Michigan's catch and immediate release bass season opens the last Saturday in April - April 24th for 2010 - for all lower peninsula inland and Great Lakes waters.
Please see that latest MDNR fishing guide for exceptions and special regulations for seasons.
Can't get here quick enough!!! :o So when is the spring DK Open going to be and did you invite Megan Fox. :P ::) And yeah I am going to start that again!!!! ;)
BD ;D
Sorry... she is out this year.
Thanks for the good info..
Thanks for the info Dan.
But...... A closed seaon on bass in Michigan only forces me to spend my dollars in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri for nearly 4 months... and I'm not the only one. I would love to legally fish for bass as soon as the ice is gone... great fishing that time of the year. This is one thing the new DNRE needs to take a look at changing, in my (bass fishingaholic) opinion.
Waterfoul, I think a lot of here on the board share that opinion!!!
BD ;D
That's because I'm RIGHT! :D And there are a lot of bass fishingaholics on this site! ;D ;D
I'll second that, have a good winter everyone and lets try to keep the frustrated cabin fever posts down to a minimum...I may be guilty of one or two myself ::) Im sure a few here can agree they have also ;D
I was out last saturday on Erie, I first launched at Bolles Harbor and fished till noon and had decent success then trailered up to Erie Metro and fished out a few miles and did good there also, I might get out a couple more times and then I will be on about a 125 looong day count down, right now were at 146 days :o
does anybody know of anyone that has gotten ticketed for "bass" fishing before the early season opens? i haven't fished early since the dnr changed the rules a few years back. i liked having a few lakes open early for catch and release only. it is too bad they changed the rules b/c that season opened on april 2 (my bday)
I've never heard of anyone getting a ticket. Therefore... if they aren't going to ticket you... why have a closed season?
I've been stoped and questioned in of all places, shore fishing on the Shiawasse River.
I plan on being on White Lake in Highland for the opener. That lake has some big smallies and lots of structure. The White Lake Inn is a great place for lunch.
dartag, I like how you always work lunch into your fishing plans ;D
Quote from: djkimmel on November 29, 2009, 10:11:23 PM
dartag, I like how you always work lunch into your fishing plans ;D
Since i am OLD i am learning to enjoy my time on the water.
Me and Cheetam did that this fall. It was fun.
I am thinking about starting my own circut. pick some lakes ( with food and drink ) . fish till noon, stop for a break, fish the afternoon. no entry fee. Only bragging rights.
maybe a west side division of the EBA.
It would be nice to have year round open season but it would have to be catch and release through the ice. You wouldn't believe all the people that keep all they catch up here while ice fishing. I have seen guys yell and cuss up a stream when they catch one after season closes. I've had guys call me all kinds of name because I wouldn't give them a bass that I have caught before Jan 1. It don't make since to me when the gills that they are catching eat a hole lot better.
Heres a reply to a question that I asked the DNR last year.
"Hi Skip:
I understand your frustration about the current bass regulation situation. At least now the joke only lasts for a few weeks from ice-out to the last Saturday in April. Prior to the C&R season, it ran right into the middle of June on Lake St. Clair. Anyways, the problem is exactly as you identified it. Our conservation officers can write tickets all day long, for bass fishing out of season, but the tickets won't stand up in court as the Judges will ask the angler what he was fishing for and he'll respond, northern pike which are open all year on Lake St. Clair...or rock bass (open all year), or walleye (open all year). Then the Judge will ask the CO if it is possible to catch a northern pike with that spinner bait or tube bait, and the officer will answer yes, and that's the end of that case and the Judge scolds the CO for wasting valuable court time. As a result, conservation officers won't write those tickets anymore because they don't want to waste their time going to court to lose the case over and over again.
It's becoming practically impossible to enforce a closed fishing season for any particular species as long as any other species has an open season that overlaps. The muskie season closure on Lake St. Clair is another example, with a few guys now fishing for "big northern pike" during the month of April and May when muskie season is closed. Again, not much our Law Enforcement Officers can do about it. The only real way to have a "closed season" anymore is to have no fishing allowed at all for any species (like the trout water closure that exists on many trout streams). Closed seasons were really designed to address harvest, not catch and release fishing, which was practically unknown 50-60 years ago when many closed season regulations were originally started.
