Well, I would have to whole heartedly dissagree
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2d633b3127ccef08c24f618be00000030O02AcN2jVk4asQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2d633b3127ccef08da869b91b00000030O02AcN2jVk4asQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/)
Oh by the way Don. Your spot is so good to me LOL ;D
Question is, will you be able to catch fish like that when duck season is open?
did you put them back?!
I'm bringing the 12 ga just in case mike LOL
Nope those 5 outa the 3 doz we caught were the smaller of them all cept for the dinks , which wern't many. Those went into the freezer for winter.
Trust me . There's plenty left in that lake . long as the fudgies don't nail um all . Like the lady that asked why we wernt gonna keep the 8 incher. Said those are the best size to eat . :o We tossed back much bigger ones. It was a feed fest out there all over the lake for once. Course other than you guys, I don't have a single event on that lake this year . Ive got a freezer full of eyes. just wanted 1 trip for bass for the freezer this year.
Matt,
Did you get them all on Skeg, and what did they fall for????
Yea , they all came outa skeg and a spot on Elk. The fell for my fishing dominance ;D
What are... the fudgies?
Don't ask. It will devolve into a yoopers, fudgies, hick, yokel mess.
The fishing will be better this year. I just know it.
Or it won't be better. Only one way to find out. Get up there and fish. I know where I'm going already. Unless I draw someone who is really ON them somewhere else. Then, I'm going to their spot instead.
I know who I'm following. Once we get there I will work my way on to the spot, just like some not so nice person did to me once before. And that's that folks. Of course, I may have to follow Don.
Two wrongs don't make a right. There are other spots. Always other spots. Often other spots that are just waiting to be found by some lucky, hard-working angler.
Me me me
I was just kidding anyways. I would never do that to anybody. Just a little friendly fun here on the site. From what I saw of Elk last year, the rocks on bottom aren't big enough for a gill to hide by. So, I dare say there will be no Elk action for my boat. I definitely don't know where the one spot to catch fish there is.
I have fished up there many times and never caught a fish on Elk. I love Skeg and Torch why waste time on Elk!
Elk can make you a VERY happy fisherman. I think it is much easier most of the year the Torch, except when they are real hungry and stupid.
Great Don and I will be leading a procession of boats again this year LOL
Elk has plenty of bigger rocks. Some nice rock veins scattered around the lake. Fishing cribs and sandsucker holes. Lots of big wood. Some of the biggest smallmouth bass I've seen have come out of Elk. I have a strange old hot spot in the Northern half of Elk I would like to try out again. Been a while. Not sure if I'll make it this year. Might have 1 day of pre-fishing. Might have none. Either way, I have an easier 1st choice based on the day after last year.
I would agree that many more anglers are more comfortable on Skeg. Elk does get weird at times. It a little weirder than normal last year but we never got a chance to try my 3 or 4 best spots because we spent time upsetting the duck hunters on Skeg earlier in the day ( sorry ;D ).
Torch intimidates people because of the size but you just break it down by limiting yourself to a small part of the lake. I always preferred Torch in the past but there's a lot of slow water. You just have to find the less slow water and concentrate on that.
Clam can be really fun at times. Not as many real big bass, but you can catch a bunch once in a while with a mix of smallmouth and largemouth. Big pike and sometimes muskie too!
Bellaire is too far probably for this event though if someone wanted to only fish an hour, they might be able to make it there and back. The first almost 7 pound smallmouth bass I ever saw weighed in came from that lake about 20 years back when big bass at many events was not 5 pounds. An angler brought in 2 6-pounders with the biggest going 6-12!! Said he lost and saw several more in the same range. I made it a point to visit the lake a little more. I think it is the most squirelly lake of the chain but it was always pretty popular during spawning tournaments. BIG smallies. Big muskies. The bass are targeted fairly hard at times by anglers who have watched tournament anglers to learn how to find bedding bass. I have seen them keep a bunch of really big bass. I hope they aren't wasting them.
