Courtesy Photo An angler on a boat shows a walleye he caught in this photo provided by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Ever wish you could get paid to fish? Well, don’t quit your day job, but do get out on the water this summer for the Midwest Walleye Challenge — 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 began on May 15 and runs through June 29.

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 — generalized lake and river catch data entered via the app — to better assess and manage walleye populations.

“We’re excited to continue to work with our anglers to learn more about our walleye populations during the second year of the Midwest Walleye Challenge participation,” said Seth Herbst, manager of the DNR Fisheries Division’s Research Section. “We have hundreds of waters in the state that we manage for walleye, but the combination of those vast waters and limited staffing resources results in an inability to monitor walleye populations status as intensively as we would like.

Herbst said that 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 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,” he said.

The challenge

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

Michigan anglers compete only against Michigan anglers for biweekly prizes, as well as grand prize drawings at the end of the event. Full details about prizes and qualifications are available on the prizes tab of the main event webpage.

Participants must pay a $25 fee to register, which qualifies them for prizes, including cash payouts. New for this year, registrants will receive a unique referral code to share with others, and prizes will be awarded for referrals.

Register at anglersatlas.com.

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.