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St. Marys River

The rule for this water, with the receipt.

Special regulations for St. Marys River, as the state words them

Chippewa 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
  • Lake SturgeonJuly 16 - March 15
    All Lake Sturgeon must be released immediately.

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.

SpeciesDaily limitSize
Largemouth Bass
5 in any combinationmin. 14"Statewide
Smallmouth Bass
5 in any combinationmin. 14"Statewide
Walleye
5min. 15"Statewide
Northern Pike
2min. 24"Statewide
Flathead Catfish
5min. 15"Statewide
Channel Catfish
10min. 12"Statewide
Muskellunge (including Tiger Muskellunge)
Only 1 per angler per license year (Mandatory Registration)min. 42"Statewide
Yellow Perch
25min. No size limitStatewide
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 gallonsmin. No size limitStatewide
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 greatermin. 8-inchStatewide
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 greatermin. 8"Statewide
Brook Trout, Lake Trout, and Splake
one (1) Brook Trout, Lake Trout or Splake total combinedmin. 20 inchesStatewide

How this answer was assembled

  1. StatewideStatewide river rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
  2. This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
  3. 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

This water is not yet drawn on the map. Its rules are captured and receipted; the geometry ledger records exactly why it is not drawn (an ambiguous name match or a gap in the source data), and it will never ship as a guess. Each rule above describes in the state's own words where it applies, and those written descriptions are the authoritative boundaries.

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.

What are you fishing for here?Advice

Pick from the species named in St. Marys 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
Statewide
Checked against this official source on July 7, 2026.
Special rules - St. Marys River
This water
Checked against this official source on July 7, 2026.

Local services near St. Marys 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 St. Marys River? Get listed.