Same thing happens on Skeg, but it has been happening for a looonnngg time and there's still a bunch of really good bass up there despite it. The Skeg boat ramp is where the local told me years ago how he goes out during the spawn every day he can get out. Catches his 5 big bass. Brings them back to the truck to put in a cooler and then goes back out to get 5 more. Said he never gets caught that way. I tried to get him caught... There was another guy who did a bunch of complaining about the bass tournaments at a meeting up there one time. The local CO told me he was the biggest violator for keeping large numbers of undersized bass. Figures. Don't like gluttons. Possession limit in Michigan is now 1 day. That means you can only have 1 day's limit of most fish combined between your boat, cooler and freezer back home. That's it. Anything more than that and you're breaking the law.
Regardless, still plenty of big bass up there. All you have to do is visit either lake late in the spawn on a bright, sunny, calm day to see just how many beds are out there. Thank goodness bass are really good at what they do.
I'm betting someone busts 20 pounds this year!
Mojo, you kill me!! The Grinch!! Seriously, how long did it take you to do that?
In the world of the In-Fisherman, it's okay to selective harvest. If there are many smallies up there that TheFishingPollock is bragging about, by the In-Fisherman's selective harvest, the bigger ones being put back will help the spawn for trophy genes. Also he is only taking what he is going to eat. If that's all he's going to take for the whole winter, then he truly will not hurt the resource. Careful management of the resource is what produces fish way bigger than those. Even though I share the feeling that all bass should be released back into the lake after they are weighed and the checks are handed out, and the photo ops are finished, he has a right to take his legal limit. He's not breaking the law so he gets to enjoy his lunch or dinner. I would prefer he eat the walleyes too. I release all my bass but I do keep some eyes practicing selective harvest of that species. Just my 2 cents. Enjoy your dinner. 8)
BD ;D
People have the right to keep the possession limit in Michigan of fish legally caught to eat. I have a number of people tell me they like the taste of smallmouth bass. Many of them are afraid to post on this site or similar websites because of the backlash that almost always happens if it appears they are keeping fish legally caught.
I don't like to eat fish a whole lot in general and bass are my least favorite but I'm not going to tell someone who legally catches and keeps the allowed amount of fish that they did something wrong. Keeping some fish to eat is an important part of fishing and probably a key part to keeping the privilege to fish available to all anglers, whether they tend to be mostly catch and release anglers or anglers who like to eat the fish they catch.
I definitely never intended this website to be ONLY for this type of angler or that type of angler. I want ALL anglers to feel comfortable participating in this website and able to share their opinions and experiences. I'm pretty tired of seeing anglers bash other anglers way too often on fishing websites because they don't like the way someone is holding a fish, or that someone might be keeping a fish or whatever they think is the 'right' way to do something.
Give each other a break more often. We need ALL the anglers we can get. Especially in Michigan. Hard enough that I have to teach people in leadership positions in Michigan that they can't afford to behave like one type of angler is better or worse than another type.
You really do not have to point out every single time you see something you don't think is the way someone should do something. You might be wrong! We have a lot more in common than not. Please think about that more often. Catch and release is doing very well in Michigan without a lot of additional need to point it out all the time.
Quote from: Mike S on August 14, 2012, 02:49:16 PM
I was just kidding anyways. I would never do that to anybody. Just a little friendly fun here on the site. From what I saw of Elk last year, the rocks on bottom aren't big enough for a gill to hide by. So, I dare say there will be no Elk action for my boat. I definitely don't know where the one spot to catch fish there is.
I know you were kidding and apparently poking fun at someone. Just wanted to make sure if someone does take it seriously that I share my opinion about spots. The 'spot' thing has not been one of the better parts of bass tournament fishing. It gets ridiculous so often. I've always watched out for the innovators who break the pattern and find the new. Those are definitely the anglers I like to talk to and hang out with! :)
I didn't figure you were taking me serious. Just one of the not so right times to make a joke maybe? But for the record, I would never move in on somebody like that. And for the keeping a legal limit topic, it's not my way, but it is part of the sport. I will not look down on anyone for keeping fish legally. So, when I told the Pollock he was bad, I was just messing around with him. No harm or personal problems intended.
