why is it so hard for bass fisherman to obey the law?

[A Lee]

I understand its hard to wait for the season to open, but why is it so hard for bass fisherman to not fish for bass when the season is closed? Between fishing out of season, power loading boats and not respecting other anglers on the water, I can see why other fisherman dislike bass fisherman so much. I fished at sessions this morning for bluegill and saw 2 boats fishing for bass and leave to find a bass schedule on my truck. for all of you that say you love this sport so much, I would think you would want to respect the laws of the state.

[rkillick]

Did u catch any bass while fishing for bluegill? Bass like leaf worms and crawlers too. Maybe not right but maybe they were trout or crappie fishing. I went out today and did some SI and flung a grub around for panfish checking out new water. I bet it looked like I was bass fishing. Not sticking up for anybody here but if you caught a bass or two while bluegill fishing,are you targeting them? Do you need to pull up anchor and move? Tough subject and we all should follow the rules.

[McCarter]

my take on it is guys fish for bass out of season just like people speed on the way to work or curse in public.  some laws will not be followed no matter what.  my opinion on the bass season is that it is ridiculous and unnecessary, but you know what they say about opinions, they are like 3rd nipples.  everybody has one. 

McCarter himself

[mikesmiph]

I have to basically agree with McCarter. Myself, I dont fish out of season. I did once last year and felt horrible. I do speed, all the time. I dont come to a complete stop at every stop sign. I used to drink and drive, A LOT. I agree that the bass season is a crock, its just one of the laws that I follow. I also dont rob or kill people. Everyone out there breaks some laws, some of the time. We can find fault in others, and feel better about ourselves, or we can have faith that that person you see targeting bass out of season is generally a good person. Even if that is one law that they choose to break. If you do the crime, you may do the time. If I get caught speeding, I pay the ticket.

[A Lee]

I dont know many people that fish for panfish with large spinners and jigs while trolling down the bank and casting but thats what was happening. Its just difficult to see when I come from a family of Conservations Officers and State Police. I guess there are always going to be people that break the law but they are there for a reason, even if you do not agree with them. I personally dont agree and dont see why there isnt a catch and release from January 1st - The Saturday before Memorial day, but its still the rules. Maybe as a group of bass fisherman we should do something to try and get the laws amended.

[mikesmiph]

We have been, and still are. Look around for some of the posts.

[matt]

I'm fishing with crappie jigs right now...can't help bass like em too.Trying to catch a few crappies and wait for the bass season to come around.It gets me out of the house.


The only thing that bothers me is the people catching species out of season and keeping them.Then yeah,I'll say something or call it in.

[fuzzygrub1611]

 Not all Bass anglers break the laws. Unfortunately some do. However, out of season fish will bite on lures not ment for them. I once caught a 24 inch pike on a little spinner ment for crappie. In my opinion the only thing that will stop this is change the season.

[A Lee]

Never seen a crappie in michigan hit a 3/4 oz spinner or a 1/2 oz jig with a full craw trailer. Please dont try to justify that as a crappie lure.

[mikesmiph]

Maybe this topic has run its course. Please drop it.

[teej]

IMO there is nothing wrong with fishing out of season if you understand what catch and release really means--snap some photos, handle the fish properly, and release it relatively close to where you caught it. Very rarely does ANYONE have a problem with this. But do not go out and and cull up to your 5 biggest and bring them back to the ramp and release them there, that's a problem. Just my two cents...

P.S. Don't call out every bass fisherman on power loading at the ramp b/c I have seen plenty of recreational boaters, jet skis, and yes even panfishermen do the same thing

[fuzzygrub1611]

 Try 1/8 ounce with 1 inch split tail grub.

[TCook]

My passion is bass fishing and no state law will ever prevent me from fishing for them at any time. We all catch and release anyways so whats the big deal??

[dartag]

been outside all day putting my dock and hoists in.  There have been 4 or 5 boats fishing all day.  A couple are bass boats others are small boats.  Hard to tell what they are fishing for.  One guy came by in a canoe casting a crankbait.  Sure will be glad when the 30th gets here and all this goes away.   Plus we can go to the Inn for lunch after catching lots of bass.

