If you are fishing in Michigan already PLEASE read this

[djkimmel]

The weather is awesome. Spring fever is coming early and already at a pitch. So maybe that is why this is worse than normal, but please, everyone, if you are fishing right now in Michigan, remember that on almost all inland lakes pike and walleye are closed until the last Saturday in April when catch and release bass season opens.

I have to delete any posts about going out in Michigan on inland lakes targeting an out of season fish or a post that appears you are catching bass out of season regardless of what you say you are targeting. There's tons on evidence on facebook and other sites - pictures, details - but I do not want any on this website. I have already talked to one member who was ticketed because he was observed catching visible bass. That is the kind of ticket you won't get out of.

I will be trying to work on changing the bass season again and when I talk to the MDNR, some of them make a point to bring up that I seem to be condoning illegal activity by allowing people to talk about fishing for out of season fish on this website. It makes an already difficult task so much more difficult. None of us need that if we want it to improve.

Please do not take it personal but I will be deleting all posts without warning that mention or seem to be mentioning fishing for out of season fish in Michigan. If you go fishing somewhere where it is legal such as pike and walleye on the Lower Peninsula Great Lakes, please be clear where you were fishing and what you were targeting. People will love to read that right now, but if you mention also catching 20 bass on tubes, I will still delete it. We can all read between the lines including the MDNR.

If you truly go crappie fishing, you can talk about the crappie you catch all you want, but do not talk about the bass you caught too. People will assume that is what you were targeting. If you want to mention that you saw bass shallow and what they were doing. Fine. dartag gave a great report on that but notice no where in his post did he mention he tried to catch them or did catch them. That is a great example of sharing valuable information while not promoting illegal activity.

I'm happy that you are enjoying this amazing weather and glad you are catching some fish. We all love to talk about our fishing exploits and people like to read about it but this time of year, you are going to have to keep your bass catches to yourself. Thank you.

[Eric]

What about private waters?  I know there are differences with hunting regulations regarding your own property, but I'm not sure about fishing.  Can I legally try to catch my fish out of my pond on my property, or not? 

[Jmcfarland]

First off my apologies Dan. You are doing and do an awesome job here and I love being a small part of that. Now for the rant. First off, I am a very law abiding citizen. I honestly do not have a very confrontational personality but, what is it that the MDNR is protecting by not letting us catch and release fish for bass this time of year??? I totally get it if your going home with a livewell full of bass and killing them. I would list the many obvious points of why it should be legal to catch and release fish but I know you are much more educated about these points than I probably ever will be. Perhaps we should get the MDNR to list all the obvious points of why it should be illegal? I have never been in trouble with the law or had any conflicts with the MDNR. I did get ticketed for duck hunting by myself when I was 15 about 300 yards across the lake from my fathers house. Which seemed a little ridiculous at the time and even more so when I see kids in trouble for smoking or drinking at the same age. I know this is probably not the right venue to express my opinions but I know there are definitely a lot of guys and gals on this site that feel the same as I do. I know you are doing as much as you can to get this changed and I honestly should be doing more myself. This is in NO WAY meant as a personal attack and if you read this and remove it I will take no offense. I do not feel breaking the law is the right thing to do. Most laws are put into effect to protect the people and do just that. But isn't there a bill of rights that says something about pursuit of happiness and cruel and unusual punishment??? Well if a guy sits all winter and stares at a lake waiting for the ice and snow to be gone and then is told on a gorgeous spring day that he has to wait another month to go fishing I think that is definitely messing with his pursuit of happiness and is a little cruel and unusual. Anyway this is just my 2 cents. I really don't want to cause a lot of problems for you or start a war. But maybe that would get the attention of the crazy people putting these laws into effect. On a last note if this makes your blood boil let me know what to do. It is about time I get off my butt and do what I can to help out. Thanks

[mikesmiph]

I say this every spring when this subject comes up, EVERY spring. I dont fish for bass until its legal, bottom line. I dont, because its not legal to do so. Thats it. The only reason. I know a lot of people do, I'm not one of them. I'm with Dan on trying to get the law changed, you're right, it makes no sense. But, its still a law. Until the laws change, which I feel confident they will, I wont target bass or any other species, until they are legal to target.

