Fishing Regulations for McCoy Creek, Berrien County, Michigan

McCoy Creek is a designated trout stream, as legally determined by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) in FO-210 (.pdf). The MDNR has classified trout streams into 7 different categories, or types, for regulatory purposes.

McCoy Creek is a Type-1 stream. Regulations for Type-1 streams are among the most restrictive in Michigan in terms of season length and among the least restrictive in terms of types of tackle that can be used, daily possession limits, and minimum size limits.

Specific regulations, as they apply to McCoy Creek for the 2009 season, are as follows:

Open Season: last Saturday in April to September 30.

Possession Season: Same.

Tackle: All (including artificial flies, lures, and live bait).

Daily Possession Limit: 5 fish, of which no more than 3 may be 15 or more inches in length. EXCEPTION: Up to 5 salmon (Chinook^ and/or Coho^) 15 inches or larger may be kept daily.

Minimum Size Limits: Brook^ and Brown trout—8 inches; Rainbow Trout^—10 inches; Chinook^ and Coho^ salmon—10 inches.

^Wesley and Duffy (1999) do not depict McCoy Creek as being part of the “known past or present distributions” of any of these four species. However, they do show them as occurring in the mainstem of the St. Joseph River between Berrien Springs and Niles, so it is possible that some individuals of these introduced species make seasonal movements into the lower reaches of McCoy Creek. However, if one or more of these species were to enter the mouth of McCoy Creek, the water-control structure at the lower end of the McCoy Duck Pond—if not the falls at the site of the former Bainton Mill further downstream—provides an effective barrier to further upstream movement of fish.

The only other sport fish known to occur in McCoy Creek (historically or at present) is the Warmouth, a type of panfish.

Reference:

Wesley, Jay K., and Joan E. Duffy. 1999. St. Joseph River Assessment. Appendix 1c (.pdf). Distribution maps of fish species. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division Fisheries Report 24: 69-111. URL:
http://www.michigandnr.com/PUBLICATIONS/PDFS/ifr/ifrlibra/special/reports/sr24/sr24App1c.pdf