DNR announces Midwest Walleye Challenge

Catch fish, win prizes from May 15 to June 28

By Barb Pert Templeton

Attention all walleye fishing fans, if you plan to get out on the water this summer to cast your line the Midwest Walleye Challenge needs you. Sign on for the contest and you’ll have the chance to win cash prizes and provide useful information to fisheries biologists. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is partnering with MyCatch by Angler’s Atlas on a statewide walleye fishing challenge that includes all inland waters in the state. The challenge runs May 15 through June 28. Participants must pay a $25 fee to register, which qualifies them for prizes, including cash payouts. The entry fee also includes a $20 Discount Tackle gift certificate for every angler who reports a valid trip. As part of the challenge, anglers report their catches of walleye and their fishing trips in the MyCatch mobile app. The app uses anonymous location data, so your best fishing spots stay secret, while Michigan DNR fisheries biologists get valuable information to better assess and manage walleye populations. This year, the challenge will include two new features: County Captains and weekly challenges aimed at boosting angler participation in various states. “We’re excited to continue to work with our anglers to learn more about Michigan walleye populations.” said Seth Herbst, manager of the DNR Fisheries Division’s Research Section. “We have hundreds of inland waters in the state that we manage for walleye, but those vast waters and

The challenge provides a unique opportunity for anglers to assist with walleye conservation efforts in Michigan and provide critical information on fishing effort and catch from inland waters that the DNR would otherwise not have.

“We are particularly excited to learn whether our walleye stocking efforts are resulting in successful trips for anglers. The more anglers participate in this challenge, the more informed we’ll be when making management decisions,” Herbst said.

This year’s challenge includes several states across the Midwest as part of a larger fisheries research project. States participating and promoting the challenge include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Michigan anglers compete only against Michigan anglers for weekly prizes, as well as grand prize drawings at the end of the event.

All Michigan fishing rules and regulations still apply, and anglers are required to have a valid fishing license (or valid exemption) to participate in the challenge.

Blue Water Healthy Living caught up with DNR Fisheries Biologist Emily Martin to pose some specific questions about how the challenge works.

Blue Water Healthy Living: How long has the DNR been hosting the Midwest Walleye Challenge?

Emily Martin, DNR Fisheries Biologist: This is the third year that Michigan DNR has participated in the Midwest Walleye Challenge, but Angler’s Atlas is the host of this project which includes several other states in the Midwest.

BWHL: Can you explain exactly what the challenge is about and how it works?

Martin: The challenge is a citizen science fishing event that occurs virtually from May 15th to June 28th in which anglers report their fishing trips and walleye catch on inland waters through the MyCatch app. The data reported through the challenge is valuable to MDNR fisheries biologists because we can’t routinely monitor many Walleye populations due to the numbers of inland waters in the state combined with limited staffing and funding.

BWHL: What is the data that’s gathered utilized for?

Martin: The data reported by anglers during this event provides insight into inland walleye populations through numbers of fish caught and length data as well as information on fishing effort. In the Great Lakes, we’re able to use creel surveys to obtain information on effort and catch for various species but we don’t have the capacity to do that in inland lakes in most years. This challenge provides a great opportunity to work with our anglers and obtain information we typically don’t have.

BWHL: How does the reporting aspect of the challenge work?

Martin: The app in which fishing trips and catch are reported does not provide exact location data to us, but uses it so verify the fishing trip location. By participating, anglers can win prizes various categories (such as “longest walleye) as well as be entered for grand prizes at the end of the event. Michigan anglers are competing only against other Michigan anglers and their trips have to be on inland waterbodies, so fish caught in the Great Lakes cannot be reported and qualify an angler for prizes. Michigan DNR is not involved in the prize component of the challenge, so questions about prizes or various categories should be directed to Angler’s Atlas.

BWHL: How do those who register to participate report their findings to the DNR?

Martin: Participants will report their fishing trips and catch through the MyCatch app, not directly to the DNR, and we will be able to access the data through the Angler’s Atlas website. limited staffing resources results in an inability to monitor walleye populations as intensively as we would like.”

BWHL: Are the participants expected to toss the walleye back or can they keep their catch?

Martin: Participants must follow state fishing regulations for walleye, but they are able to report a fish as released or kept in the app. Whether or not they keep a legally harvestable walleye does not impact their chances for prizes.

BWHL: What role will the County Captains play in this program?

Martin: County Captains are a new feature that Angler’s Atlas introduced this year and the intent is that those people will encourage others in their area to participate. Their hope is that the encouragement on a local level will help boost participation and add to the competition spirit of the challenge.

BWHL: Can you explain how participants can earn weekly prizes?

Martin: There will be various categories for prizes each week, but also for the overall event, and all anglers have to do to earn prizes is go fishing and submit their trip and catch data. There is no guarantee that you’ll win a prize just for reporting trips, but there will be a wide range of categories under which they can win prizes.

BWHL: Is the $25 entry fee a one-time payment for the duration of this summer’s contest?

Martin: Yes, participants only pay a one-time entry fee for the 2026 event.

BWHL: Can you share statistics about the number of participates for this event last year and the year before?

Martin: In 2024, 46 anglers reported fishing trips on 39 inland lakes and 21 rivers.

In 2025, we had 38 anglers report trips on 52 inland lakes and 11 inland rivers.

It would be great if we could see increased participation across the State this year.