Department of Natural Resources fisheries officials will present plans to implement new trout fishing regulations for the Au Sable River from Mio to McKinley at the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) meeting Thursday, Oct. 9. The presentation will be for information only. No action will be taken on the plan at the Oct. 9 meeting.

The presentation will be to the NRC's Policy Committee on Wildlife and Fisheries at 1:45 p.m. in Room 202 of the Lansing Center, located at 333 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing.

Michigan's trout fishing rules were standardized in 2000 in an attempt to simplify regulations. All state streams were categorized by their characteristics -- growth rate, natural reproduction, and access from the Great Lakes, for instance -- and streams with similar characteristics were assigned similar regulations. The Mio-to-McKinley stretch of the Au Sable River, however, was in the midst of a long-term research project, so the specialized regulations in force there were extended.

That research has been since completed and public meetings have been held to collect input for classifying the stream. Fisheries officials have identified four important principles:

• maintaining the popular put-grow-and-take rainbow trout fishery,
• maintaining protection for brown trout to enable them to reach trophy sizes,
• maintaining artificial lures only, and
• providing a year-round fishery.

The NRC meeting begins with a meeting of the NRC Policy Committee on Land Management at 12:15 p.m.

For a complete agenda of the Oct. 9 meeting, please visit the NRC's Web site at www.michigan.gov/nrc.