The Michigan Department of Natural Resources stocked 648,557 fish across 76 locations statewide during its fall 2025 fish stocking effort, adding about 8.6 tons of fish to waters that the agency said will provide angling opportunities in seasons to come.
“This was another exceptional fall fish stocking season, enhancing fishing opportunities throughout Michigan,” DNR fish production manager Aaron Switzer said in a Jan. 8 news release. “Combined with successful spring and summer stocking efforts, the 2025 total reached nearly 19.5 million fish stocked in Michigan’s waters.”
The DNR said the number and type of fish stocked vary by hatchery because each facility’s ability to rear fish differs due to water supply and temperature.
The agency said Michigan has six state and three cooperative fish hatcheries that work together to produce the species, strains and sizes of fish needed by fisheries managers, with fish delivered at specific times and locations to help them thrive.
In general, the DNR said fish are reared in Michigan’s state fish hatcheries anywhere from one month to 1.5 years before they are stocked. Most fish are stocked in the spring, the agency said, but some fish are stocked in the fall because they require less time and fewer resources to rear in hatcheries.
The DNR said fall-stocked fish also may adjust better to new environments because they are younger and more adaptable to change.
Seven species were stocked this fall, the DNR said: Atlantic salmon, brook trout, brown trout, lake trout, rainbow trout (Eagle Lake and steelhead strains), walleye and muskellunge.
The DNR reported that Marquette State Fish Hatchery near Marquette stocked 27,915 fall fingerling brook trout and 250 adult brook trout with a combined weight of 3,022 pounds across 27 Upper Peninsula locations.
Oden State Fish Hatchery near Petoskey stocked 140,366 fall fingerling rainbow trout weighing 7,508 pounds at four locations in the Upper and Lower peninsulas.
Thompson State Fish Hatchery near Manistique stocked 3,008 Great Lakes strain muskellunge weighing 304 pounds in Lake Hudson and Thornapple Lake, the DNR said. The hatchery also stocked 329,085 fall fingerling steelhead weighing 2,413 pounds at six locations.
Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery west of Kalamazoo stocked 64,532 fall fingerling steelhead weighing 917 pounds in Crystal Lake, according to the DNR.
Harrietta State Fish Hatchery near Cadillac stocked 17,548 fall fingerling brown trout and 24,520 fall fingerling rainbow trout at four locations with a combined weight of 1,573 pounds, the agency said.
DNR fisheries management units also stocked fall fingerling walleye this year. The Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit stocked 33,580 Muskegon strain fall fingerlings weighing 1,373 pounds at 20 locations, the DNR said. The Central Lake Michigan Management Unit stocked 2,507 Muskegon strain fall fingerlings weighing 160 pounds at three locations.
The Northern Lake Michigan Management Unit stocked Little Bay de Noc with 5,211 fall fingerlings of the Little Bay de Noc strain weighing 88 pounds at five locations, the DNR said. Of those, 2,815 walleye fingerlings were raised in a co-op partner pond tended by the Bay De Noc Great Lakes Sportfishermen.
The DNR said visitors are welcome at its state fish hatcheries and interpretive centers to see the fish rearing process and learn about Michigan’s waters. More information is available at Michigan.gov/Hatcheries. Anglers can check whether fish were stocked in specific locations by visiting the DNR fish stocking database at michigandnr.com/fishstock/.