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Largemouth Bass |
Survey helps fisheries division ‘get it’By Bob Gwizdz |
Smallmouth Bass |
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Inroduction: A great article that
probably best explains the turnaround point for this issue with the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division. The survey results were
key the bass season moving forward. The article
is reprinted with permission from Bob Gwizdz and was previously printed in
various Booth Newspapers and affiliates August 7, 2005. – Dan Kimmel ________ About a year ago, I rankled (to put it mildly) some of the
state's fisheries officials when I suggested they didn't get it. The topic was bass fishing regulations. Organized bass
fishermen have long sought additional opportunity, most notably, a
catch-and-release season prior to the regular Saturday-before-Memorial Day
bass opener. Fisheries poohbahs offered a handful of alternatives, the bulk
of which involved pushing the season opener back three or four weeks in
return for preseason fishing opportunity. But, the most off-the-wall recommendation was that anglers be
allowed to fish for bass -- either to harvest or just catch and release --
from Jan. 1 to March 15. It was that last recommendation that spawned my observation. Well, the fisheries division subsequently sent out a lengthy
questionnaire to licensed anglers to see what the hoi polloi thought about
the recommendations. The results are in. When asked if an ice fishing bass season would have any effect
on days fished, 64 percent of non-tournament bass anglers and 71 percent of
tournament bass anglers -- the guys who asked for more bass fishing
opportunity -- said no. This is not surprising. Most ice fishermen are harvesters -- I
can't say I've ever met a catch-and-release ice fisherman -- and something
like 43 percent of respondents said they already released 100 percent of
their legal bass. Another 13 percent said they released 90 percent or more of
their legal bass. (Keep in mind that while 52 percent of those who responded to
the survey said they targeted bass at least one day in 2004, only 28 percent
said bass was either the most or one of the most important types of fishing
they did. So catch-and-release bass fishing has obviously caught on among the
soft-core crowd, too.) When asked if the 10 weeks of ice fishing season for bass was
worth delaying the traditional bass opener, 25 percent of anglers approved,
while 56 percent disapproved. Among bass tournament anglers, the numbers were
more lopsided: 13 percent in favor, 78 percent against. In addition, more than a third of respondents said they didn't
ice fish, period. So, did the winter bass fishing proposal have any real-world
merit? Draw your own conclusions. But, the rest of the fisheries division's proposals seemed to
hold little interest to either bass fishermen or anglers in general, either.
Some 58 percent of anglers (61 percent of tournament anglers) did not want
the traditional opening day changed. As far as trading the opener for a catch-and-release season,
only 26 percent of all anglers and 24 percent of tournament anglers approved.
Some 56 percent of all anglers and 62 percent of tourney anglers disapproved.
But, when asked simply if they approved of a catch-and-release
season on larger lakes -- without the opening day rollback -- 64 percent of
all anglers and 78 percent of tournament anglers approved. Conclusion? Anglers -- hard-core bassers or otherwise -- want
catch-and-release bass fishing opportunity, but they don't want to give up
the traditional opener to get it. Again, few should be surprised. I'm certainly not. I have maintained for years that there is a
trout orientation among fisheries officials -- witness the phone book-sized
trout regulations publication -- despite its relative less significance to
anglers than other species, such as, oh, I don't know, bass? My guess is there will be new proposals about preseason bass
fishing soon. I'd wager, though not a lot, that the fisheries division will
allow some sort of catch-and-release bass angling on some lakes while
maintaining the traditional opener. Why? Because fisheries officials saw the results of the
survey. And seeing it in black and white, in organized columns, with
numerical values, will help them do something that years of talk with bass
anglers hasn't. It'll help them 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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