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Pere Marquette River and Little Manistee River
The rule for this water, with the receipt.
Special regulations for Pere Marquette River and Little Manistee River, as the state words them
Lake County · River · MI
Has its own special rules
How to read this page:Official text quoted regulationParsed fields from the ruleDerived calculated from rulesContext conditions, not a ruleAdvice our suggestion
The rules for this water, verbatimOfficial text
Straight from MI's official regulations. Rules in force today lead; out-of-season rows are dimmed. Nothing is paraphrased. Not legal advice: verify the posted rules at the water.
Whole water
- All fishGear an artificial lure is defined as a body bait, plug, spinner or spoonOn all waters of the Pere Marquette R. and Little Manistee R. an artificial lure is defined as a body bait, plug, spinner or spoon.
- All fishGear special artificial lure regulations applyOn all waters of the Pere Marquette R. and Muskegon R. (upstream to Croton Dam) special artificial lure regulations apply (see p. 8).
- All fishGear special artificial lure regulations applyOn all waters of the Pere Marquette R., White R. (from mouth upstream to Hesperia Dam) and all waters of the N. Br. White R. and all waters of the N. Br. Pentwater R. and S. Br. Pentwater R. (upstream to Hart Dam) special artificial lure regulations apply.
- all trout and salmon, trout or salmonopen all yearDaily limit zero trout and salmon; except children under 12 may keep 1 trout or salmonSize for children under 12 there is an 8-inch minimum size limit and a 12-inch maximum size limit for all trout and salmon.Gear artificial flies onlyPossession Season: closed all year; except for children under 12 the possession season is open all year. Pere Marquette River (Flies Only Gear Restricted Stream). Mileage 8.5 miles.
- Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Brown TroutSep. 1– the Fri. before the last Sat. in April (dates as written)Daily limit 1 Rainbow Trout; 0 Brook Trout; 0 Brown TroutSize Rainbow Trout — 10"From Sep. 1 - Fri. before last Sat. in April, managed under Type 4 with these exceptions. Possession Season Sep. 1 - Fri. before last Sat. in April.
- all salmon, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Brown Troutlast Sat. in April – Aug. 31Daily limit 2 trout or salmon; with no more than 1 Brown Trout 18" or greater, and no more than 1 Rainbow TroutSize minimum size limit: all salmon and Rainbow Trout — 10"; Brook Trout and Brown Trout — 8"; except that the harvest of fish greater than 14" and less than 18" shall be prohibited for Brook Trout and Brown TroutGear artificial lures onlyNOTE: entry tagged [FO] but Tackle field says artificial lures only. Possession Season last Sat. in April - Aug. 31. Mileage 10.5 miles.
- All fishAssigned regulation Type: GR p.46. Season, minimum size, and daily limit are defined by the Type/BTRA/GR definition rule (not stated on this per-water row).
- All fishAssigned regulation Type: GR p.46. Season, minimum size, and daily limit are defined by the Type/BTRA/GR definition rule (not stated on this per-water row). Special Artificial Lure Regulations apply Aug. 1 - Nov. 15 — see rowQuote and p. 8.
- Brook TroutLast Sat. inApril - Sep. 30 for Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon
Open all year for all other Trout and Salmon (dates as written)Size 7"Managed as Stream Type 4 (stream). Inland stream Type 4 definition (128 streams). Fishing season Open All Year; possession season Last Sat. in April - Sep. 30 for Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon, open all year for all other Trout and Salmon. Daily possession limit not stated separately in the Type 4 block. Most Type 4 streams are designated trout streams. Chumming prohibited.
- Brown TroutLast Sat. inApril - Sep. 30 for Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon
Open all year for all other Trout and Salmon (dates as written)Size 10"Managed as Stream Type 4 (stream). Inland stream Type 4 definition (128 streams). Daily possession limit not stated separately in the Type 4 block. Chumming prohibited.
- Brook TroutOpen All YearSize 15"Managed as Stream Type 3 (stream). Inland stream Type 3 definition (58 streams). Fishing and possession season Open All Year. Daily possession limit not stated separately in the Type 3 block. Most Type 3 streams are designated trout streams. Chumming prohibited.
- Brown TroutOpen All YearSize 15"Managed as Stream Type 3 (stream). Inland stream Type 3 definition (58 streams). Daily possession limit not stated separately in the Type 3 block. Chumming prohibited.
Statewide base layerParsed
These defaults apply where the rules above do not modify them.
