With the coming Winter Free Fishing Weekend today and Sunday expected to lure more people onto the water, it’s a good time to remind anglers about the legal ways to handle bait that protect our world-class fisheries.

Last March, new boating and fishing laws regarding the release of baitfish, the collection and use of baitfish and cut bait, and the release of captured fish took effect.

Simply put, the law says that unused baitfish, whether purchased or collected, must be disposed of on land or in the trash — never in the water. If anglers collect baitfish from the waters where they’re fishing, it can be used only in those same waters.

Similarly, Seth Herbst, the Michigan Department of Natural Resource’s aquatic species and regulatory affairs manager, said anyone catching and releasing fish is required to release those fish back into the same waters where they were caught.

“The department wants to be clear that, even with the new law, people are still allowed to catch and release fish during the appropriate seasons — they’re just encouraged to use extra care to ensure no invasive species or pathogens are spread,” Herbst said.

Moving fish from one body of water to another increases the risk of spreading invasive species and fish health concerns, like heterosporis (a parasite of yellow perch) and viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (a serious disease that can harm many fish species). Those diseases can easily spread to new locations when water is carelessly transferred via a boat’s undrained bilge, live well or ballast tank, and when unused bait is disposed of improperly.

No matter when or where you fish, always remember to dispose of unused bait in the trash and return catch-and-release fish to the waters where they were caught.

Such steps can make a huge difference in the health of Michigan’s rivers, lakes and streams and the fish that live in them.

Visit Michigan.gov/invasives for more informaton.