[dartag]

This is another topic that comes up each year.   It was nice when we had 3 lakes with April 1st catch and release.  People wanted it changed so they changed it to last sat in April.   Maybe some day they will do away with the closed
Season.  

[MSURoss]

What about private waters

[SethV]

You can also vote with your wallett.  I will not buy ANY fishing or boating related item in Michigan until the "real" season opens up for tournaments here.  C&R is also stupid, there should be no season at all on bass, just like the southern states with much smarter DNR.

I bought all of my spring boat supplies (fuel fliter, ect) out of state this year.  I won't even buy a bag of soft plastics locally until they let us fish.

[t-bone]

Private waters - I've read other forums on this and it appears that the owners of the private lakes are exempt from needing a fishing license and fishing regulations. Being classified as private is a bit tricky and people need to be careful with this. They should probably check with their local CO about whether a lake is truly private.

[Mojo]

Guys - Dan is doing us a particularily important service. Invaluable. I've never had a website owner provide such complete service to his sponsors, customers, all while using his website as a creative tool to gather and demonstrate support for DNR issues close to the sportsmans heart.

I'm glad he removed my post. I learned what every single fish is in season and what is out of season ..... and I shouldnt be near water til I fully knew.  

My moto is clear: IF FRANK CAN DO IT,,,,, SO CAN WE !!! He found data and information, sent it in to one officer. He got a law changed in less than 1 year !!

Im not one to complain and NOT DO ANYTHING, and boycotting purchases is not doing something ... because the loss of revenue cannot be traced to the specific reasoning. Love ya Seth, but its time we stand up together and change the law.

Lets take this topic to the Michigan Bass Season thread and gather our 100 - 200 members and get Dan what he needs from us for his April meeting with the MDNR.

WWFD .......

[djkimmel]

What about private waters?  I know there are differences with hunting regulations regarding your own property, but I'm not sure about fishing.  Can I legally try to catch my fish out of my pond on my property, or not? 

If you completely own the water or have property with a group that completely owns the water, you can fish whatever whenever if I understand the regulations correctly. Just please make the distinction clearly in your post that you are fishing a private lake and don't be surprised when others ask where it is at or for you to take them fishing!

[djkimmel]

What about private waters

Make sure it is private and that you have a legal right to be on the water and you should be okay. Private waters that meet this are very limited and don't mean a lake with no public access. Most lakes with a navigable inlet or outlet are not private. Generally, we are talking about a small pond completely on your property or a man-made lake with some type of limited association ownership. Some bigger lakes people consider private are not private in the sense that they don't fall under state regulations. I can't go beyond that. We're talking law now and I'm not a lawyer.

If you are absolutely sure that you are on a truly private lake legally, then make that distinction and post away. Some people may still question it. I can't help that much either.

[djkimmel]

I would love to resolve this entire issue once and for all, but not everyone feels the same way about our bass season. Even when we had all those public meetings and our own bass angler pre-meetings, it was hard to get everyone to agree to one thing. I have very limited resources and time. I'm my own boss now and have to learn so many new things. I did not plan on working on the season at all this year but you know what they say about the best plans...

I see a possible good opportunity this year thanks to some unexpected new relationships. I will do the best I can with it and take help anyone offers as it becomes more clear what needs to be done. I know I don't have the time or resources - and probably couldn't do it anyway at this time - to get our bass season open all year. Way too many complicating issues.

I have always gone for the best compromise I think I can get. There's almost always compromise when you are dealing with large numbers of people and all those differing opinions along with the fear of change with a little selfishness thrown in. I do truly see light way at the end of a long bass season tunnel for the first time in my adult life of working on this issue. I still am not sure if it is the end or a train but I think it might be the end. I sure hope so.

We have some of the best bass fishing in the world in Michigan thanks to our amazing resources, and many people are very interested in enjoying it with us. More people are interested in pursuing that now. Meanwhile, there are many more localized issues that could improve things even more that anyone could choose to take on like Frank did and have a realistic expectation of accomplishing something with a little work.