- Season
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Gear
- Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
- Bait
- Baitfish may only be used in the waters where collected. Any fish and frogs may be used as bait when legally taken and possessed, EXCEPT lampreys, live carp or Goldfish.Statewide
- Poles
- No more than 3 lines per person (including tip-ups) or more than 6 hooks or lures may be used.Statewide
Where the verbatim rules above name a species, season, or limit, they replace the rows below. Each row is tagged with the layer it comes from.
| Species | Daily limit | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
Largemouth Bass | 5 in any combination | min. 14" | Statewide |
Smallmouth Bass | 5 in any combination | min. 14" | Statewide |
Walleye | 5 | min. 15" | Statewide |
Northern Pike | 2 | min. 24" | Statewide |
Flathead Catfish | 5 | min. 15" | Statewide |
Channel Catfish | 10 | min. 12" | Statewide |
Muskellunge (including Tiger Muskellunge) | Only 1 per angler per license year (Mandatory Registration) | min. 42" | Statewide |
Yellow Perch | 25 | min. No size limit | Statewide |
Sunfishes | 25 in any combination of the listed species | - | Statewide |
White Bass | 25 on Gr. Lakes, L. St. Clair, St. Marys R., St. Clair R., and Detroit R. 10 on inland waters | - | Statewide |
Cisco | 10 in any combination on Gr. Lakes, Connecting Waters and Type F lakes, 5 in any combination on other inland waters | - | Statewide |
Lake Whitefish | 10 in any combination on Gr. Lakes, Connecting Waters and Type F lakes, 5 in any combination on other inland waters | - | Statewide |
Round Whitefish | 10 in any combination on Gr. Lakes, Connecting Waters and Type F lakes, 5 in any combination on other inland waters | - | Statewide |
Lake Sturgeon | 1 lake sturgeon per angler per year | - | Statewide |
Smelt | 2 gallons | min. No size limit | Statewide |
Brook Trout Varies by water: 8" (Lake Type C); 15", limit 1 (Lake Type D); 15", limit 3 (Lake Type E); limit 5/3^ (Lake Type F); 7", limit 5 fish,but no morethan 3 trout 15" or greater (Stream Type 1); 15" (Stream Type 3); 7" (Stream Type 4) | 5/3* | min. 10" | Statewide |
Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, & Splake Varies by water: 8" (Lake Type C); 15", limit 1 (Lake Type D); 15", limit 3 (Lake Type E); 10", limit 5/3^ (Lake Type F) | 5/3* | min. 12" | Statewide |
Lake Trout Varies by water: 8" (Lake Type C); limit 1 (Lake Type D); limit 3 (Lake Type E); 10", limit 5/3^ (Lake Type F) | 5/3* | min. 15" | Statewide |
Coho, Chinook, & Pink Salmon Varies by water: limit 1 (Lake Type D); limit 3 (Lake Type E); limit 5/3^ (Lake Type F) | 5/3* | min. 10" | Statewide |
Atlantic Salmon Varies by water: limit 1 (Lake Type D); limit 3 (Lake Type E); 10", limit 5/3^ (Lake Type F) | 5/3* | min. 15" | Statewide |
trout Varies by water: 8" minimum size limit (except 7" for Brook Trout), limit 5 fish daily possession limit, no more than 3 of which may be 15" or greater, except up to 5 salmon (Chinook or Coho) 15" or greater may be retained (Inland streams not classified by Type or listed as a Gear Restricted Stream) | 5 fish daily possession limit, no more than 3 of which may be 15" or greater | min. 8-inch | Statewide |
Brown Trout Varies by water: 12" (Stream Type 2); 15" (Stream Type 3); 10" (Stream Type 4) | 5 fish,but no morethan 3 trout 15" or greater | min. 8" | Statewide |
Brook Trout, Lake Trout, and Splake | one (1) Brook Trout, Lake Trout or Splake total combined | min. 20 inches | Statewide |
How this answer was assembled
- StatewideStatewide river rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
- This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
- Emergency orderEmergency orders in effect today override everything else. They sync quietly when the phone has coverage and never lock you out of the app.
Where this stretch begins and ends
Loading map…
The drawn shape is the named water, matched from the official list against OpenStreetMap and accepted only because the name resolved to a single feature in this water's county.
Different sections of this water can have different rules. The exact section boundaries are not marked on the map yet; each rule above describes in plain words where it starts and ends, and that written description is the authoritative boundary. Map boundaries come water by water, never as a guess.
Season at a glanceDerived
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
opensome stretchesclosedunknown
Sampled mid-month from the dated rows; short windows can slip between samples. The rows above are authoritative.
At the water nowContext
Overnight
54°F
Mostly Clear
Wind 2 mph · 0% precip
Wednesday
82°F
Sunny
Wind 2 to 9 mph · 0% precip
Wednesday Night
55°F
Mostly Clear
Wind 0 to 8 mph · 4% precip
Streamflow: 499 cfs at pere marquette river at scottville, mi (2026-07-29 04:00)
Forecast: National Weather Service. Flow: nearest active USGS gauge in this water's area, which may sit on a different reach. Conditions are context, not rules.
What are you fishing for here?Advice
Pick from the species named in Pere Marquette River and Little Manistee River's rules. Setups are checked against the gear rules in force today, and your picks are remembered on this device only. These are rule-aware suggestions, not a claim about what is biting; advice, not law, and the rules above govern.
Receipts
Statewide rules
StatewideChecked against this official source on July 7, 2026.
Special rules - Pere Marquette River and Little Manistee River
This waterChecked against this official source on July 7, 2026.
Local services near Pere Marquette River and Little Manistee River
Tackle shops, guides, and boat launches that serve this water will appear here - a separate lane below the rules, so a local business can reach you without ever getting between you and the regulation.
Run a shop or guide service on Pere Marquette River and Little Manistee River? Get listed.