[A Lee]

It might be your passion but breaking the law is breaking the law. maybe you should move to a different state if you are so passionate that you need to break the law. Maybe do something positive with your passion and try to get the law changed. Take your logic and apply it to all the other laws we have in this state, doesnt make any sense.

[TCook]

Nope, ill stay here and fish for bass whenever I want and will sleep just fine after doing so. Enjoy those panfish Lee...

[TCook]

Here is an idea maybe the state would be more willing to the idea of no off season for bass if they could have a pre-season bass license (catch and release). It would be a win win, the state generates more revenue and we can legally fish for bass from ice out until the opener. This would also prevent the meat eaters from legally keeping any and an added expense to any other fisherman using the excuse that they are bass fishing when targeting a different specie that is off limits.

[djkimmel]

That's one possible idea though I don't want to make fishing more expensive if it really isn't necessary by adding on more fees. It has been suggested before, but in general additional fees have been shown to cause more people to quit hunting and fishing. Definitely the opposite of what I want to have happen.

Besides the fact that a closed bass season is not biologically necessary to protect bass, a couple other main reasons I've wanted to change it my whole adult life is that it would alleviate bass anglers arguing with each other every year about this time; and then I don't have to buy another boat just to prove to some people that I'm not bass fishing when there is no season for other legal fish.

Sure some people are targeting bass right now, though I can legally use the same exact lures this time of year and legally catch all the dogfish I want which I sometimes do now that I rarely fish in Michigan this time of year - just ask anyone who's been fishing with me when a dogfish (Savage?) goes by and you'll know I go out to target these fish when they move in to spawn pretty much about the same time bass do.

I even own greatlakesdogfish.com so once I get beyond the more popular fish, I can develop that using some of my dogfish pictures and video, yet no matter how many dogfish I catch everyone 'knows' I'm 'really' bass fishing. Let's not even go to when I crappie fish out of my bass boat. You're going to catch some bass in some lakes no matter what you do if you use lures that mimic things crappie and dogfish eat. And I can't afford to buy another type of boat just so I don't have to hear a few people tell me they know what I was doing.

So, I don't go fishing a lot anymore in early April. I have things to do and until the season gets fixed once and for all, I'm tired of a lot of wasted time arguing about ambiguities on message boards this time of year every year all over Michigan. There is no doubt this unnecessary closed bass season has caused a lot of wasted time and a large amount of lost revenue when Michigan can't afford it.

Why don't we do something different this spring? Step back for a minute. Park the egos and the ideologies and consider in the scheme of things going on in the world, how important really is it to continue this same argument that goes on exactly the same every spring in Michigan for over the last 20 years? I know I'm tired of it. Which is just another good reason I put a lot of time into changing this season when I can.

Now, I need to go eat something because obviously my sugar is out of whack...

[djkimmel]

Frankly, the only thing I ever want to say and then call this issue done every spring is 'let he/she who is without sin cast the first stone' even though I  understand how it can be upsetting to not fish for bass and see others fish for bass. It just doesn't seem fair... in the end though, anglers have been fishing for bass out of season for over 30 years in large numbers, and getting upset over it is not going to change that anymore than it will change if I remind anglers who fish for bass out of season that they are actually making it harder to change the season because of the resentment it causes with some anglers who consider 'us' all law breakers... funny since many of them are thinking that while they drive home from the lake over the speed limit...

What I really wish is that whomever first thought to call the style of boat I own a bass boat way back would have just called it anything else, then maybe we wouldn't nowadays be painted with such a broad brush so often. We could just be fishermen like everyone else... sigh.

I'm locking this because I really am tired and bored of this argument after all these years and though there will be some interesting and valuable opinions shared by some, there is the great potential that members will take stuff personal and things will get ugly. There's plenty to talk about that can actually make a difference or positively add to the content of the site so I feel safe in saying this is one topic we just aren't going to get on this year. Not on this site.