Hey Dan - Bass Season ?

[bassfan586]

It seems like it would work.  One can only hope...... Tourney would generate revenue too for motels and resturants.  I bet out of state people would come earlier to fish as well. 

[bassassasin88]

I would pay a lot of money to legally fish right now.

[bassfan586]

If the cost to print a new license was a concern they could always add it to the all species one. 

[BigSmallie]

If the cost to print a new license was a concern they could always add it to the all species one. 

Exactly.......there are no more "trout stamps".....just printing on the license.....but I really don't think the cost would be very high to include a new classification like....."Early Tournament Bass".     

I was thinking of a cost of $5.00 or $10.00 additional per license....??    Then......perhaps a "permit fee" during the early season April 1st to opener of $20.00 on the lake the tournament would be held to perhaps pay for dead fish...or the right to hold a tournament...??   

Our meeting is on April 16th......I will keep you posted on our Rep's feelings.

BS 

[bassfan586]

Even if they won't go for the tourney fee we always could hold a paper tourney.  Just to be able to fish early would be great.  It sounds like a great idea to get some extra much needed money.

Brad 

[djkimmel]

It's always helpful to identify what is realistically possible and be prepared to compromise for that goal. We've been doing this in steps to make sure we continue to make progress when progress seems possible.

[bassfan586]

The early season fee seems resonable.  I think it could work.  If we can get some ideas out to the right people just maybe.......

[Skip Johnson]

Even if they won't go for the tourney fee we always could hold a paper tourney.  Just to be able to fish early would be great.  It sounds like a great idea to get some extra much needed money.

Brad 

Thats more of what I think could be reality rather than special permits for tournaments, I doubt the DNR will give special priviliges with all the negative tournament publicity from the general public.
Id hate to go in asking for the world and told no you get nothing when all you realy need is a piece of it.
This early into the trial C&R season I wouldnt even consider asking to hold early livewell tournaments in fear of asking too much and getting flat out denied Id just ask for a 12 month C&R season, that would help us all get through the late winter early spring blues and small tournaments and clubs could have paper tournaments.

IMHO asking for early keep or weigh and release goes against reality, there is some small percentage of dead fish weighed and taking fish away from their beds wont work in the public eye's, the DNR knows these facts and just wont buy into that.
a couple thousand $$$$ in special fees will not interest a fund that is millions behind.
I think we should take smaller steps forward rather than getting knocked backwards by asking for too much.
The Smallmouth are heavily bedding by the first week in may, The DNR knows that and I believe they want that first part of the spawn to go on un interupted as much as possible, I cant fault the logic especialy when you take into consideration that we have about the best bass fishery in the world, something made it that way and Im sure the DNR would like to take credit for proper fishery management.
Where I come from taking bass off beds even in a tournament is considered un sportsman like, I wouldnt mind a bit giving the bass the first half of the bedding season a break by not taking them for a boat ride.....but I will C&R them  

[bassfan586]

My thoughts exactly.  Catch and keep seems a bit much even if its only for a tourney.  But why not c&R as a special fee.  Then we could still have a paper tourney like the spring dk open.

[cr]

OK if fishing for bedding fish is detrimental to the fish population how come it don't affect other states ?

[bassfan586]

Its not so much the c&r bed fishing as it is the catch and keep bed fishing.  No way a smallie will get back to its bed when its moved miles before the eggs are eaten.  True on a lot of inland lakes you can catch and keep when spawn is underway.  But would you rather not tourney fish until third sat in june?  Or have a closed season untill end of june?  It probably does affect other states.  Thats probably the reason why our bass are so big.(smallies)  WE would just like to be able to fish for them earlier.  Its not like we can keep them now when they spawn(due to season opener)  so whats the diff if we can start c&r earlier on lsc only?  It really could only be lsc as too many angler would probably claim to be fishing for bass when the are targeting spawning pike and walleye.  But if you are c&r does it matter?  maybe it could work on inland waters as well.

[Skip Johnson]

Other lakes are wayyyy different than ours, its easier to find the spawn beds here than 99% of the rest of the country and it may very well effect the population considering theres not many other states that you can whack 50+ bass on allmost every outing.
look what happend when they raised the size limit from 10" to 12" then 14", the average catch progressiveley got bigger and numbers raised becouse breeder numbers raised, management does work but I believe theres such a thing as over management as well.
there is alot of beds on st clair that dont get found Im sure but I think st clair saginaw bay huron erie and a few clear inland lakes are the easiest and most beds Ive ever found out of the 20 plus states Ive fished bass in.
dont get me wrong I can go down to a southern lake and find dozens of beds if I hit the timing just right but thats just it...timing and their not grouped together in the dozens and hundreds like they are up here there scattered and harder to locate and water clarity does play a huge part plus they bed wayyy more longer up here.
dont get me wrong Im not trying to say leave the law the way it is cuz Im sooooo not Im just saying that there is some logic as why there is a bass season here and not down there but the no C&R is a bit extreme for sure.

[djkimmel]

Kind of all I was saying is don't overshoot too far, but you always want to ask for a little more so you have room to compromise. You want to be ready to compromise a little more than you'd like sometimes. You don't give in right away of course. Sometimes you also get a pleasant surprise.

It is still pretty early in the last change to expect much right now. Not saying there's no possibility of some type of improvement, but I won't be trying to ram anything home myself just yet. I always test the waters first... meaning finding out what the average angler is thinking for one thing. There's more of them than there are of us. Win over the average anglers and you've made real progress. Otherwise, the process gets much tougher.