LANSING, Mich. — Fresh DNR northern pike rules that took hold Oct. 15 reopen Otsego County marsh water year-round and let anglers keep more smaller pike on four inland lakes after Natural Resources Commission votes on Oct. 14.
Commissioners rewrote Fisheries Orders 204 and 206. The Otsego Lake pike marsh, once locked from mid-March through mid-June for spawning, is fishable all year after staff said the marsh has been idle since the early 2000s and the seasonal shutdown no longer made sense.
On Au Sable Lake in Ogemaw County, Clear Lake in Mecosta County, Gibson Lake in Iron County and Hanbury Lake in Dickinson County, the daily take is now five northern pike, but only a single fish may measure 24 inches or more. Surveys pointed to slow-growing fish with fewer big ones, and wardens plus anglers backed the tweak.
Paper copies of the 2026 fishing guide still show the old language. Anglers should use the live regulations at Michigan.gov/DNRRegs or the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app before they go.
The governor-appointed commission alone sets game and sportfish take rules in Michigan. Fisheries biologists put the package forward after reviewing lake surveys.
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