This large brown trout was captured during a fish survey by Michigan Department of Natural Resources staff. DNR fisheries managers use fish survey data to determine which regulations should apply to a waterbody and recommend changes to the Natural Resources Commission. (Michigan Department of Natural Resources photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — South Kidney Lake in southern Marquette County is among eight Upper Peninsula inland trout lakes with new regulations in place.

The changes were approved Thursday by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission and took effect Friday.

These regulation changes are not reflected in the printed version of the 2025 Michigan Fishing Regulations. Anglers are reminded to check the digital version of the regulations online at Michigan.gov/DNRRegs or in the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app for the most current information.

Four lakes, including South Kidney Lake, have changed regulation types. South Kidney Lake was modified from Type D to Type A trout fishing regulations, informed by a survey conducted in 2024 that demonstrated stocked brook trout were not reaching the 15-inch minimum size limit, the DNR said.

The change will result in a lower minimum size limit and an increase in the daily possession limit for brook trout. In addition, it will also allow use of bait in South Kidney Lake, except for minnows, which are not allowed in Type A lakes.

Other lakes seeing changes in regulation types are Strawberry Lake in Marquette County, High Banks Lake in Chippewa County and Moon Lake in Luce County.

Four lakes have been removed from the list of designated trout lakes and will no longer have a type designation as they lack adequate habitat to support stocked or naturally reproducing trout populations, the DNR said.

Management of Section 13 Lake and Cedar Lake, both in Marquette County, and Sawaski Pond and Brians Pond, both in Alger County, will focus on warmwater species better suited to the current conditions. Trout fishing regulations have been removed in each of these lakes and general fishing regulations will apply.

The DNR reported this U.P. activity:

Marquette: Anglers had success both trolling and jigging for lake trout from north of the White Rocks out toward Granite Island. Anglers reported doing well in both deep and shallow waters. Reports were received of coho salmon and steelhead around both the Carp and Chocolay Rivers, at the mouths. Most of the fish were reported to have started to move into shallower water now that the water temperature has dropped. Lake trout fishing remained very good.

Little Bay de Noc: There were limited numbers of anglers fishing this week. Anglers targeting smallmouth bass reported good fishing with quality catches. Some anglers casted plastics for bass, while others drifted live bait near the bottom. Most perch fishing success was in the shallows.

Big Bay de Noc: Anglers primarily targeted bass. Anglers reported slow to fair fishing — large size catches, but small numbers of bites. Some anglers cast soft plastics or trolled crank baits for bass, while some drifted sucker minnows on drop shot rigs.

Keweenaw Bay/ Huron Bay: Anglers reported fair to good numbers of salmon caught. Anglers caught coho salmon and pink salmon while trolling spoons, crankbaits, and flasher-flies in the upper portion of the water column. Anglers also occasionally caught splake while targeting salmon.

Munising: The coho salmon bite was very good for boat anglers trolling the bay and anglers fishing from the pier at the mouth of the Anna River. Anglers did well casting spoons and using spawn for both coho salmon and splake. A few coho salmon made their way up into the Anna River.