Article in today's Freep

[TimH]

Well put Dan.  I think it is important that tournament trails look at other options for their tournaments, but reality is the technology isn't readily available or cost effective for smaller organizations to go with a Major League Fishing format.  I do think that some tournaments will go that route in the future, but the reality is the live weigh-ins are a big part of sport.  Its what people want to see.  Its how sponsors get seen.  And most importantly, its often times what draws people to become interested in trying bass fishing for the first time.  This is why it is vital that Michigan becomes more friendly for tournaments which includes an extended season.  As a State, we need to capitalize on the opportunities that we have to grow peoples interest in fishing while boosting the economy at the same time. 

[djkimmel]

There are people who are going to continue to fight ANY additional bass tournament opportunity, probably until the MDNR fully embraces bass tournaments as 'not evil.' I remember telling the Alabama fisheries chief how much I wanted to live in his world where his department SPONSORS bass tournaments as a great way to enhance fishing in Alabama. That's why it is so upsetting to me to hear other bass tournament anglers endorsing total... bull excrement-like statements that we kill 50% of our bass. I don't know how ANY real bass angler could support a slanderous statement like that. Disgusting and not true except in the most extreme, rare, small, local cases, especially in Michigan where our lower water temps make it a lot easier to keep bass alive.

I love it when I hear someone say at a weigh in "I'm going to give bass fishing a try!" That sure doesn't sound evil to me... The federations exist to preserve and promote bass fishing as a sport, and bass tournaments serve both purposes in multiple ways with minimal negative impact on our bass considering how many bass actually survive to be caught again.

[Jefferson]

After reading everything I can about the subject it boggles my mind how there is such a fight put up against changing the bass season. I have really only been into bass fishing for 3 seasons now so I have a newbie point of view. What gets me is that living right next to Lake St. Clair I can't even find people around me who want to fish for bass. Family, friends, family of friends, nobody! All I hear is why do you bass fish when you can catch walleye or perch or musky? It took finding this site and forum to actually talk to someone who bass fishes. So I'm surprised with all the opposition. After going to the weigh-ins when Chris Lane won the event in 2013 and really seeing what it's all about only made me more excited to dive headfirst into it. Even though I'm not a tournament angler I applaud all the work you guys are doing for the sport. Like I said, going to that weigh-in and feeling the excitement put me all in. I can only think it did the same thing for others and more tournaments would drum up more interest and economic impact.

[LennyB]

Myself, I like tournament fishing as much as anyone. That being said, do I think catch and kill or delayed release is going to improve the fishery, of course not. Any time you destroy a nest cannot be good. Will it ruin the fishery, no way! There are so many fish out there in such a vast area, the lakes will be fine. With the little amount of tournament participation we get, you got to be kidding me.  Look at the amount of people that signed all the petitions on both sides of the argument, you might have 3000 signatures between the two. That's nothing when you consider all the lakes and fish and the number of anglers in this state. There are probably more lakes in this state than there are signatures on all proposals both for and against.

Anyway, my 2 cents are this is a huge step forward/victory for the bass fishing community. There was absolutely no reason to not be able to catch and instantly release any fish year round in this state. Way to go on getting Catch and Instant Release in Michigan! Dan you will go down in the history books for making happen what every Michigan bass angler dreamed of.

[TimH]

After reading everything I can about the subject it boggles my mind how there is such a fight put up against changing the bass season. I have really only been into bass fishing for 3 seasons now so I have a newbie point of view. What gets me is that living right next to Lake St. Clair I can't even find people around me who want to fish for bass. Family, friends, family of friends, nobody! All I hear is why do you bass fish when you can catch walleye or perch or musky? It took finding this site and forum to actually talk to someone who bass fishes. So I'm surprised with all the opposition. After going to the weigh-ins when Chris Lane won the event in 2013 and really seeing what it's all about only made me more excited to dive headfirst into it. Even though I'm not a tournament angler I applaud all the work you guys are doing for the sport. Like I said, going to that weigh-in and feeling the excitement put me all in. I can only think it did the same thing for others and more tournaments would drum up more interest and economic impact.

This is exactly what I was talking about in my earlier post.  First of all, welcome to the bass fishing family.  You will find we are a good group that works just as hard to promote and protect bass as we do fishing for them.  I too and someone who lives close to Lake St. Clair and know exactly what you mean about people being baffled why you fish for bass.  Last spring the weather drove me off the main lake and I was fishing in a canal near 9 mile.  I had a homeowner come out and strike up a conversation while I was fishing.  He was a nice enough guy, but he said more than once..."I can't figure out why you are back here fishing for bass when there is a world class walleye run happening in the Detroit River."  I simple said, " it's because this is what I want to fish for." All he said back was..."I just don't get it."
You point of watching Chris Lane at the 2013 Elite Series event on St. Clair is spot on.  The weigh-ins bring so much excitement and appeal to sport, I can only imagine how many people have started bass fishing after attending a BASS or FLW weigh in.

[djkimmel]

We exist to preserve and promote bass fishing. Bass are the number 3 fish in popularity behind perch and walleye on Lake St. Clair according to the latest numbers I have seen. I don't mind catching perch or walleye but I fish for bass a lot more.

The last numbers from the MDNR show 70% of Michigan anglers now identify as bass anglers. Some people on Lake St. Clair may not realize bass are that popular because they are the exception rather than the rule. Because St. Clair is so popular a fishery for many kinds of anglers I hope we can continue to increase the quality of public access sites such as 9 Mile, St. Jeans and maybe a new top quality facility on Belle Isle State Park in the future.

And, of course, for the betterment of bass fishing and fishing throughout Michigan I will keep working to help acquire more public access to more of our public waters like Eagle Lake. Giving people access to fishing waters is one of the top, significant factors in getting and keeping people into fishing.