I had posted if anyone had known if Hudson was still open and I wasn't clear if I could fish there tomorrow. I called the DNR in Southfield and spoke with a very nice guy named Jeff Bronscheidel (I'm sure I just butchered his last name). I told him what I was thinking of doing and he said I could fish Hudson if I used bass size baits.
It was his opinion that if I was throwing spinnnerbaits, jerkbaits or crankbaits that were not over 6" long then it was reasonable that I was targeting bass and if a muskie ate the bait then as long as I immediately released the fish it would be OK. I asked about a leader and he said a leader is reasonable if you fish a lake with muskies and want to protect your bait. He said trolling 12" muskies baits or throwing a Bulldawg would be clearly illegal as I would then be targeting a species that is closed to target.
On a side note he said I should consider Lake Diane if it did not have ice on it. He said they caught 100 muskies in Spring of 2011 but none of them were over 40". I reposted this in the members forum because I didn't want this on the general forum and thought that it was interesting info. As much bad press as the DNR gets I would have to say Jeff was very friendly and talked with me for a while. Good guy.
Ed
Bass season does close Dec. 31, so unless Hudson has special bass regulations that wouldn't do you much good either.
Then the other thing is it really doesn't matter what baits you're tossing if you are "targeting" muskies. It may be a gray area in terms of enforcing the regulations since they cant really prove you are targeting muskies not bass, but since you are targeting muskies you are still technically violating the letter of the law whether they write you a ticket for it or not. I'm really not trying to be rude about it at all. It's not a big deal to me, and I'm sure you wouldn't be causing any harm, I'm just saying.
what do you mean you have to target bass with 6" or less baits!
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I still like to stick with intentions on targeting a species, regardless. but I do agree with a previous comment made about them being genuinely good guys. other than the idiot that didn't get the memo on boat registration expiring in december, and giving me and my brothers a ticket in June of that year (i was 9 bros were 11) Ive had in general good contact with everyone from the DNR. if you are legal, and they confirm that, they are super helpful and love to spread tips. Also the antrim county sheriff on the upper chain all summer is usually a pretty funny guy!
Ugh the system is so messed up. I'm sure the guy was nice, but the fact that he had to give you advice on how to "target" muskies by not really targeting muskies, just shows me that something isn't right.
I'd like to know why the regulations are even there, seems like the only time catch and release is harmful is during spawning season…on a handful of lakes…
Bureaucracy; [smilie=brickwall.gif]
ED, I know of a guy at Hudson who fishes in Dec for walleye (wink wink). Same as the bass thing you were talking about, he does catch and release. I seen some pictures from Diane 44"- 45", I've got to get over there. Supposed to be some monster pike and alot of walleye. I'm going to try ice fishing there this year and see if I can hand line one. When we get some ice, I've heard some guy's have been out on Grass Lake, there nuts!!
ED, I know of a guy at Hudson who fishes in Dec for walleye (wink wink). Same as the bass thing you were talking about, he does catch and release. I seen some pictures from Diane 44"- 45", I've got to get over there. Supposed to be some monster pike and alot of walleye. I'm going to try ice fishing there this year and see if I can hand line one. When we get some ice, I've heard some guy's have been out on Grass Lake, there nuts!!
That's great that Braunscheidel was trying to be helpful, and he is a real nice guy, but the reality is he ain't the brightest bulb in the bureaucracy. So even if bass season were open (funny), doing that is still a risky proposition. The CO's you might encounter are a lot brighter bulbs, and the majority of their job every day is sifting through cover ups, lies and veiled intentions.
"Duke" said:
The CO's you might encounter are a lot brighter bulbs, and the majority of their job every day is sifting through cover ups, lies and veiled intentions.
That's right. The DNR staff monitoring the fishing forums sifting through the cover ups, lies and veiled intentions know who their supporters are.
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