Off Shore Race Schedule for 2008

[Roy Randolph]

July 11th - 13th Detroit River Between Belle Isl and Shore
More info here http://www.amfoffshoreracing.com/

July 26th & 27th St. Clair River in front of the city of St. Clair (Pine River)
River will be closed on the 27th during the race
More info here http://www.amfoffshoreracing.com/


August 9th & 10th Algonac (Will Close the noth Channel) See Map below


More infor herehttp://www.drtruax.com/chriscraft1.htm

[bigjc]

Thanks for the heads up Roy, that is good info to have.

JC

[Jighead]

August 9th & 10th Algonac (Will Close the noth Channel)

SWEET!!  Same weekend as the BFL St. Clair and Wonderland Open.

[bigjc]

I have been on the St. Clair River during one of those off shore races, must have been 75 or more Cigarette style/off shore rigs passed us while I was on the trolling motor.  That sucked

[Roy Randolph]

That's why I figured I post this now! Most times we don't get this info till the last minute

Here's a short video of what you can expect on the river
http://www.fishingpixels.com/boatrace1.html

[Waterfoul]

As a former offshore racer and avid (maybe addicted?) fisherman, all I can say is we had as much right to the water as any fisherman.  The schedules are put out in advance, the courses are closed to the public, and we always had coast gaurd approval for our events.  So if you choose to fish anywhere near the course that's not an issue the racers will ever show you any sympathy on, trust me.

To this day nothing sounds more sweet to me than a pair of finely tuned big blocks at 100 mph.

[Roy Randolph]

No one here is saying that these races shouldn't be allowed. We are just trying to schedule our time accordingly

[djkimmel]

No one type of user should be able to exclude all other types of users from using a major public resource. The race behind Belle Isle leaves the main channel open. The Algonac race appears to be a pain for trying to get through the North Channel, but at least people can get around it, but the one up by St. Clair closes the entire northern part of the St. Clair River off from the south. Poor planning and an unfair exception being made to one group.

There has to be better options available than closing all traffic. There will be plenty of users of a public resource who don't care about the race, but sure would like to get through (me for one) and not be inconvenienced by a subset of the users of the same resource. I was stunned the first time I ran north and was stopped and told I could go no further north by a marine patrol. Sure messed up my plans. The resource has to be shared. They should go further north and use one side of the middle grounds leaving the other side open for passage.

I do appreciate having earlier warning about this - that will help make a distasteful situation a little better so we can at least avoid very unpleasant surprises. I've had this happen to me in the past in the Trenton channel, the Grand River and Saginaw River in tournaments. Maybe I'd feel a little better about it if large bass tournaments got the same special treatment at times, but as my Mom taught me years ago, life isn't fair all the time. Besides, I've never been in favor of any group completely usurping all others. That includes myself and activities I'm involved in. Even tournaments shouldn't completely monopolize a public resource.

[Waterfoul]

The only reason they close the entire section of the river is for the safety of evyerone involved, and that includes us fishermen who might want to get by.  Some of those boats are now approaching 200 mph (which is WAY cool to me) and if one goes off course due to a mechanical failure (which can and does happen) it can be very dangerous.  Believe me.. you don't WANT to be anywhere near the course while they are running unless you are in one of the designated spectator areas.

As I said, I'm a former racer and have since then worked at several events both on and off the water.  These guys take safety very serious... their lives and the lives of everyone involved depends on it.  It's only one day.  We will be fine without fishing that particular area or having to make a detour for that one day.

[Jighead]

Poor planning and an unfair exception being made to one group.

Bingo!  The DNR doesn't let us walk in and close up a public launch ramp for the purpose of holding a tournament.  How can a race group get away with closing an entire river?  Doesn't sound like a good venue for a race of that type.

[Waterfoul]

For this event there is another way up or down river, so they are not "closing" the river by any means.

