Lightning strike derails steelhead fish restocking at Little Manistee River Weir

A lightning strike damaged critical equipment on the Little Manistee River Weir, and derailed the Michigan Department of Natural Resources efforts to collect steelhead fish eggs for this year's restocking efforts. 

Severe storms on Monday night at the weir in the West Michigan community of Manistee caused a series of power failures to the holding tanks and the equipment that keep steelhead alive during egg collection efforts, the DNR said.  

Steelhead, which are also known as inland stream rainbow trout, are among Michigan's most popular sport fish.

The DNR fisheries staff had planned to collect 4.6 million steelhead eggs this year, and the impact of losing more than 1,200 fish to the lightning strike has yet to be determined. The DNR said its fisheries staff discovered the problem with the steelhead on Tuesday morning.  

"This loss extends beyond Michigan. The Little Manistee Weir supplies steelhead eggs to multiple states, meaning this event could affect regional stocking programs as well," the Great Lakes Salmon Initiative said on its social media post. 

The electrical damage took out the system's main power source, its backup power source and even the notification system that alerts staff to failures, the DNR said. This was all happening just as egg collection was to start on Tuesday, with the schedule continuing through April 22.

The DNR said power was restored with three of the four pumps functioning again by Tuesday afternoon. But that was not soon enough to save some of the fish. 

The Great Lakes Salmon Initiative said steelhead are among the species for which there are no backup egg capture facilities. Other state hatcheries have outdated equipment, and funding limits setting up backup sites. 

The above video originally aired on April 8, 2026.