The Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division has announced public forums again will be held throughout the state this year (2017), inviting the public to discuss local and statewide fisheries management activities and concerns.
"Conversations & Coffee with DNR Fisheries Division" will take place in each of the eight management units that oversee Michigan's fisheries, giving people the opportunity to meet with managers and biologists, discuss local issues and management activities and get specific questions answered. These meetings are extremely informal; at many, no formal presentations will be made.
These forums also will make information available on local and statewide regulation changes affecting anglers. Refreshments will be provided.
This meeting is in the Central Lake Michigan Management Unit, Wednesday, April 19 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at East Bay Charter Township Hall located at 1965 North Three Mile Road in Traverse City.
Topics: local regulation changes. Could be discussion about radical bass season changes for Grand Traverse Bay and beyond!!
This is your opportunity to speak one-on-one with MDNR Fisheries Division staff and tell them what you would like to see for fishing in Michigan!
For more information, contact the local management unit (http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10364_52259_63282---,00.html), or visit the MDNR fishing website michigan.gov/fishing (http://michigan.gov/fishing).
I am going and mentioning it to members in my wed night group along with members of my sat group and the Tuesday night group. To be totally honest . I am tired of Chris Noffsinger's BS and his buddy and partner, Tony Difillipo. I have known Tony for many years and am very disappointed in his actions. All these 2 guys are seeking to do is make sure they get better tips in their charter company with suggestions to the DNR about this. It is time to put an end to these 2 as a group! We all know how this works after the cluster that that woman , the st clare association and Kim Stricker caused a few years back.
Yes, it's important for the future of bass fishing 'management' in Michigan that this crazy idea (along with a similar crazy idea about Beaver Island) about limiting anglers from bass fishing the way they prefer just so a couple guides can make more money more easily (in their minds).
I get the idea of slowing down the harvest of big females out there. I totally get the idea of it, but it limits us from running tournaments . Which is how I fish, even when I'm just out fun fishing. Probably why I end up fishing alone a lot.
I have been out there and saw guys tank big unspawned females and then to the ramp and a club to the head. It sucks. I wish they would wait till after the spawn to do that, but no one is going to do exactly what I am willing to do at that time of the year. Now I will keep a few mid sized fish in the fall cause the parents enjoy steamed bass on a grill. But for me , the way this idea was presented to the DNR looks like it is just about keeping a business running and getting big tips for big fish.
That all being said . The difference is in a tournament you pull a fish off the bed and tank it and then release it later. Yes the gobies hammer the empty bed, but that fish that got put back has a chance to spawn the next year. When they are tanked and cut up. They don't have the chance to spawn the following season, removing not only the fish from the system, but every year class of spawn after that.
Maybe a middle ground would be the delayed catch and release idea out there. I am willing to make a compromise on these 2 ideas of not opening catch and keep till July 4th vs, leaving it the way it is. What I am NOT willing to do is work an idea if the other side is steadfast in it's opinion. Everyone has to give a little to get a middle ground that works for everyone. If they are not willing to do something along these lines, then I will fight as hard as I can to keep the rules exactly the way they stand now.
Scientifically, I have seen no evidence that a change is necessary. I talked to the creel clerk from there and he told me the voluntary catch-and-release level is similar to the rest of the state.