Conversation and Coffee Waterford meeting.

[dartag]

I attended the Waterford meeting last night.  There were 3 fisheries biologists there.  Didn't sound like they were given much direction on what to do.  There was no formal presentation.  They mingled with everyone and answered questions as well as they could.  There was a slideshow of there work and handout information on their fisheries projects.   Learned some interesting things about their fish planting and lake shocking surveys on our local lakes.  They did say there is a lot of the information on their web site it is just hard to find.   I counted 12 people while I was there.  George ( a member here ),  Bill McElroy and Mini were there.  No DNR officer attended so the questions I had on the bass season, fish culling and the union lake boat Launch move went un-answered. It was informative so I am glad I went.  They even had cookies with the coffee.   

[kram1982]

Thanks for going and for the report!

[mikesmiph]

Thanks for going cuz. Sorry I couldn't get there.

[djkimmel]

I attended the Waterford meeting last night.  There were 3 fisheries biologists there.  Didn’t sound like they were given much direction on what to do.  There was no formal presentation.  They mingled with everyone and answered questions as well as they could.  There was a slideshow of there work and handout information on their fisheries projects.   Learned some interesting things about their fish planting and lake shocking surveys on our local lakes.  They did say there is a lot of the information on their web site it is just hard to find.   I counted 12 people while I was there.  George ( a member here ),  Bill McElroy and Mini were there.  No DNR officer attended so the questions I had on the bass season, fish culling and the union lake boat Launch move went un-answered. It was informative so I am glad I went.  They even had cookies with the coffee.   

To be clear - you asked one or more of the MDNR Fisheries biologists questions about the bass season, fish culling and the Union Lake boat launch and got no answer at all? I would expect you would get some kind of answer for sure on question one, and should get some kind of answer on the biological / scientific part of fish culling?

Do you mind clarifying the actual questions you asked? I guess it matters a little exactly what questions you asked or how you asked them?

I am glad you felt the meeting was informative. Glad to hear some other bass anglers were there too. Thanks for going, and thanks for sharing some information back with all of us!

[dartag]

Union Lake Boat Launch.   The state bought property ½ mile south of the existing launch at the site of the old Aggressive Marine 4 years ago.   They tore down the building and the property is fenced off.   The grass is mowed once a year.  The property will only support 21 spots compared to the 40 ( I think ) are there now.  They were supposed to by the property to the north but the fisheries guy said upper management vetoed the purchase.  All he knew was if they move the launch it will reduce the number of spaces.  He did admit he did not know a lot about it. 

I asked the lady biologist about fish limits and culling. I didn't ask about affects on the fish just the rule.  She said that was an enforcement issue and got me the current rules book which is for 2 years now.   She said all fish limits are listed by species.  I asked if a DNR officer would be there and she said no it was a fisheries meeting.   
After that we all just talked about fish plantings and lake shocking surveys.   They were very informative on that topic. 
Not sure how much pre-planning or information they got from there management on what to cover.  As I said there was no formal presentation.   They were very nice to talk with.

[djkimmel]

Union Lake Boat Launch.

I asked the lady biologist about fish limits and culling. I didn't ask about affects on the fish just the rule. She said that was an enforcement issue and got me the current rules book which is for 2 years now. She said all fish limits are listed by species. I asked if a DNR officer would be there and she said no it was a fisheries meeting.

After that we all just talked about fish plantings and lake shocking surveys. They were very informative on that topic.

Not sure how much pre-planning or information they got from there management on what to cover. As I said there was no formal presentation. They were very nice to talk with.

That's good to know about Union Lake. I don't recall hearing anything about that ramp on any topic or discussion from the MDNR? I will ask the MDNR properties person and general parks division person what is going on there. I sure wouldn't want to lose a bigger ramp to a smaller ramp on any lake?? Hopefully, that is not something being entertained.

My understanding is these meetings are for you and all anglers to ask questions of the MDNR Fisheries Division, a get-to-know type of meeting. I wouldn't expect any kind of presentation, but definitely take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions. I think the pre-planning only goes as far as making sure they know the meetings are about getting anglers together with MDNR Fisheries Division staff to talk about common interests, answer questions and make them aware of what matters to you.

I'm still not clear if you asked something directly pertaining to the bass season and what that question(s) was?

The culling issue and/or fish limits are still scientific/biological. Why have either at all if they aren't scientifically/biologically necessary? I can guess how you asked about this might affect how they answered it. You were well within a good topic for Fisheries Division but definitely the question to ask would involve why these fishing restrictions even exist, particularly what effect having them verses not having them has on bass. I have heard this topic covered in detail in the past year for other Michigan fish/fish populations.

A small number of people seem to be pushing this topic - mostly about culling and/or the muskie tag, and I have heard MDNR staff say they are aware culling may need to be addressed and clarified from the state level down to the local, while the muskie tag has been fairly well explained as a kill tag - only needed when you plan to keep a muskie permanently, not just to weigh in and release later. I haven't moved it up on my radar with everything else going on for a couple reasons - 1) I can't get specific names, dates or even 100% information that the few persons who have told me about someone stopping them (or their brother's uncle's friend ) that it even was an MDNR CO verses maybe a local sheriff deputy marine patrol? It is hard to address these issues when they are so infrequent and not completely clear; 2) The other very few people complaining seem to have issues with 'some anglers getting treated special' (whatever...) and/or something like wanting an extreme interpretation of rules that will basically just limit fishing opportunity more regardless of any knowledge of scientific need or benefit to fish populations (again, whatever... ).

I have generally heard Conservation Officers state this is a topic that also involves cooperating with Fisheries Division because Law Enforcement Division personnel generally state the reasons behind this law are scientific/biological. Personally, I would like to see a clarification that as long as you don't possess over the legal limit you can keep fishing for any fish. That just goes along with my belief we should allow general catch-and-release fishing for any species anywhere only limiting anglers in rare cases if there is a proven scientific/biological need.

I'm very glad you were able to talk about some scientifically helpful information like fish plantings and lake surveys. It is always helpful to have more information about what they are doing, why and how they're using it. That can also help us anglers do a better job of letting them know what we want, what is important to us.