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Michigan · Muskellunge (muskie)

Can you keep a muskellunge (muskie) in Michigan?

Yes, with limits

statewide (except Lake St. Clair, St. Clair River, Detroit River, and a handful of named broodstock lakes)

Open today
Size
42 inches and up
total length
Daily bag
1
per person per license year (April 1 – March 31), not per day — harvest must be registered online or by phone within 24 hours
Possession
1
total you may hold

Closes each year Possession runs from the first Saturday of June through March 15; catch-and-immediate-release is allowed year-round outside that window

42 inches, and only one fish per angler in an entire license year statewide — a far tighter cap than any daily-limit species on this page. The opening date floats with the calendar (the first Saturday of June falls between the 1st and 7th); the window above is set to the latest possible opening date so it never shows open too early. Several named broodstock lakes carry their own 46-to-50-inch minimums, not modelled here.

DNR source page

Lake St. Clair, St. Clair River, Detroit River

Open today
Size
42 inches and up
total length
Daily bag
1
per person per license year (April 1 – March 31), not per day — harvest must be registered online or by phone within 24 hours
Possession
1
total you may hold

Closes each year Possession runs from the first Saturday of June through December 31 — about three months later closing than the rest of the state; catch-and-immediate-release is allowed year-round outside that window

Same 42-inch minimum and one-fish-per-year cap as statewide, but the possession season runs through December instead of closing in mid-March. The opening date floats with the calendar the same way as the statewide rule above.

DNR source page

What we left out on purpose

Other species in Michigan

You also need a Michigan fishing license →

Where to try today