Poll: Should Team Tournaments on West MI Shore be Open or Closed to Running

[djkimmel]

This gets debated every year on forums where bass tournament anglers hang out. If you fish team tournaments on the West shore of Michigan in any of the connected waters, do you think anglers should be allowed to run to other lakes or be limited to only fishing the lake the tournament launches on?

Lets keep it civil and respect each others' opinions without reading too much into comments either. I'm wondering if cabin fever might be ahead of schedule this year?

[senkoluvr]

I think if you are fishing a Grand River tournament it should be a Grand River Tournament.

[rustydog]

Have everyone fish the same conditions.

[motocross269]

I think if it is safe you should be able to run.......It spreads out the field and makes the tournament more like a Chess Match..."Do I run and use up fishing time or do I stay close to the ramp and optimize bait in the water time".....It gives the field more options and rewards those that make the right decisions..

[Eric]

I like the option to run.  The only two conerns I have is fish and fisherman safety/wellbeing and integrity.  I believe there are those out there who may endanger themselves or others just to catch a few fish, and I'm not entirely convinced no one will cheat to win.  But all things considered, I vote to let 'em run.  Why is this a perpetual issue on the west side, but not on the east side?  Same thing isn't it? 

[oldjigger]

The East side it's just very hard to control.  so it has been left wide open.  the west side it's easy to control so there is the choice. 

[Durand Dan]

I voted open. But I beleive the tournament director should make the call depending on the weather. I would think their insurance coverage would dictate that.

[TritonTR20]

If its a muskegon tourney then keep it there. If its a Lake Michigan tourney, keep it there. White Lake, etc.

[TCook]

Leave lake michigan open, the field will spread out. If you dont have the guts to run to better fish your loss. I know guys that will run long distances in a smaller boat even when lake michigan is kinda rough because thats where the best fishing is at. If you are gunning for a large tournament this idea of closing lake michigan shouldn't even be an option.

[SethV]

Leave lake michigan open, the field will spread out. If you dont have the balls to run to better fish your loss. I know guys that will run long distances in a smaller boat even when lake michigan is kinda rough because thats where the best fishing is at. If you are gunning for a large tournament this idea of closing lake michigan shouldn't even be an option.

+1

I would not even consider fishing a "closed" event over there.

[Waterfoul]

Open!  Run if you want.  Stay on the take off lake if you want. 

[skeeterman190]

 I agree w Seth. I wont even consider it if its closed.. Im a nut and will run.. Lets just say if ya know me and the boat ive got ive been over 65 miles one way in it!

[Redbone]

I'm not running in my little pos boat... Thats for sure.  But I do believe it should be OPEN 100% though.  If you can get to any body of water without getting out of your boat you should be able to fish it.  This even gives my little boat an advantage in some ways.  I can get to some shallows were a bigger boat couldnt. But then the bigger boat can make a good run.

Except... Staying in Michigan waters only.  Doesnt really effect the west side of the state but the east side it does.  I dont know about bass tourneys but I know most walleye tourney fisherman cant go into Canadian waters.

[gr@ssmonkey]

 If you are gunning for a large tournament this idea of closing lake michigan shouldn't even be an option.
[/quote]

I agree w Seth. I wont even consider it if its closed.. Im a nut and will run.. Lets just say if ya know me and the boat ive got ive been over 65 miles one way in it!

OPEN,THIS IS THE LAKESHORE,HAVE THE TOURNAMENT SOMEWHERE ELSE IF YOU DON'T WANT BOATS TO USE LAKE MICHIGAN,if i didn't fish last year ROI when the lake was open,i would be with seth and them i wouldn't even consider coming

[djkimmel]

Well, it's close. Always seems to be about 50-50. Makes it a little tough over there on the west side, but just like us anglers, the tournament directors have to make a choice of who they want for their customer base too.

Both really do have their own unique challenges. In the end, that is what tournament competition is all about - who makes the best decisions during that time based on the challenges presented. That's definitely one of the main things I like about tournament fishing.

If I'm in a 40 boat tournament, there's not much attraction in running. In a 100 boat tournament, that changes things. For me anyway.

[ROI Outdoors]

I voted open. But I beleive the tournament director should make the call depending on the weather. I would think their insurance coverage would dictate that.

It should always be a weather/wave forecasting call, anything other a small craft advisory should be open.  Doesn't the word OPEN sound much more appealing than the word closed? 

Let's look at some recent uses of the two words in the everyday English Language - 

Quote from a guy looking for a Slim Jim at 9:47pm:
"Luckily the store was OPEN until 10pm, if I would have arrived just 14 minutes later the store would have been closed and I would have had to settle for a Jacks Link Beef Stick from Seven Eleven." - OPEN gets the nod for this guy!

Quote from Senator Harry Reid sometime in the near future:
"To be OPEN to the idea that the government shouldn't run our lives is worse than being closed to the idea of Nancy Pelosi's Socialist Utopia." - No contest there - OPEN is clearly the  better choice here!

OPEN just seems to be the more optimistic choice - "OPEN to improvement", "OPEN to others opinions". "OPEN to guys trying to create better tournaments" - let's just take closed out of our tournament vocabulary and start fostering a new OPEN-minded tournament angling community here in Michigan.

[Flyin200]

I think running should be open if the tournament is geared for the angler that can afford to run. Meaning if it's a Tournament that has a payback better than 60 boats and first place is more than x amount and x expenses = Worth It. Other than that its up to to how the director wants to promote it.

[TritonTR20]

According to the Michigan DNR web site it is illegal to transport and/or release fish from one lake into another lake...not trying to start an argument. Supposed the same holds true for lake Erie and st. Clair? So if I run from St. Clair to Erie and bring fish back to St. Clair, am I breaking the law?

[Waterfoul]

According to the Michigan DNR web site it is illegal to transport and/or release fish from one lake into another lake...not trying to start an argument. Supposed the same holds true for lake Erie and st. Clair? So if I run from St. Clair to Erie and bring fish back to St. Clair, am I breaking the law?

Not if the lakes are connected by navigable waters.

[Ranger5Smallie]

OPEN!  Personally there are very few tx's on the west side where I feel it is worth running the big lake.  I wouldnt run if all I can win is $1000.  Just not worth it in my book.  But I like the possibility if I decide.