I'm thinking expanding drop shotting on the West side, minimizing the use of aquatic plant control on inland lakes, wetlands protection, ramp improvements and additions and more. Any one of you could choose something like this and make something happen. Frank did! Way to go Frank! Who's next?

[MSURoss]

What did Frank do exactly?

[motocross269]

I look at this time of year as an opportunity to force myself to pursue other species of Fish....Walleye fishing is a blast and they taste great...I am hearing some pretty good reports on Perch and Crappie....The Blue gills should be moving onto their beds....Steelhead are probably already running or darn close....

With Bass I would just as soon save my time, energy and financial resources to nailing down patterns during the Tournament season that doesn't kick off until June...It is a blast to catch the smallies in early spring on LSC but that doesn't help much to score points during the competitive season......Just my opinion....

The tournament weights are better in Michigan than they have been as long as I have been fishing....So to be honest I am pretty happy with the way things stand....Remember not everyone is as Conservation minded as people from this site...There are alot of meat hunters out there that will keep a limit every time they are out.....Just like most other laws some of the conservation laws are made to target the 10 percenters that don't value the resource...

[Jmcfarland]

I just don't like looking over my shoulder thinking I am doing something wrong or feeling guilty about doing something I love with out good evidence that what I'm doing is deconstructive. I really didn't mean to tick anyone off and I too have been on this forum and seen this similar thread the last 7 or so years and avoided it. I think we are all in this together and see no sense in arguing amongst ourselves. Something about today and feeling guilty about wanting to go bass fishing that just got under my skin. If you want the real ugly rant we can bring up peta or gun control I like your suggestion Djkimmel- I'm not sure what Frank did exactly but I'm sure it helped me or the fishing community out in some way. Thanks Frank. I'm also not the most educated person about all the facts and statistics. I do read a lot of online articles and research from biologist and such and almost everything they say pretty much states that immediate C&R bass fishing does not hurt the resource reguardless of season (spawn/summer/fall/winter). I don't want to go on and on but what about the natives setting nets on the inland waters??? Do they release the bass they catch this time of year??? I'm betting I'm wrong but don't those nets kill fish reguardless of species? I just see it as a double standard or very hypocritical. I don't consider myself the smartest bulb in the pack but how do they consider that legal, but us fishing with one line up to 5 single hooks    and releasing our fish, illegal? Especially when this is going on in exactly the same lake? I guess I don't see the sense in abiding by a law that isn't protecting anything while they make it legal for that to go on. It's like wiping before you poop. It don't make sense. Anyway I'm done for now. I know what happens every year. We all get mad and say we will do something but in a couple weeks most of us go fishing and forget (at least thats been me). Lol. I'm gonna try not to this year. If nothing else this has motivated me to try and do my part. I hope it has someone else too.

[djkimmel]

Our present bass season isn't based on study (they don't support it) or conservation though people will claim that is the reason. It is based on social management and promoting a holiday weekend most of all. It is based on old, conservative ideals that mostly only exist in the Northern states following some old, old thoughts about bass biology that have long ago (over 50+ years) been proven incorrect.

No one should get mad at anyone for just stating your opinions. We all have them based on who we are, how we were brought up and what we believe or think we believe in.

Me, I think the future of fishing and the outdoors in general, along with our Michigan economy, depends upon managing our resources to provide the absolute most opportunity they can provide with the least amount of confusing regulations. I feel the studies clearly demonstrate that we have more opportunity to give in Michigan, and also that we can do other things related to habitat and clean water that will do more for our bass than a closed season ever could. I also think a lot more people feel that way now than ever before.

I brought this topic up only because it still won't be a cake walk and I don't want it any tougher than it already will be for anyone who wants to work on it. Some people will always fear and fight change.

[Mojo]

"I see a possible good opportunity this year thanks to some unexpected new relationships. I will do the best I can with it and take help any offers as it becomes more clear what needs to be done....."

It's worthy - provide the tasks,  I'll build the team and execute the plan. It's what I do.

Need a poll established ? Signature drive ? Organize a Meeting to get a written, compromised, generally popular change that can be introduced into law ? "DROP"..... That's the sound of one willing to drop what I got to help a worthy cause. 

