Mellinium Park question

[duckman#1]

Anyone here fish Mellinium park in Grand Rapids? I stopped by there and saw the park was closed and NO fishing signs. I herd people where fishing it recently???? P.M. me with any info on. Thanks

[waterfoul]

As far as I know, there is only ONE pond out of all the lakes and ponds in the park that you are allowed to fish. And you have to fish it from their docks. It has to be the most fisherman-unfreindly park on the planet!!!

[duckman#1]

your not kidding. I wonder if the spent more money on all the "No" signs and all the time thinking up everything to say "NO" to than they spent on the park itself:mad: Local goverment = :dizzy:

[DTSTrout]

Even If you could fish any of the spots, which we have for the last 40 years until they built the "park", there is not a single place to park. The park is now gated shut and there are 73,221 No Parking signs in the surrounding 4 mile area. You would have to parachute in and be airlifted out. As a p.s. to this conversation, they recently made the road on the other side of the river into a "park", so now after dusk, the cops shoo you out. No more catfishing after dark. So the bottom line is that they took away our public access to our own public land. Thanks for listening!

[DTSTrout]

I've been doing more thinking about this thread. Shouldn't we as concerned sportsmen actually DO something about access to OUR waters? The answer is yes. I'm going to call my city commissioner after the holidays and begin a discussion. There are miles of rivers and dozens of lakes in this area the we deserve access to. Wish me luck......

[duckman#1]

Keep us updated on your quest. After going there and seeing the park myself, I couldn't believe they are banning fishing access to it in the fall and winter.Specially limited access in the summer. They'll probally give you the "liabiltiy" excuse.

[ifish4eyes]

DTSTrout, we can do a online petition or a email blitzs to all the commisioners email addresses. we can tie up the emails till they responed to use. One voice may not be heard but hundreds can be. They only care when we make them care.

[dcclubs]

I'll join you in this. I live about a mile from the park and would love to stop by on a summers evening and wet a line. I will contact Steve Versluis, my buddy the commish, who also lives only a mile from the park. I hope he can help as he is a Walker city commish. He may be able to direct me to the right person.

dc

[DTSTrout]

Thanks! I can surely use some help. My first finding is that it is a Kent County Park, not Grand Rapids. So, park access may be county while the parking issue may be city. Also, take a look at this brochure.
http://www.accesskent.com/CultureLeisureAndTransit/Parks/pdfs/Millennium_Park_Brochure.pdf

It does NOT say "No Fishing" (one of the few things not mentioned!!). I'll make a few call today and report back to you on what else I find. Thanks again!

[DTSTrout]

Me again! I just spoke with someone at the Kent County parks department. All of the ponds are open to fishing when the park is open from May 1 to Oct 31. They even stock them with bluegills, perch and bass. Several have docks for the handicapped. That's the good news. You are not allowed to fish them from November 1 until April 30. I'm assuming you can only fish them from 8 am until dusk when they are open since those are the park hours. The parking in the area is handled by the City of Walker. I'll try them next and see what I can find out.