I do believe that eventually, there will be catch and release seasons for most of the year for most species. I think that this change will take place slowly. I hope that bass anglers can understand that MDNR biologists haven't ignored bass anglers and their interest in extended catch and release fishing because we don't care about bass or bass fisheries. In fact, in my opinion, the slow DNR move to expand bass fishing catch-and-release opportunities has been largely because MDNR biologists care so much about the bass fishery that we don't want to do anything that could potentially damage it without careful consideration.
I don't think there will ever be year-around open seasons that include harvest for predator species like LMB, SMB, etc.
I hope this answers some of your questions."
I think that is a nice response. Angler friendly and honest. It has been a challenging topic. As he says, things are coming around. Took 20 years this last time, but it won't take that long the next time. It is as much waiting for anglers to come around as anything else. So many people have a hard time with change.
My advice, be nice to everyone you meet. Don't show a blatant disregard for present regulations. I'm not saying stop fishing. Just please consider that some people react negatively just because of the fishing out of season. I have a bass boat and I know even if I am fishing for crappie some people will think I'm bass fishing, but we don't need to win everyone over. We just need to win as many people over as we can and also be prepared for compromise at times. At least for special cases.
Some states are going through similar things and a few are even lagging behind.
Hmmm... fishing... White Lake Inn... sounds like a good idea to me! Been to the Inn several times over the years... but have never fished the lake! How about we set a date right now? Saturday, April the 10th work for you guys?? ;) ;D
Quote from: Waterfoul on December 01, 2009, 04:46:27 PM
Hmmm... fishing... White Lake Inn... sounds like a good idea to me! Been to the Inn several times over the years... but have never fished the lake! How about we set a date right now? Saturday, April the 10th work for you guys?? ;) ;D
14 days early, won't be crowded. The 24th should be good if we get a warm spring. I was there a couple weeks ago and can not believe the amount of stuff on the bottom. rocks, cement blocks, tires wood old docks. the smallie sight fishing should be great.
Exactly... who wants to fight the crowd while rockbass and pike fishing?? ::)
Quote from: Waterfoul on December 01, 2009, 05:10:09 PM
Exactly... who wants to fight the crowd while rockbass and pike fishing?? ::)
that lake does have lots of pike. fed them lots of jigs this fall. amazing how they can cut 40 lb braid with them teeth. only 4 month to go..
:'( :'( :'( :'(
Quote from: cast n blast on November 28, 2009, 04:22:43 PM
I'll second that, have a good winter everyone and lets try to keep the frustrated cabin fever posts down to a minimum...I may be guilty of one or two myself ::) Im sure a few here can agree they have also ;D
I'm not getting cabin fever this year........I went to the doctor and got a shot. I'm all set!!! I got my shot!!! :P All dogs got to get their shots once a year........even big ones!! ::) :o
BD ;D
I live right by Muskegon Lake (2 miles to be exact), and Mona Lake, and I just love the fact that I can go fishing for sheephead and dog fish with crankbaits and spinnerbaits when the ice is gone. Those sheephead put up quite a fight. But, I really hate going to Snug Harbor on Muskegon, and seeing people fishing from the wall keeping bass out of season. They get pretty crafty in their ways of smuggling fish. I sat and watched an older man this summer boat 5 bass that were way too small to be keepers, and throw them in his cooler. He was only 15 to 20 feet from my boat while doing it. When he put #5 in his cooler, I asked him if he was done. He asked why. Then I told him that the legal limit was 5 fish 14 and over, and I could tell his were short. He got mad and grumbled a bit, then I told him the DNR was just a phone call away. He immediately took off, but didn't let his fish go. Can't win them all, but at least he wasn't putting more short fish in his boat in front of me.
No matter what we do, there will always be people like that, but it doesn't hurt to make things a little uncomfortable for them... as long as they aren't the real crazy ones.
Not safe to confront or get involved with the real crazy ones. Leave that for the people who are trained to handle them.
As mentioned by Skip, over harvesting fish is the reason that the laws were in acted. It all started in the 1890's when Teddy Roosevelt and the Boone and Crocket club saw that the nation's game was being eliminated by greedy hunters and fisherman. Roosevelt who was an avid hunter and naturalist, helped persuade Presidents Cleveland and McKinley to start setting aside forest land to stem the tide of destruction. Later when he became Gov. of New York and President he declared millions of acres national forests and set up enforcement procedures which is where we are today.
