According to the Michigan United Conversation Clubs nearly $2.3 billion in economic activity is generated by recreational fishing in Michigan.

In fact, The Mitten is considered a fly fishing Mecca for trout, specifically.

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According to the Pure Michigan website The Mitten has, "more miles of rivers and lakes to fly fish than anywhere in the United States." So much so, numerous publications like Field and Stream magazine have named Michigan the best fly fishing state in the country!

What Are We Fishing?

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission our Great Lakes support nearly 139 native fish species and at least 34 non-native species with sea lamprey, alewvies, and quagga mussels being among the worst invasive species in our waters.

When it comes to recreational fishing in Michigan,

salmon, walleye, trout, and muskellunge (among many other species) help comprise the world-class recreational fishery. To support the millions of anglers that come to the lakes from around the globe, and to rehabilitate stressed fisheriesagencies stock fish in the Great Lakes each year.

Coming this spring the Michigan DNR and several local native tribes are hoping to release approximately 400,000 Arctic grayling eggs back into Michigan's rivers. According to a press release the eggs are being hatched at Oden State Fish Hatchery near Petoskey, Michigan and will be released along the Manistee River, the Maple River and the Boardman-Ottaway River.

Arctic Grayling Fish
Arctic Grayling - Canva
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Native to only Michigan and Montana in the Lower 48 states, grayling historically were found in coldwater streams in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and were common in the Manistee and Au Sable rivers — the city of Grayling, Michigan, along the Au Sable, is named after the Arctic grayling.

Unfortunately, timber harvest and logging in Michigan, as well as other environmental factors, contributed to the extinction of grayling from Michigan's waters in the mid 1930s.

Michigan's 58 Fishing Records: Species, Weight, Length, and Date

While fishing is considered a leisure sport, it can be incredibly competitive. From fishing tournaments to combo rod dock fishing, it's a sport that doesn't have age requirements to set records. All you need is a means to fish and measure your catch. According to LandBigFish.com, here's a look at the 58 fishing records set in Michigan.

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow

10 Unique Things This Michigan Man Has Found While Magnet Fishing

You just never know what you might pull from the river/lake while doing some magnet fishing

Gallery Credit: Tiktok - MichiganMagnetMan

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