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Lake sturgeon Run in Michigan
Acipenser fulvescens, namé — 7 Michigan rivers on this map carry a run of it, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. None of them is inside its window as of 1 October 2026.
Acipenser fulvescens is the spring fish among Michigan's lake runs, and the only one whose calendar is read off a thermometer. Seven rivers carry it, out of all three lakes: the Muskegon at 52.0 corridor miles, the Grand at 42.2, the Sturgeon in Baraga County at 41.3 on the Superior side, the Kalamazoo at 36.4 and the Manistee at 29.9, then the Cheboygan at 2.7 and the Menominee at 2.3, where the run is a short reach of river and no more. The window is April through June with a May peak, but the trigger is temperature rather than the date — it starts around 55°F and is finished above about 64°F. The fish runs to the first hard gravel it can reach and spawns there.
It is unmistakable: a shark-shaped fish in armour, with a protrusible underslung mouth and four barbels ahead of it, three to six feet long, a century of life behind the big ones. Namé is a clan animal to the Ojibwe, and the assessment work on the sturgeon rivers of Keweenaw Bay is the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community's as much as the state's. Lake sturgeon is a Michigan state-threatened species; possession is closed on this water and the fishery is catch-and-release. The MDNR rehabilitation strategy and the Fishing Guide are the rules; this page is not.
Where these rivers are
46 run rivers on 3 shores, drawn one shore at a time and each river in the colour of its own run stage today. One frame over all of them would be mostly open water.
Drawn 1 October 2026. The ground is the subbasin mesh the app scores in, so the coastline is where the mesh stops rather than a separate shoreline; the mark at each river is its mouth, drawn for every river including the handful whose whole run corridor is under a mile and has no line to show.
Where it runs, and when
Ranked by the rivers the staging estimator models first — the sixteen systems with a USGS temperature gauge behind them — then by corridor miles. Neither is a measure of fishing, and nothing on this page ranks a fishery.
| River | Lake | Window | Peak | Miles | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muskegon River | Michigan | Apr–June | May | 52.0 | Off-season |
| Grand River | Michigan | Apr–June | May | 42.2 | Off-season |
| Kalamazoo River | Michigan | Apr–June | May | 36.4 | Off-season |
| Manistee River | Michigan | Apr–June | May | 29.9 | Off-season |
| Sturgeon River (Baraga County) | Superior | Apr–June | May | 41.3 | Off-season |
| Menominee River | Michigan | Apr–June | May | 2.3 | Off-season |
| Cheboygan River | Huron | Apr–June | May | 1.7 | Off-season |
Stage as of 1 October 2026. It moves every day and this page does not — current conditions are here.
Identification
Unmistakable: a shark-shaped fish in armour, with a protrusible underslung mouth and four barbels ahead of it.
Size
Three to six feet, and a century of life behind the big ones.
Behaviour in the river
Runs to the first hard gravel it can reach and spawns there. The trigger is temperature rather than the date — the run starts around 55°F and is finished above about 64°F.
Why it matters here
Namé is a clan animal to the Ojibwe, and the assessment work on the sturgeon rivers of Keweenaw Bay is the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community's as much as the state's.
Tackle and tactics
- Catch and release only, and this is the one species on this surface where the tackle note is a handling note. Do not lift a sturgeon out of the water, do not hold it vertically, and support it fully if it must be moved.
- Fishing for sturgeon is closed on most of this water. Read the state guide for the river you are standing on before you make a cast at one.
Regulations
Great Lakes tributary rules are not the inland trout rules, and they differ by river and often by reach. Michigan's regulation summary is here; the state's own guide is the regulation.
Lake sturgeon is a Michigan state-threatened species. Possession is closed on this water and the fishery is catch-and-release. The MDNR rehabilitation strategy and the Fishing Guide are the rules; this page is not.
The rest of the run
- Lake Michigan runs
- Lake Superior runs
- Lake Huron runs
- Lake sturgeon in Minnesota
- The run calendar
- What is running right now