I do have a serious issue with those who keep too many, or too small of fish. I also have an issue with the people who line Fisherman's Landing on tournament nights. That REALLY ticks me off. But, nothing I can do. I realize I can't judge people in comparison to how I do things. Anyways, fish on fellas.
The people at Fisherman's Landing fishing legally from shore are not the problem or issue. Releasing all the bass caught from all over Muskegon Lake and other lakes into a small, restricted area is the issue. The tournaments that let the bass go there are the ones who need to change.
If they didn't let all the fish go right there, there might not be as many shore anglers trying to fish there, but shore anglers are more limited that boat anglers so they go where they can fish.
Fisherman's Landing has been the 'poster child' for the need for release boats to disperse tournament weighed bass for a long, long, long time. I sat through federation discussions about this very topic back in the late 1980s. More room for improvement on our impact and behavior.
I'll tell you, just a few weeks ago after an ROI weigh in, we were all walking to our trucks when a guy holds up the big bass from our tournament and he and his buddies quickly went to their car. They quickly had a big limit in their bucket.
They have that service center right around the corner who always has crappy pontoon boats and such for sale. Why not try to strike up a deal and have a release boat? Why not try to get a donation going for one? Oh I know, because they personally don't care. It isn't there problem, they get their money no matter what. Bad part is, the ones who bring the majority of the fish in, have to pay to use that facility, and the ones who fish the docks don't pay a penny. So we pay to keep them going and everyone else gets to reap the benefits. I know that's not what this topic is about, but it is a sore spot for me.
There are usually options if the tournament operators and anglers are willing to think a little and put a little effort into it. We've done some things before like having 10 boaters take a few loads of bass out a few hundred yards into the lake as a simple, better than nothing fix. A few times in larger events, we had most of the anglers go back out and release most of their own bass just out past the beach or around the point. You don't want to load too many bass for too long into just a few livewells.
We've had 'homemade' release boats at a few tournaments in the past. I remember a few good ones and one not so good one - the weight of the water tank and bass swamped the back end. The owner said the water would just rush out through 'auto-draining' holes in the hull but they apparently only work if you can get going on plane fairly well and flat, and we were way overweight for that. It was fun. Feet and legs got wet but the bass were easy to release. They could just about swim over the back. :) Funniest part (now anyway) was we repeated the trip maybe 3 times even though we came extremely close to sinking each time! I really have tried to make a difference when I can. Probably went a little overboard that time but I was young and thought I would live forever...
Groups have talked in the past about getting together and buying a release boat for Fisherman's Landing in the past. Never got just enough of a push and donations to pull it off. I really do not know if the bass released there and caught at a possibly higher catch rate than they would be otherwise are enough to make a difference out there, but if we really care about the resource, it would be nice if some groups would get together and come up with a solution.
Regardless, small groups could get their anglers to take their bass back out into the lake a short ways after they weigh them if they are able to tie up to the floating docks rather than have a trailered weigh in. Maybe have half the boats volunteer? I'm sure others have seen or done things to take bass out from less than ideal release areas.
I will say that BBT/Power Pole has been returning the fish caught during their tournaments to the main lake. It is a very good thing that Russ is doing. LIke Dan said that was definitely the worst place going years ago, people were shoulder to shoulder it reminded me of when the salmon runs first started,
Thanks for letting me know that Russ is taking the extra care. Good to hear that!
I can recall a handful of people lining parts of the wall in Bay City too when we hard large tournaments out of the city ramp. I watched a guy limit out on 2 1/2 to 3 pound largemouth bass that had most likely all just been released there. He was using a helicopter lure of all things!
I didn't feel that bad. It's a big river and a bigger body of water. He shouted out a thanks to all of us saying it was the best 'day' of fishing he had ever had. He looked to me like he could really use the food and I highly doubt that he generally puts a big dent in the fish population.
It also shows kind of how 'simple-minded' bass can be. I remember that time quite often on those days when I start thinking the bass are 'outsmarting' me today.