Michigan · White bass
White bass size limit in Michigan
You can keep one today — within these limits
Great Lakes, Lake St. Clair, St. Marys River, St. Clair River, Detroit River
Open year-round| Size limit | No size limit stated | total length |
|---|---|---|
| Daily bag | 25 | per person per day |
| Possession | 25 | total you may hold |
No minimum size. The 25-fish bag applies on the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, including both waters this site tracks.
inland waters
Open year-round| Size limit | No size limit stated | total length |
|---|---|---|
| Daily bag | 10 | per person per day |
| Possession | 10 | total you may hold |
No minimum size, but less than half the Great-Lakes bag — ten a day on inland lakes and rivers.
What we left out on purpose
- Lake sturgeon runs its own separate regulations table (harvest tags, very limited season, in most waters catch-and-release only) that eRegulations references but does not print inline on the general regulations page. Not modelled here rather than guessed.
- Smelt (2 gallons per person per day statewide) is dip-netted or seined rather than rod-and-reel targeted, and is left out for the same reason baitfish species are excluded elsewhere in this silo.
- Michigan's dozens of named-lake exceptions for northern pike (protected slots, relaxed size rules) and muskellunge (46-to-50-inch broodstock lakes) are not modelled beyond the two waters this site actually reports on — the same restraint used for Colorado's Gold Medal waters and Kansas's named-reservoir exceptions.
- The Walleye possession limit specific to Lake Erie/Detroit River/Lake St. Clair/St. Clair River is carried as unsettled because the source's own text shows a limit that should have already been updated for the current season (see reviewNote) — check DNR directly rather than trust a number here.
- No Saginaw-Bay-specific bass regulation was found in the 2026 digest - the only Saginaw County note found concerns a March-April gear restriction on rivers upstream of the West Center Street Bridge, outside the bay itself. Saginaw Bay bass is therefore modelled under the general statewide rule.
Other species limits in Michigan
Where to try today
- Detroit River 6/10 · Biting
- Lake Michigan 5/10 · Picky
- Lake St. Clair 6/10 · Biting
- Saginaw Bay 4/10 · Picky