Potential Changes in Erie Regs in Ohio water

[TBone]

Here's an article out of the Toledo Blade about potential changes. I would imagine that Michigan will move along similar lines when they announce their changes to the walleye regs. Looks like there is as much debate on smallmouth regs in Ohio as there is around here.

Toledo blade article (http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030626/SPORTS08/106260111)

[TBone]

One more column that addresses some of Michigan's proposals as well:

More (http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030629/COLUMNIST22/106290124/-1/SPORTS08)

[Spanky]

Nicer hunting T-bone, thanks.Jus t means we'll have to run out to ohio in may next year,It's gonna kill michigan charter fishing in erie!:(

[STEINFISHSKI]

WOW! Glad I got in last year good before they shut her down. What a shame. Makes you think a little about the Ohio DNR stance when they killed all those hogs at the PWT at Port Clinton especially last year. Over 300 fish over 10 lbs cleaned and donated to charities.

[Spanky]

Stein, I'm not trying to justify the PWT's chioce to kill those fish, but the warm water is the real culpret. The other major tourney organizations are forced to often do the same. Sag. Bay, Erie, and LSC have the same warm water/release problems. The fish are donated to needy families.

I still can'r believe they are not gonna do anything to the Detroit, and St. Clair river regs. Must be something I don't know about.:rolleyes:

[ESOX]

"For smallmouth bass, the division is proposing to close the fishing season in May and June, when bass are spawning and guarding their nests."

About time. More interesting notes, did anyone see Eric Sharps article in the Freep regarding all the dead Bass floating in LSC after the opener?

http://www.freep.com/sports/outdoors/bass26_20030626.htm

[TBone]

I did see it. I don't know if I buy a couple of things in that article.

I am sure that there is some mortality to the fish after they are released from a weigh-in, but I doubt that it's very high myself. Maybe at certain times of the year it's higher than others, but as a general rule, I think that the guys fishing bass tournaments love bass fishing and do their best not to damage the resource in that manner.

The only thing that I am curious about with tournaments - There's a weight reduction for dead fish. I wonder if there are rules in most tournaments against culling dead fish. That would be the only way I can see tournaments killing fish. If there's money on the line and I cull a dead 4 lb'er with a live one, I bet that temptation is hard to fight. Would that be legal, and would it be within most tournament rules?

Please don't misunderstand. I think that tournaments might have a part in the dead fish that are spotted, but I tend to believe it would be a very small part.

The other thing that I really don't buy is Gosenik's quotes about out of state anglers. I REALLY don't believe that guys come from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, etc. to load a cooler up with smallmouth. That's the silliest thing I have heard. If you travel 4+ hrs to fish a lake for bass you might take home a trophy, but that's it.

Just my 2 cents
T

[Spanky]

I am personal friends with a few walleye pros and here's what happens, maybe bass mortallity is the same. They keep the fish in a livewell and cull all day, many have the livewells running full time in the warmer months, but as we all know, they do not work when running from spot to spot, or for the home port.
The fish get beat up on the long runs, and the tournament directors know it will happen. These are called kill tourneys and do happen often. Other times, the fish are in good condition at weigh-in, but the release site is inshore and therefore alot warmer than when the fish where caught, this results in mortality also, a few years back, a MWT tourney killed a bunch of fish this way, and the result was embarasment, so after that a few of the tourneys went to just keeping fish and giving them to the poor and needy, instead of having the shoreline clustered with dead fish.

[ESOX]

Last Tuesday I launched at Millers. WHen I got there there were 9 rigs towing trailers in the lot. Mine and one other were the only rigs from Michigan. The rest were from Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. When we were leaving, one of the boats from Ohio pulled up, with three guys in it, they had a full stringer of 3#+ Smallies they were taking home.:rolleyes: . If the Bass fishing is so damn good down there where they have no season, why are they up here raping our lake??? L Erie is a lot closer.

As far as the tourneys go, I am absolutely certain that those guys make every effort to keep the fish in good shape, but I have repeatedly watched people put dead fish into the Clinton after a weigh in of one of those mini weekday tourneys. I had one guy ask me if I wanted his dead fish, I told him I don't eat Bass. He proceeded to throw them in the river. I think if you killed it, you should eat it, or at least clean them and give them to someone.

There is always going to be mortality involved in fishing of any sort, even by dedicated catch and immediate release anglers. This buisness of pulling fish out of 65 degree water and then releasing them into the 80 degree Clinton and other inshore waters has to be addressed. Worse yet is when the big shooters come to town, and they haul the fish all the way to Walmart for weigh in and back to a release point (My guess is a 25 mile round trip in a livewell on a trailer,and a couple hours, after spending who knows how long in the livewell on the lake). The stress on those fish must be incredible. After that tourney a few years back, there was a huge string of dead fish up and down the lake. Pretty irresponsible.