Charter Reporting
From the Desk of Kendra Kozlauski
There have been some recent changes to charter reporting that I wanted to highlight again. We also have some new requirements for Inland Guides which will affect some of you, in both licensing and reporting.
First, as most of you are already aware, charter reporting has moved to twice-monthly as of January 1, 2024.
Your reports are now due by the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month by 11pm. The trips included in your report will span the previous due date (Wednesday) to the Tuesday before the current due date. For instance, the report due on Wednesday, March 27 will include trips taken from Wednesday, March 13 to Tuesday, March
Please keep current on reporting and remember you must report all intervals, even if you are not fishing those intervals.
Second, there are new requirements (per Public Act 220 of 2023) that start March 1, 2024, that require anyone fishing inland waters to acquire an Inland Guide License and report their guided trips monthly. This will directly affect some of you. If you fish ANYWHERE besides the Great Lakes or Great Lake Connecting Waters (defined as Detroit River, St Clair River, Lake St Clair, and St Mary’s River) you will need to obtain the new Inland Guide license. If you have a valid USCG license, your Inland Guide license fee will be waived.
Charter reporting has moved to twice-monthly as of January 1, 2024.
If you ONLY fish in the Great Lakes or GL Connecting Waters, you will NOT need the Inland Guide license. There has been confusion over what “Great Lake Connecting Waters” Inland reports will be due monthly, on the first of every month. You can find updated information on how to apply and obtain a license on the MDNR Inland Guide website:
www.michigan.gov/dnr/managing- resources/fisheries/business/guides
As a result of preparing the FACTS system to accept Inland Guide trips, you will notice some changes to the “Enter New Trip” and the Reports (“Submit Reports” and “Future Reporting Status”) sections. These changes are yet to be finalized. I will send out an email to explain changes when they are set. Trip entry changes will involve the ability to select different fishing modes. Inland reporting requires shore, ice, and pier trips to be entered. Great Lakes will still only require boat trips to be entered. Changes to the reporting aspect involve the ability to report at different frequencies (twice monthly for Great Lakes, and monthly for Inland).
Location preferences were reset in January 2024 because of changes to the requirement of a departure port. For those not aware, if you tend to fish the same location(s) again and again, you can set up favorites in “Preferences” which can be found in “My Account.” You can also call me, and I can set those up for you. It should make entering trips quicker and you can still use the map if you fish somewhere different.
As always, I appreciate your patience and cooperation with recent and upcoming
Any questions about upcoming changes please contact Kendra Kozlauskos at 231-330- 2845 or DNR-Fish-Charter@michigan.gov. Questions on fishery trends and future analyses of charter or inland guide data, please contact Chris Kemp at: 248-860-3804 or or Kempc5@michigan.gov