Little Bay de Noc Fishing Reports

MDNR Fisheries Division personnel from the Marquette Fisheries Research Station and the Northern Lake Michigan Management Unit will be conducting a fall fish community assessment survey in northern Green Bay, beginning August 15 and continuing for about 5 weeks, depending on the weather. The survey will involve gill netting and trawling at Lake Michigan index sites, with 1.5 weeks of sampling occurring near Menominee and Cedar River, and 3.5 weeks of sampling occurring in Big and Little bays de Noc. Data from the survey will be used to describe changes to the fish community over time and guide future management. The two types of sampling gear provide different information on the fish community.Trawling involves towing a 13’ wide, bag-shaped net along the bottom of the lake to obtain a sample of smaller, bottom-dwelling fish in these waters. Gill nets are fishe overnight at different locations and depths. Each gill net is 640’ long, and consists of 80’ panels of 1”, 1.5”, 2”, 2.5”, 3”, 3.5”, 4”, and 5” monofilament mesh. This net pattern provides a general sample of the fish community. Large bouys marked with MDNR occur at the ends of each gill net. Gill netting sites will be randomly selected in all areas, and will generally be in waters less than 50’ deep and within about 2 miles of the shoreline. Gill nets will be set at 24 locations in Little Bay de Noc, 24 locations in Big Bay de Noc, 6 locations near Menominee, and 6 locations near Cedar River. Gill nets will be moved to new sampling locations each day. Sites to be sampled in Cedar River will be within 2 miles of the river mouth, and those sampled near Menominee will be within 4 miles of the Menominee River mouth.