and temperature of the rearing water. Fish are reared in Michigan's state fish hatcheries anywhere from one to 18 months before they are stocked.

In Michigan, there are six state hatcheries and two cooperative hatcheries that work together to produce the species, strain and size of fish needed for fisheries managers. These fish must then be delivered and stocked at a specific time and location to ensure their success.

Each hatchery stocked the following fish this spring:

• Marquette State Fish Hatchery (near Marquette) stocked 368,452 yearling lake trout, brook trout and splake (a hybrid of lake trout and brook trout) that in total weighed 49,355 pounds. In addition to yearling trout, Marquette also stocked 457 adult lake and brook trout. This hatchery stocked a total of 94 inland and Great Lakes sites.
• Thompson State Fish Hatchery (near Manistique) stocked 2,397,307 fish, which included yearling steelhead, spring fingerling Chinook salmon, yearling muskellunge and spring fingerling walleye. These fish weighed 69,598 pounds in total. This hatchery stocked 51 sites, the majority located on the Great Lakes.
• Oden State Fish Hatchery (near Petoskey) stocked 737,604 yearling brown trout and rainbow trout that in total weighed 129,072 pounds. Oden also stocked 6,270 adult brown and rainbow trout that in total weighed 12,330 pounds. This hatchery stocked 98 inland and Great Lakes sites.
• Harrietta State Fish Hatchery (in Harrietta) stocked 825,388 yearling brown trout and rainbow trout that in total weighed 117,875 pounds. This hatchery stocked 171 sites, the majority located inland.
• Platte River State Fish Hatchery (near Honor) stocked 4,892,188 fish, which included yearling Atlantic salmon and coho salmon and spring fingerling Chinook salmon that in total weighed 157,584 pounds. Platte River also stocked 31,722 Skamania steelhead obtained from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources that in total weighed 4,209 pounds. This hatchery stocked 30 sites, the majority located on the Great Lakes.
• Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery (near Kalamazoo) stocked 7,198,561 fish that included yearling steelhead and spring fingerling Chinook salmon, which in total weighed 122,878 pounds. Wolf Lake also stocked 29,759 channel catfish obtained from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that in total weighed 758 pounds. This hatchery stocked 49 sites, the majority located on the Great Lakes.
• A cooperative teaching hatchery at Lake Superior State University (in Sault Saint Marie) stocked 23,378 Atlantic salmon weighing 1,811 pounds into the St. Marys River.

Included in this year’s total are just over 2.5 million walleye spring fingerlings. These fish were reared in ponds by the DNR, with extensive support provided by local sporting organizations. These fish were stocked at 61 inland lakes and rivers and Lake Michigan.

Some hatcheries will also provide fish for a few additional stockings – consisting of brook trout, Atlantic salmon, walleye, lake sturgeon and muskellunge – to be made this fall. The lake sturgeon will come from the cooperative hatchery in Tower, Michigan, operated with Michigan State University.

The public is welcome at any of Michigan's state fish hatcheries to see the fish-rearing process firsthand. For more information or to plan your trip, visit Michigan.gov/Hatcheries.

To find out where many of these fish were stocked, check out the DNR's Fish Stocking Database at MichiganDNR.com/FishStock.