Habitat Improvement: Stump & Trailing Log

The Pere Marquette has a national reputation as a world- class trout stream and it is well deserved. Originally, only Grayling swam in its waters, but logging during the latter part of the 19th century commenced to take its toll. The river was used for log drives and the entire watershed was gradually clear- cut. In fact, the river was dredged from Pere Marquette Lake upstream to Walhalla to permit an easier float. As riparian cover was lost and the water warmed, the Grayling population diminished. In 1882 the river was stocked with Rainbow Trout from the West, and two years later, in 1884, the river received the first planting of Brown Trout in the USA. The Grayling were entirely gone by the 1920’s. Both the Rainbows and the Browns thrived. In the 1940’s and 50’s the river earned its reputation as a first class Brown Trout fishery. A good angler could catch his limit of fish weighing one to two pounds each, and do it every day!

It was not until the MDNR opened the river to an extended season that anglers became aware of the annual runs of large Rainbows we now call Steelhead. Before then, the trout season was closed when these fish were present. Only the occasional large Rainbow was caught during the regular trout season and these were considered anomalies. Once Salmon were introduced into the Great Lakes, they strayed into the PM and within a few short years a naturally reproducing strain of Chinook Salmon appeared in tremendous numbers. These large fish brought hordes of anglers. MDNR allowed snagging in sections of the river and sportsmanship became mostly a memory. In recent years snagging has been outlawed, bag limits reduced, and other restrictive regulations placed into effect. Some order has come out of the chaos, but the river is no longer pristine and an angler will be hard put to find solitude.

Winter Trout Fisherman and Springtime on the P.M.

Angler on the Little South

Even the young have success

It took a while, but with the river open to year around angling, it was not long before anglers discovered the large runs of Steelhead in the Spring of each year. By the 1980’s crowds of anglers thronged to the river in March and April when these large fish were easily spotted as they carried out their spawning ritual in the shallow areas. What was once a world- class trout fishery had now become almost as famous as a Steelhead and Salmon stream. There are still good numbers of Brown Trout, but the big ones are much harder to come by than in years past and the majority of angler interest is focused on the anadromous Steelhead and Salmon.

In recent years a number of angler groups, property owners, and interested citizens have joined together to improve conditions along the river and improve the habitat within it. These efforts have been prompted, in large part, by a desire to see the Brown Trout fishery restored to its former glory. While these efforts have had a profound effect on improving conditions for salmonids, they have had little impact on the Brown Trout fishery itself. The river today serves as an important nursery for Lake Michigan salmonids.

Electro Shocking on the Little South Branch

Electro Shocking - Measuring a Brown & taking a Scale Sample