Updated 2024-12-11 13:54:09
Lake Huron -> 2.0 Percid (Walleye and Perch) -> Walleye Recreational Harvest Rate
Reporting Interval
2018 - 2022
Area
Saginaw Bay
Meeting Target?
N/A
Indicator Trend
Upward trend
Confidence?
High
2.1.5 Mean angler harvest rate in the Sag Bay recreational fishery for the open water months (Apr – Oct)
There is no set angler harvest rate established for Saginaw Bay but this recreational metric is an important one for gauging the quality of the fishery. The harvest rate is estimated annually by the creel survey conducted by the Michigan DNR and includes the winter ice fishery. That portion , however, can vary widely because of variable ice conditions and instead the open water harvest rate trends often reveal the pattern of the fishery best. The expansion of the population in 2003 is strongly reflected by the harvest rate which increased 387% (harvest in numbers of Walleye increased 238%). The same sort of periodicity evident in the recruitment is apparent in the angler harvest rate. This harvest rate is reflective of all the recreational effort in Saginaw Bay. When expressed only for anglers targeting Walleye, the rate is higher averaging about 0.4 Walleyes per hour.
Recreational angler harvest rate of Walleye (number per hour) in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, for the open-water season (April - October).
Methodology
The harvest rate is estimated annually by the creel survey conducted by the Michigan DNR and includes the winter ice fishery. Creel surveys include flights to count boats and anglers (pressure counts) and interviews with angling parties at the conclusion of fishing trips by creel clerks. There are about 8 different sites around Saginaw Bay that are surveyed and individually estimated. Those estimates are then summed to get bay-wide annual totals. Harvest rate is harvest divided by the amount of effort expressed in hours of angling effort.
Other Resources
Contributing Author(s)
- David Fielder, Jeff Jolley - Michigan Department of Natural Resources
- Chris Davis, Arunas Liskauskas, Stephen James, and Jason Ritchie - Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
- Mike Rucinski - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service