Coffee with the DNR

[t-bone]

Got this email... might be a good forum to be vocal about the need for an open season. Nice article in Michigan Outdoor news Mr. Kimmel!


Conversations & Coffee with DNR Fisheries Division
Are you interested in meeting with fisheries managers and biologists to discuss local issues and management activities? Do you have specific questions you'd like answered about Michigan's fisheries?Conversations and coffee with DNR Fisheries Division

Come to one of our 11 "Conversations & Coffee with DNR Fisheries Division" forums scheduled throughout the state this March and April. They will be held in each of our eight management units that oversee the state's fisheries.

These informal forums will also make information available on local and statewide regulations impacting anglers. Refreshments will be provided.

Meeting dates, times and locations include:

• Tuesday, March 18 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Bay City State Recreation Area Visitors' Center located at 3582 State Park Drive in Bay City, hosted by the Southern Lake Huron Management Unit.
• Wednesday, March 19 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Carl T. Johnson Hunting & Fishing Center located at 6087 E. M-115 in Cadillac, hosted by the Central Lake Michigan Management Unit.
• Thursday, March 20 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Waterford Fisheries Station located at 7806 Gale Road in Waterford, hosted by the Lake Erie Management Unit.
• Thursday, March 20 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the DNR Pocket Park (U.P. State Fair Grounds) located at 2401 12th Avenue North in Escanaba, hosted by the Northern Lake Michigan Management Unit.
• Thursday, March 27 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the D&R Sports Center located at 8178 West Main Street in Kalamazoo, hosted by the Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit.
• Tuesday, April 8 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tahquamenon Area Public Library located at 700 Newberry Avenue in Newberry, hosted by the Eastern Lake Superior Management Unit.
• Wednesday, April 9 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Ishpeming Township Hall located at 1575 U.S. 41 in Ishpeming, hosted by the Western Lake Superior Management Unit.
• Thursday, April 10 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. (CST) at the Gogebic Community College located at E. 4946 Jackson Road in Ironwood, hosted by the Western Lake Superior Management Unit.
• Monday, April 14 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Sydney's Restaurant located at 400 Cedar Street in Munising, hosted by the Eastern Lake Superior Management Unit.
• Wednesday, April 16 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Portage Lake District Library located at 58 Huron Street in Houghton, hosted by the Western Lake Superior Management Unit.
• Wednesday, April 16 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Northland Sportsmen's Club located at 1592 Old Alba Road in Gaylord, hosted by the Northern Lake Huron Management Unit.

[bob o]

i would go to the Waterford one if i could, and i don't even like coffee

[dartag]

A guy from work askes a couple times a week if I am going.  It is a 4 mile drive.   Maybe I will wander up there.   Anyone else going

[Slipkey]

I might head down to the one at D&R, if my schedule permits.  Anyone who can make it should as sometimes I think we need more "squeaky wheels" who are bass fishermen to offset the stock'em/catch'em/keep'em crowd. 

[mikesmiph]

I think I can be at the Waterford one. I certainly will try.

[kram1982]

I'm going to the one in Bay City tonight. Be interested to see what they have to say.

[Team houston]

Nice of them to have most of them in the U.P.

[djkimmel]

Thanks for posting this! It has been on my todo list for days! Thanks for the nice comment about the article. It was taken from a cleaned up and fleshed out version of my February public comments to the Natural Resources Commission.

I was thinking they were having one per the latest MDNR region offices. Looking at it with more than a glance I see they have combined a number of regions in the Lower Peninsula. It's always weird for me, living in Lansing, that they rarely have these types of meeting IN Lansing. I can't make any this week due to the Ultimate Sport Show, but I am looking at the one on March 27 at D & R Sports Center.

LITERALLY, the squeaky wheel is getting the grease now more than ever. We need to take advantage of these kinds of opportunities and make our voices heard. Change is hard for people so YOU need to squeak loud enough to overcome that. Please go to one of these meetings. The extra time you use to do so will be paid back in future (soon?) improvements!

If you always bought the $15 Michigan fishing license in the past, you are now paying $11 more to do the SAME thing. Make sure you take every opportunity to tell the MDNR that you want MORE opportunity for paying more! Don't let any of them tell you they do as much for bass as they do other fish. You can always ask them for specific examples if they push that line.

Bass don't need as much 'help' as the other fisheries in the obvious ways such as large, expensive stocking programs, but there are local lake issues like habitat / aquatic plants, AND they can definitely make bass fishing more enjoyable for all of us by giving us a year-round bass season.

DO SOME SQUEAKING WHERE IT COUNTS!

I think this is new and may be very helpful to anyone who needs to contact the MDNR for something: http://michigan.gov/documents/dnr/DNR_customer_service_guide_407568_7.pdf

[djkimmel]

i would go to the Waterford one if i could, and i don't even like coffee

If you can go, please go!

[djkimmel]

A guy from work askes a couple times a week if I am going.  It is a 4 mile drive.   Maybe I will wander up there.   Anyone else going

Sounds like a smart guy! It will help if you go and tell them what you want.

[djkimmel]

I might head down to the one at D&R, if my schedule permits.  Anyone who can make it should as sometimes I think we need more "squeaky wheels" who are bass fishermen to offset the stock'em/catch'em/keep'em crowd. 

I hope you can go. I have this one in my calendar. Updating my calendar today to make sure I don't have a scheduling conflict.

[djkimmel]

I think I can be at the Waterford one. I certainly will try.

Hope you can go too. You know how to talk. We need some people to do some talking. Tell them what YOU want!

