Do you fish in Lake Superior? The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking anglers to report marked splake.
Splake is a hybrid cross between lake trout and brook trout. They’ve been stocked in Lake Superior most years since 1971, with annual stocking since 1990.
Since 2021, marked splake have been stocked in Lake Superior. Staff carefully mark the splake by hand and the fish get stocked at three Lake Superior ports: Munising, Copper Harbor and Keweenaw Bay.
The DNR wants anglers to report when they catch a marked splake so they can monitor the percentage of stocked fish caught by anglers, the home range of place and harvest metrics.
“The data we collect from anglers assists in making decisions on how to best manage Michigan’s fisheries,” said Patrick Hanchin, Lake Superior Basin coordinator. “Every marked splake reported matters to the data collection process. We’ll be marking splake through 2025, with the evaluation study being conducted through 2030.”
How to ID and report a marked splake
When you catch a splake, check it for missing fins or a jawbone clip. Those things indicate that it has been marked.
You can click here to report marked fish. The DNR wants information on the species, length, weight, sex, and date and location caught. Or you can contact a local DNR office. Anglers can also report marked splake to DNR creel staff at various ports along the Lake Superior shoreline.
Splake can be hard to identify because they can look like either trout or brook trout. Creel staff can help correctly ID the fish. If you want to learn more about fish marking in Michigan, you can click here.