Happy 100th Birthday – Michigan Fishing Celebrates State Park Centennial Starting May 12
The Great Lake State has always been synonymous with great fishing, and now there’s another reason to celebrate awesome Michigan fishing resources.
Michigan Fishing Statistics
Consider these mind boggling stats – in Michigan you can fish:
- 26,266 inland lakes and ponds (over 1 acre)
- 120 major rivers covering 32,350 square miles of watershed
- 36,000 river miles, of which 12,000 are official trout waters
- 868 miles of Blue Ribbon Trout Streams
- 625 miles of Wild & Scenic national river protections
- Never more than 6 miles from a fishable water body
Tahquamenon Falls
- Direct access to 4 out of 5 Great Lakes (Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Erie)
- 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline (that’s more coast than any other state than Alaska!) including islands
- Always within 87 miles of a Great Lakes shoreline
Most of these waters are managed by the state Department of Natural Resources, and many are accessible through Michigan’s 103 state park and recreation areas. And that’s not counting 5 National Parks and several National Forests! The State Parks cover 306,000 acres, boasting 14,100 campsites in 142 campgrounds. Not to mention over 900 miles of trails.
Perhaps at the top of your list to do – now every season boasts a run of salmon, steelhead, or lake run brown trout among other trophy species such as lake trout, pike, muskie, and tiger muskie.
Tiger Muskie
To commemorate 100 years of managing Michigan’s beautiful State Park natural resources, the Michigan DNR made a video with a terrific slogan “Look Back, Give Forward.” Check it out (along with some fantastic drone and aerial footage):
Michigan Fishing Locations
Porcupine Mountains
Some of our favorites were Warren Dunes, Sleepy Hollow (caught my first tiger muskie there!), Porcupine Mountains Wilderness, Sault Ste Marie, and Mackinaw Island (best skipping stones in the world!) among others. GREAT state to grow up in, and still great to fish today.
Sleeping Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan
Thank you to the DNR for working so hard to preserve Michigan’s terrific natural and fishing resources.