Well that's the history lesson for today
Good stuff. I hate to see illegal fish get taken, especially bass. I don't even like to hear guys at work talk about eating them. But, unfortunately, people are always going to take them, legal or not.
I'm ok for right now...but ask me again in 5 weeks. later...
Up here in New York it is really screwy. Most of the state has a CIR season from Dec. 1-third Sat. of June and keep season the rest of the time. In my region there is no CIR season so officially I can't fish for bass until almost July locally. I have just begun looking into this and what I have found so far is that the law was left up to the regional directors. This makes even less sense to me because in 50 or so times on the water I saw only one other bass boat out there. I'm sure there were a few other boats targeting bass, but most of the time I had the ramps to myself and these are 2,500-5,000 acre lakes. Maybe they just don't know anybody fishes for them, but then why would they try to protect bass?
So I guess you'll be doing a lot of pike fishing then eh Chris?? ;D
Quote from: Waterfoul on November 28, 2009, 12:07:55 PM
Thanks for the info Dan.
But...... A closed seaon on bass in Michigan only forces me to spend my dollars in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri for nearly 4 months... and I'm not the only one. I would love to legally fish for bass as soon as the ice is gone... great fishing that time of the year. This is one thing the new DNRE needs to take a look at changing, in my (bass fishingaholic) opinion.
This is something we should really all look at moving forward - the economic impact alone is argument enough. We already have a diluted and cramped tournament season here with the 4th highest tournament participation in the US, add another 2 - 3 months to that and instead of guys driving out of state there will be guys driving into the state. With the DNR & DEQ merger the timing couldn't be any better to create positive change.
Michigan has the most freshwater fishing opportunity in the WORLD yet we have some of the most ancient conservation policies, with such a down economy one would assume the state would look at innovative ways to grow revenues and this one is a no brainer. Bass generate more money to the state of michigan than any other species by a longshot but bass and bass fisherman don't see any real return on the impact they provide - instead we spend the money on things like stocking steelhead and salmon; there isn't even a closed steelhead season yet we still spend money stocking them - it seems a little backwards.
The C&R thing perplexes me as well; we can catch fish but have to immediately release - what if that fish puts a up an amazing fight and needs a little TLC to gain its strength? Take Flow-Rite Systems for example; they are a Michigan based company that has livewell systems proven to revive fish - what if you made the case that a fish caught has a higher survival rate by going into a Flow-Rite livewell than being immediately released? With the advancements such as the Shimano Live Release System we could easily make a case for having tournaments during the C&R period on conservation and economic levels.
I'm down for ride to Lansing anytime so who else wants to go?
ROI, Can you cite a source where Michigan has the 4th highest tournament participation in the US....I am not calling you out but if you can show me that as fact I would like to use that as ammo in some of my debates with my southern counterparts...
Thanks....
I've caught rock bass on 1/2 oz jigs before, so I think I am all set. I also caught what was maybe the state record sheepshead on Muskegon Lake on a jerkbait...I didn't know what the record was at that point. I looked it up later as was amused...It was only a sheepshead I guess. I caught a master angler crappie on a 5 1/2 inch jerkbait this year. Spinnerbaits, cranks, jerkbaits, jigs, dropshots, senkos...I think I will do some serious rockbass and crappie fishing this year.
Quote from: motocross269 on January 12, 2010, 03:18:57 AM
ROI, Can you cite a source where Michigan has the 4th highest tournament participation in the US....I am not calling you out but if you can show me that as fact I would like to use that as ammo in some of my debates with my southern counterparts...
Thanks....
This is an old article and the #4 ranking was in 2003 - who knows what it is at today but I know the # of tourneys has dramatically increased over the last 7 years.
http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/publications/pdfs/Fishing/BassRegulations.pdf
Taken directly from the publication:
"With more than 1,000 tournaments per year, Michigan ranks fourth in the nation, and is the only northern state in the top-five tournament states (Kerr and Kamke 2003). By itself, this is a powerful statistic which attests to the quality of Michigan's aquatic resources in general and to its bass fisheries in particular. Currently we have no definitive numbers on the trend of bass fishing tournaments in Michigan, although, they are likely increasing given general trends."
Michigan has the most freshwater in the world so now all we have to do is tap into that potential - the stage is already set so lets get some better bands!