The Straits Area Sportsmen’s Club (SASC) of St. Ignace, Michigan was AWARDED $8,000 to stock larger walleye fingerlings in an effort to restore a quality walleye population and sport fishery in Brevoort Lake. This is a 4,000-acre lake in Mackinac County in northern Michigan.

Over the past several decades, the SASC has assisted management agencies in constructing one of the largest (2,000-ft) spawning reefs in an inland lake for walleye, designed and deployed a lake-wide habitat improvement project of two-hundred fish crib structures, and assisted various agencies with research projects related to investigations of recreational fisheries.

In recent years, the natural reproduction of walleye in Brevoort Lake has declined or is intermittent, limiting the number of adult walleye available to recreational anglers. As a result, the SASC raised funds to operate a spring fingerling rearing pond to stock Brevoort Lake in hopes of improving the fishery.

Despite several stocking events, two-inch spring fingerling walleye have not provided an attractive fishery for anglers in the area. To overcome high predation on these smaller fingerlings, the club and Michigan DNR have initiated a stocking program with the goal of stocking from 4,000 to 6,000 six-inch fall fingerling walleye every even year until 2032. The SASC will participate with management agencies in evaluating the survival of stocked fish as Age-1 individuals and gather annual catch information to document the number of these larger stocked fish that survive each year. Funds will be matched with volunteer contributions generated through club activities and be used to purchase 4,000 to 6,000 six-inch walleye fingerlings.

This project is strongly supported by the state agency. They applied for FishAmerica funding last year. This would qualify for the use of the Walleye Federation Funds providing partial support.