Creel survey on the St. Marys River in the Sault

Ontario's natural resources ministry and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will be spending the summer polling anglers in the Sault Ste. Marie area.

They will be conducting what’s called a creel survey – also known as an angler survey -- along the St. Marys River, a popular fishing spot.

The last Creel Survey was carried out in 2017 and it revealed an active fishery. Neal Godby of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said the last survey revealed a combined 230,000 hours of fishing among anglers on the St. Marys during that year.

Godby said officials will be walking along the river and interviewing anglers.

"Where they’re from, information about the angler, how long they were out fishing, what were they fishing for, what did they catch, how many did they release," said Godby, of what they will ask.

"And they’ll likely ask to look at their catch and perhaps take some measurements of the fish that the angler brought back."

The survey will begin in May and carry on through October.