Migratory behavior and angling of steelhead in the Pere Marquette River, Michigan

Radio-telemetry studies indicate that the pumped-source fish passage built around a pulsed-DC electrical sea lamprey barrier on the Pere Marquette River, MI was effective at passing at least 67% of tagged adult steelhead. Steelhead were captured using trap nets and hook-and-line fishing in 2000 and 2001, and their movements were monitored as they approached and ascended the fish ladder. Of the fish tagged at the mouth of the river, 68% were successful at traveling upstream to the barrier. These fish moved upstream faster in 2001 than in 2000, taking a mean time of 76.8 hours to reach the barrier. Once arriving at the barrier, fish were present for a mean time of 184.4 hours before ascending the ladder.;An angler survey was conducted on the Pere Marquette River, MI in order to characterize the spring recreational fishery. The study area consisted of 17 sampling sites located from Baldwin downstream to Ludington on the mainstem of the river. Anglers fishing the Pere Marquette from public access sites during the spring months of 2000 and 2001 most often targeted steelhead, and effort totaled an average of 110,000 hours per year. This is a dramatic increase in effort since the time of the last angler survey, nearly twenty years ago. Anglers caught an average of 19,000 steelhead and 24,000 suckers per spring. Most anglers fishing for suckers were from local counties, while those pursuing steelhead typically traveled greater distances.