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Sutton Lake became popular with boaters and anglers, yielding bass, crappie, bluegill and other panfish.

The outdoorsman planned to use a 10-foot pole and live bait to catch panfish, including the bluegill, hybrid bluegill, crappie, perch and an “occasional largemouth bass,” per a statement on his website.

Catch-and-release fishing for bass is already in full swing, and bullhead, crappie, perch, and other panfish are moving into warming shallow bays and are willing to bite.

Some of the bigger proposals included lengthening the spring turkey-hunting season, changing smallmouth-bass fishing regulations along the New River, expanding nighttime hunting for coyotes and imposing a creel limit on panfish.

The spill killed roughly 3,000 fish, including panfish, shad, channel catfish, bass and walleye, and forced the closure of beaches in Portage and Ogden Dunes.