HOUGHTON – This year’s relatively mild winter should mean better future fishing, says Michigan Department of Natural Resources Western U.P. Fisheries Director George Madison, but fish stocks will likely need some time to fully recover from the last few extra-long winters.

“Fish like this deal. When you have a cold winter and a late spring, you have a die-off,” he said. “This year, with an easier winter, you have more growth, less die-off. It looks like a good spring this year, so populations should rebound.”

Madison spoke to about 30 anglers in his annual fisheries update at Portage Lake District Library Thursday, explaining new DNR policies and other factors that might affect fishing and the environment, and answering questions from the crowd on a wide variety of topics.

Massive walleye planting in the western U.P. will also bode well for the future, Madison said. In the last year, the DNR released about half a million walleye in western U.P. lakes, about 200,000 of which were raised by local Indian tribes.

Indian commercial fishing has also raised concerns, however, largely due to netting around the Keweenaw by tribes from outside Michigan.

“Minnesota and Wisconsin have consent decrees with tribes on total allowable catch,” Madison said. “Michigan does not, and as we see lower bag limits there, we’re seeing increased netting here.”

He said while the local Keweenaw Bay Indian Community has a strong fish planting program, it’s focused mainly on brook trout and inland fish, while Lake Superior lake trout are the fish in greatest danger of being depleted.

Madison said the DNR responded to a public survey asking for more boots on the ground and less administrators in Lansing by hiring several new U.P. fisheries workers, including a biologist in Crystal Falls, a fish analyst in Marquette to free up biologists for field work, and a handful of fisheries technicians.

Anglers can expect to run into technicians at boat launches this summer, surveying catches for a better inventory of fish populations.

Madison said the DNR will again be holding its free fishing weekend this year, June 11 and 12, and they already held a winter free fishing day in February. Taking it one step further in the effort to encourage fishing, they’re also allowing free access to state parks to give new anglers easy access to fishing spots.