[djkimmel]

I'm going to the one in Bay City tonight. Be interested to see what they have to say.

I like your attitude. Make sure you tell them what YOU have to say. That's really what these are about!

[djkimmel]

Nice of them to have most of them in the U.P.

The UP is spread out and remote. I think that is why they haven't combined more of them. I hope people can actually safely get around up there by that time. I wish we had one to three more in the Lower Peninsula but this is a start. Hope you can go to one of them.

[Waterfoul]

I am going to make every effort to hit the one at D & R in Kalamazoo.  I finally get to voice my opinion about the drop shot laws!  LOL!!

I'm going to start composing my speech now.   

[djkimmel]

That is a GREAT idea!!! With the MDNR saying they're going to the 2-year Fishing Guide cycle it means things may take even longer to change.

I suggest you consider asking for information that supports the need for this restriction:

• How many tickets are written for long-line snagging, or anything other gear?
• Where exactly are significant numbers of violations written at - what water body, what part(s) of the water body (localized? or spread out over a wide area?)?
• Go to the list of drowned river mouth lakes and note them all. Compare each of the listed lakes to any reports of violations in the actual lake(s) to see if ALL of the lakes really need to be on the restrictive list?
• If you are told they don't have some of the above information, ask to hear from each of the local Conservation Officers directly to ask them the same questions? They should be able to provide some type of idea about the significance of the 'problem?'

A couple other ideas:
1) you can also consider talking about limiting the restrictions on rivers to specific stretches or locations if and when the problem appears to be limited to near the big lake, or a popular stretch between bridges or other defined area, or below certain dams. The MDNR has done exactly this type of limited impact regulation for other issues or problems in the past. They could do it here too maybe.
2) If you are told something along the lines of how this restriction is not a big deal, or not too much to ask anglers to comply with to 'help' make law enforcement easier and/or possible, my credo is always the same - we shouldn't be punishing the vast majority of the good persons because of a small number of bad ones. I go to meetings where at least one MDNR CO has publicly stated he doesn't expect us to pass regulations or limit opportunity just to make his job easier.

Snagging is illegal. If you aren't snagging and you're using a lure with hooks you should be able to enjoy your fishing using popular techniques that pretty much the whole rest of the known free world is able to. Michigan needs to be a true leader in opportunity and enjoyment of the outdoors - making Michigan a very welcome, safe and easy place for people to fish in! Lets get rid of any restriction that isn't really needed. I know I personally want to make Michigan 'the opportunity state.'

[dartag]

A guy from work askes a couple times a week if I am going.  It is a 4 mile drive.   Maybe I will wander up there.   Anyone else going

Sounds like a smart guy! It will help if you go and tell them what you want.

I showed him your reply,  told him you are a famous web master..  He smiled and said Are you going?  Peer pressure I tell ya.      I will report back on Friday.

[kram1982]

Just got back from the Bay City meeting, all I have to say is wow!  Only bass angler that was there, well that would admit it anyways.  It was all about walleye and yellow perch and a little lake trout and invasive species.

I specifically asked about opening the bass season year round, and if not open year round having year round catch and release.  I got two different answers to this question, the first was that they had an issue with this because they are worried they can't control/enforce the walleye anglers who would be "fishing for bass" and keeping walleye illegally.  I responded to this by saying how is this fair to bass anglers who are doing the right thing using catch and release by punishing bass anglers because they can't trust the few people who are going to catch and keep walleye illegally. I also said it's important to increase fishing opportunity for bass anglers and by potentially adding a month or month and a half when the ice is off would increase the amount of time spent on the water.  The response to that was that bass anglers have until the end of December to fish for bass and they feel that is a lot of time already, they also said that they think catch and release fishing has harmed bass populations and reproduction in the spring.  I was almost laughing by this point, couldn't believe what I was hearing.  I asked how catch and release fishing for bass in March and April is harming the bass populations when a lot of bass aren't even spawning until mid to late May and into all of June.  Last year at my opening tournament on Lobdell Lake the fish were still in pre-spawn patterns Memorial Day weekend.  I'm sure some were spawning but not many yet.  The Burt and Mullet BFL was a spawn tournament with tons of fish being caught off beds and when I was up there again in late June there were still a few smallmouth bass sitting on beds.

They didn't have an answer for me to that question and I was pretty disappointed in the answer about them being worried about walleye poaching enforcement in regards to having year round catch and release season for bass.  I feel like this shouldn't be anything to do with bass fishing.  Overall I think I figured out there isn't much love for bass anglers and it's all about walleye and other traditional eating fish in this state.

I also asked about what they were doing about the additional money they were bringing in from in from eliminating the restricted fishing license and all I got was the company line of checking the DNR Website and all the information is listed there.  So not much of an answer there either.   

I am extremely blown away by what I heard, especially about the worries about walleye poaching during a possible early bass catch and release season. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised after reading some of the information that Dan has posted here.  It is going to be hard to change minds in this state, especially since I was the only bass angler who was there out of about 12 people.  If anyone else has a chance to attend any other meetings please get out there and go!  We need more bass anglers standing up for our own out there!

[Team houston]

Nice report, thanks for attending.

[djkimmel]

A guy from work askes a couple times a week if I am going.  It is a 4 mile drive.   Maybe I will wander up there.   Anyone else going

Sounds like a smart guy! It will help if you go and tell them what you want.

I showed him your reply,  told him you are a famous web master..  He smiled and said Are you going?  Peer pressure I tell ya.      I will report back on Friday.

I like this guy. We should meet!