Look fellas, I'm not trying to be a jerk... I'm just asking that you see the other side of the coin here...  I've been to tournaments that have more than closed down a ramp due to the sheer number of boats present.  No self respecting casual fisherman would be caught dead at some of these ramps... and they female dog just as loud as you guys are doing right now about the racing.

For one day, on less than 3 miles of river you/we cannot fish.  It's not the end of the world.

[ronhuntfish]

Usually I like to keep this to myself, but I'll help you out.  They close off the river, but you can normally take that small channel (I forget the name) that cuts through Russell and Harsen's Islands to get from the North to the South Channel.

We fished there in 2007 durring the races and the small cut was open to all traffic.

On the picture Roy shows it is about where the words '1 1/4 mile course' are shown.

Don't tell anyone I told you.

[bigjc]

To this day nothing sounds more sweet to me than a pair of finely tuned big blocks at 100 mph.

I gotta agree with you on that part.....nothing screams Horse Power like a Formula w/ twin screw 500's wide open

[djkimmel]

To clarify, I'm not talking about the North Channel race. I mentioned that at least that one allows alternative travel routes and only affects that part of the North Channel.

I'm talking about the one up at the city of St. Clair that effectively closes off some of the best parts of the river fishing from the south.

The first time I ran into that one, I ran a LONG way to fish the upper river only to find out I could not even get through along the shore at no wake. Effectively closed off access to most of the best big bass fishing available in the river that time of year to anyone from the south - where most of us are coming from.

I don't doubt it's nice for that percentage of people who like boat racing, but it sucks for me and anyone who wants to fish up there that day. Too much resource denied for too few. Bad location and setup.

I like the Belle Isle race. You're not supposed to run on that side of Belle Isle anyway and when all those tuna boats are back there watching the race, it leaves the rest of the river open and a lot less rough for us anglers. That is usually one of the easiest running days on the vicious Detroit River.

Taking up a ramp is an issue too, but not the same as closing 10 or 15 miles of river to travel and enjoyment by others. They should have a no wake lane at least along one of the shorelines for smaller craft, mostly anglers.

[Waterfoul]

Well, the Coasties and local LEO's make those decisions... race officials can only make recomendations to them.

[motocross269]

I kind of have to back Waterfoul on this one...It is very common to restrict public access to public areas for sporting events...Marathons, Car races, off-road motorcycle events, Mountain bike races, cross country ski races, etc..etc...

[ronhuntfish]

I'm talking about the one up at the city of St. Clair that effectively closes off some of the best parts of the river fishing from the south.

I beleive they close that to freighter traffic too.  (That means no Bass Cats!)

[motocross269]

I'm talking about the one up at the city of St. Clair that effectively closes off some of the best parts of the river fishing from the south.

I beleive they close that to freighter traffic too.  (That means no Bass Cats!)

MEOOOWWW!!!! Ouch that hurt!!!

[Waterfoul]

They do NOT close down the freighter traffic... I remember racers having to negotiate freighters on more than one occasion over the years.  My freind Mike, who is a multi race winner has told me some pretty hairy stories about dodging freighters too.

[djkimmel]

I thought the officer who stopped me and told me I couldn't get through said that even the frieghters were held up during the St. Clair area race. That would seem insane to me to allow freighters through although I guess if you like NASCAR (I don't watch that either) it might spice things up a bit to watch a 'go-faster' boat flip at a 100+ over a freighter wake... But not my area of interest.

I'm sure if you like boat races, you're happy as a clam, but if you just want to run up the river to get to some big fish...? not very happy. I know people close down things for certain groups and activities. Never been in favor of any of that too much... probably because it has messed with my fishing plans more than once and that's what I care about.

They used to hold ski events right in front of the one public boat ramp on the upper Grand River in Lansing and the ski club would chain off the ramp on those days. That was one of the first 'activist' things I ever worked on once I moved to Lansing. By my 2nd year in Lansing, no more chains across the boat ramp and the ski stuff moved up the river a little ways without permission to usurp others' right to also use the river, and particularly the one public access. After all, there's 7 or 8 miles of river up past where no ski boat dares go.