Smooth sailing so far with Michigan’s new fishing decree
The fisheries decree between the tribes, the state of Michigan, and the federal government is in effect and though it’s still under appeal, everything is working the way it’s supposed to, according to Dave Caroffino, the tribal fisheries coordinator with the Department of Natural Resources.
The decree, which allows the tribes some limited use of gill nets in three of Michigan’s Great Lakes, also demands new twice-a-month harvest reporting from the tribes and all state licensed fishermen.
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Bob Gwizdz: Michigan’s opening day fever for walleyes was tempered a little this year
There’s an old saw that’s been attributed to Henry David Thoreau, about how many people spend their whole lives fishing without realizing it is not the fish they are after.
I was thinking about that on the last Saturday of April, opening day of Michigan’s walleye season in most of the Lower Peninsula, after a kind of tough day on the Tittabawassee River. I was with Greg Sochocki, a long-time buddy, with whom I fish as often as I can. Sochocki and I have opened the walleye season together for more than 20 years. Lots has changed over that time.
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Bob Gwizdz: Detroit River walleye fishing truly is world class
I have become increasingly convinced during the past couple of decades that the Detroit River offers the best walleye fishing in the world.
Oh, you can argue that other places offer bigger average-sized fish or some other consideration, but when you combine the number of fish – and the numbers of folks fishing for them – with the pure fun of fishing you get jigging, I think just about everywhere else pales in comparison.
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Popularity of bass fishing tournaments grows in Michigan
Tournament bass fishing in Michigan is growing every year, according to Tom Goniea, the fisheries biologist who monitors the sport for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
“The program started in 2016 and it’s increased every year with the exception of 2020, and it would have increased in 2020 as well if many of the tournaments weren’t wiped out because of COVID,” Goniea said. “It’s been on a steady upward trajectory.”
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Bob Gwizdz: Is new steelhead regulation on several Michigan streams keeping anglers away?
It was around noon by the time we got started recently on Michigan’s Manistee River below Tippy Dam, which is a big change from the way Jim Romine and I used to fish.
We’ve always been on the water by sunrise. But this year Romine suggested we not kill ourselves getting up there, and I didn’t object.
Is that maturity or just old age?
Bob Gwizdz: The best time to go fishing is whenever you can
We were fishing for Atlantic salmon, one of Jim Chamberlin’s favorite fish, on Michigan’s Torch Lake, one of his favorite fishing holes.
Atlantics, Chamberlin says, are “challenging, good fighting fish, extremely good to eat and they’re unique – Torch Lake is the only inland lake that has them.”
We were trolling, slowly, with shallow-diving Rapalas, 100 feet behind the planer boards in 15 to 50 feet of water, and rolling snake eyes. All the while, we could see the salmon – the water was so clear you see bottom 40 feet down.
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Trophy whitetails highlighted at Big Buck Night-West in Michigan
Jimmy Gretzinger has been hosting Big Buck Night for Michigan Out-of-Doors television for 25 years. And his co-host, Jenny Olsen Ciolek, has been doing so for 24. Between the pair, they’ve interviewed hundreds of hunters who they’ve brought to the stage to show off their big bucks.
The biggest change they’ve seen over the years is the numbers of hunters who shot the one deer they were monitoring and targeting.
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Have a seat: Lawn chair fishing is just plain fun
Andrew Hendrickson is a charter boat skipper. He mostly fishes for walleyes, largely in the Michigan’s Saginaw Bay system.
But when I met up with him recently for a day of angling near his home in Standish, Mich., he had the rods and reels ready to go, but the boat was still on the trailer and he had a couple of lawn chairs for us to fill. He had no intention of getting out on the water; we were going to position ourselves on a cut near a marina to fish for perch.
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Bob Gwizdz: A tip of the hat to warm and comfortable hats
Some people blame President John F. Kennedy, who had the audacity to show up for his inauguration bare-headed. And if you think about it, that’s about the time it started.
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