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Largemouth Bass |
Bass Changes Make Little Sense
By Bob Gwizdz |
Smallmouth Bass |
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Inroduction: I don’t believe I’ve read
a better quick-hit written piece on this whole topic of the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division bass season paper and
scenarios verses the way the majority of the actual anglers who pushed for
change in the first place feel about the issue. The article is reprinted with permission from Bob
Gwizdz and was previously printed in various Booth Newspapers and affiliates
late spring 2004. – Dan Kimmel ________ With
next Saturday’s bass season opener staring us in the face, state officials
are beginning to debate possible regulations changes. But the recommendations
from a panel composed almost entirely of Department of Natural Resources
biologists show just one thing. They
don’t get it. Organized
bass anglers have long sought more opportunity. Except for six lakes that are
open for preseason catch-and-release angling, bass fishing is illegal until
the Saturday before Memorial Day statewide, except on the Lake St. Clair
complex, which opens the third Saturday of June. Bass season closes Dec. 31. The DNR
committee has recommended three possible changes to bass season, all of which
would allow catch and release fishing beginning the last Saturday in April.
But all three would push the statewide opening day back to the third Saturday
in June. This has
tournament anglers virtually apoplectic. It was
largely the tournament anglers who were seeking more opportunity. This
proposal gives them three to four weeks less. Two of
the proposals would allow fishing for bass from Jan. 1 to March 15, either
for possession or immediate release. Both are almost nonsensical. There is no
demand for a catch-and-release ice-fishing season. And allowing anglers to
keep bass that time of year would just be a bonus to panfish or pike anglers
who catch bass incidentally. I do not know a single bass angler who supports
the ice-fishing proposal. The DNR
has concerns about a couple of issues, the biggest being possible hooking
mortality to preseason fish. But preseason bass fishing is already the
second-most common civil infraction in Michigan (next to motorists exceeding
the speed limit) and bass fishing is as good as ever. The vast bulk of states
have no closed season. There's
no apparent need to roll opening day back; bass season has been opening the
Saturday before Memorial day for 35 years and fishing remains excellent.
What’s the problem? The DNR
seems to be hung up on one-size-fits-all bass regulations. This comes after
the agency set up more than a dozen different trout regulations, a system so
complex it involves printing a separate color-coded rule book that maps the
entire state. But bass season has to be standard statewide? DNR
biologist Gary Towns, who co-chaired the DNR committee, told me that survey
data shows Lake St. Clair anglers caught more than 140,000 bass last year, 92
percent of which were released. That tells me we don’t need a season, we
probably don’t even need limits. Bass
anglers are increasingly catch-and-release oriented and tournament anglers
almost always release their fish after weigh-ins. But the DNR’s proposed
changes would shorten their already short season with no apparent benefit to
the fishery. Ron
Spitler, a retired DNR biologist and the conservation director of the state’s
BASS Federation, who was among those pushing for more opportunity, is shaking
his head. “There's
a wealth of good information to support what we want,” Spitler said. “If the
bass population appears to be suffering, we’d be the first ones to come back
to the DNR and say, ‘Shut it down.’” Indeed
these are the guys with the most to lose if something goes wrong. They are
concerned about the fishery and are often involved with programs to take kids
fishing. But the DNR, looking for bogeymen, appears to be pointing its finger
at them. If there
are problems in the northern portions of the state with excess bass harvest
early in the season (and there are no indications there are), then the DNR
could open bass season by geographic zones as it does with walleye. But the
DNR seems to understand walleye, which are virtually always harvested. And
while it supports year-round catch-and-release angling for trout, it can't
seem to get its mind around a pastime that is already virtually all release-oriented. All of
which leads to just one conclusion about state fisheries officials and bass: They
just don't get it. Bob Gwizdz is a
columnist for Booth Newspapers. He can be reached at (517) 487-8888, ext. 237
or by e-mail at bgwizdz@boothnewspapers.com |
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