Can you ?

[djkimmel]

We'll see what the tasks are at the end of April. I don't think much will happen until then.

[Frank]

lol, I'm not sure FRANK did anything.  I met the guy who was heavily involved with making this a public lake by chance.  I was at an awards banquet for my business where he gave a horribly boring hour long speech.  Because he mentioned this lake I was the only one in the room at full attention.  I sat with him for a half hour afterwords and expressed my opinions about how small yet amazing the lake was.  Possibly, he listened.  After that I wrote Dan on here and on his advice I called and sent letters to a few people in the govt. and the DNR.  Maybe they listened.  Then again, maybe I had nothing at all to do with it yet someone did and I'm thankful.

That being said,
I did hear that DNR is enforcing the bass issue this year and ill see what I can find out.  Please think about this while addressing this issue: I know a lot of people and have yet to identify one person who breaks no laws at all.  My sister is about as close as you get to being a goody goody but I remember a time last year when she found a quarter on the floor and I'm positive she didn't declare that on her income.  We all no that our govt should get at least 4 cents of that.  Hmm, I think I'm going to turn her in.

If you guys need my help changing this legislation, I will give you my all after June 1st.  I can help in small amounts until May.

Frank

[ROI Outdoors]

We'll see what the tasks are at the end of April. I don't think much will happen until then.

Shouldn't we have proposals ready for your meeting?  I know it isn't the most popular strategy but I think the best shot we have at doing this right is by generating NEW income for the DNR - they'll need to dedicate additional resources with seasonal changes so it would be wise to have a plan in place that added revenue.  A resident $18 & non-resident $28 year-round CDR (catch & delayed release) permit would be more than fair - consider the water we have to manage here and we should really be paying a whole lot more for our licenses.  The article below is one of many on the topic.....opening up the season for bass fisherman & tourney anglers would improve both resident & non-resident license sales over night.  If we simply had 5000 residents and 1000 non-residents we be able to cover additional MDNR expenditures of $118,000 - that's not much but it would pay for a couple new full-time CO's.   

Cited By Jeff Alexander/Bridge Magazine contributor - 27 October 2011

TAKES TWO TO FISH: A state official says Michigan fisheries are doing fine, but the number of anglers dropping hooks into the water is headed down, threatening funding for fisheries programs and hurting revenue for a billion-dollar industry in the state.

"If fewer people are buying fishing licenses, that means there is less money for the state's Fish and Game Fund," said Thorsen, a life member of Trout Unlimited who owns a cabin on the upper Manistee River.

The number of licensed anglers in Michigan has dropped by 20 percent since 1995, and continues to decrease at a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent annually, according to state officials.

Fewer anglers mean less money for the Fish and Game Fund, which translates into less funding for programs that nurture and protect Michigan's myriad of fisheries and wildlife populations.

That trend is particularly alarming because Michigan's fisheries program, which generated $1.6 billion of economic activity in 2006 (the most recent statistic available), is funded almost entirely with revenue from the sale of fishing and hunting licenses.

"We're not seeing a decline in fishing because the fisheries suck — our fisheries are as good as they've been in decades," said Jim Dexter, acting chief of fisheries for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Michigan has one of the nation's largest and most diverse fisheries. The state borders four of the five Great Lakes, has more than 10,000 inland lakes and 36,000 miles of river and streams — 12,500 miles of which are coldwater trout streams.

Field & Stream magazine recently named Michigan the nation's best state for fly-fishing.

Yet, the ranks of anglers fishing here continue to slide.       

A study released this year of the charter fishing business in the Great Lakes found significant declines in charters from out-of-state visitors and from the Flint and Detroit areas between 1990 and 2009.  The charter business, concentrated heavily in Lake Michigan, has averaged a $20 million annual economic impact for coastal communities in the last two decades.         

"This is one of the state's most interesting conundrums," Dexter said. "We have so many fantastic fishing opportunities and our inland fisheries are second to none, and yet we continue to see this decline in the number of anglers."



IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP THE SPORT-FISHING SLEEPING GIANT THAT IS MICHIGAN!