"Will Schultz" said:
So I know I've said this before and I still think it's the best and likely easiest way to stop spearing. What if we ignore spearing all together and close the season statewide on November 30th?

That is my take on it. Close Musky season November 30th in the U.P. and December 15th in the Lower Like they do on Lake St. Clair. Keep the opening day where it is on all waters. End of April. Then ignore spearing altogether. Mike

I'm not privy to what/how the DNR thinks on the issue, but I don't like the sound of what you say below and here is why:

"Will Schultz" said:
Then it's just banning muskie spearing by closing the season and that won't fly with the DNR.

I think this SHOULD fly, and should be the means to the end goal, which is rehabilitated, sustainable, strong muskie populations. Harvest is a problem standing in the way of the goal, and winter harvest is a substantial part of the harvest. It just so happens that spearing is a particularly effective method, but I don't think we should attack the method. It is way too divisive, and that should not be what any sportsmen's conservation group is about.

In my opinion, MMA should not be an anti-spearing organization. We should be a reduced harvest organization. Once the population goals are met and sustained, some harvest should be allowed by any method. This is the ideal scenario.

We should be careful not to paint all of MDAA with the same broad brush- in the ideal scenario/perfect world, MDAA members would be welcomed in as MMA members and we would work together to meet the population goal.

"Will Schultz" said:
It's also not protecting spawning fish, it might work in some small waters but the big rivers and big lakes still have spawning fish in mid-May. The St Clair opening barely works and some years they're still spawning. To make this have a real chance we must have some biological reason to close the season. This reason is to protect egg laden females from fall through spawn. That means a earliest possible opening date of June first statewide.

Eliminating harvest is protective of spawning fish. Cold water post-release mortality is extremely low. Look at the handling of spawning fish during broodstock egg-take. Those pit-tagged fish are caught year after year, sometimes multiple times in the same year. That handling stress far exceeds what a novice or non-muskie angler is likely to do to a fish they caught.

The scientific data is already there- the only biological reason there is, and the only biological reason needed to close the season is to reduce harvest. Period.

"Will Schultz" said:
If we're willing to take away spearing from them we better be willing to sacrifice a small part of our season for the long term benefit of the fishery.

I get this, from a political bargaining standpoint. The problem is it doesn't hold much water scientifically,
so I think there should be a different way. We don't have many chips to play but it seems that allowing sustainable winter harvest on bodies of water that do meet population goals is one. Everyone can see where this is going- could MMA support this on LSC?… It would have to be some kind of lottery/quota system.

Here is another option I have been thinking about. There are fewer Muskies in Michigan than deer. We have gone to a one tag limit per year so here is my pitch. Two harvest seasons, one in February and one in July. 10 DAYS for each season. The dark house boys get 10 days to fill their tag and the open water guys get 10 days to fill theirs. All other months the fish are release only. This is fair to both sides with a 10 day season.

We stocked over 30,000 muskies this year and my guess is that in a 10 day season the dark house boys wont get 300 fish 1%. We are gaining on this thing right now. What was the total harvest take last season. 500?? 200? why are we not putting fish in the chain? We built a great fishery in the last 20 years with the regulations allowing harvesters to take one a day. We stock way more fish then are taken every year. That means the fishery is growing not being decimated. But what about it? two short harvest seasons , equal lengths. I personally do NOT support the season closed to release fishing in May. It is already a short spring season in southern Michigan and ALL of us know that cold water releases are safer then hot water ones. Mike

Exactly JP. We should not support conceding anything at this point. Science and the management plan is on our side. NO MUSKIE SPEARING IN MICHIGAN PERIOD. And we should continue to hammer home the point that no other states and provinces allow it either. Its ridiculous we even have to have this discussion but here we are.

Here is another thought, we have seen the DNR and NRC implement APRs in deer hunting recently when a super majority of surveyed hunters supported it. This was obviously controversial and ruffled some feathers but despite that it is the law now in 13 counties in NW Michigan. Could there not be an avenue where if a super majority opposed muskie spearing we could just get rid of it that way. Even people that don't fish muskies for the most part think spearing a muskie is total BS. I'd have to think we would win in a popularity contest. Many of the public comments when the management plan and new regs were up for public discussion were anti spearing. Heck put it on the general public ballot like the fricken wolf thing this past fall, even if it means nothing as far as legality it would draw attention to it and I would love to see the NRC try to defend muskie spearing as being in any way biologically sound after the public voices their distain for the practice.

Then my Idea of two short seasons would lower harvest a hundred fold. We have not even given the new one tag law a chance. I believe less fish will be taken with the new law. The numbers are going to add up in time because we are stocking faster then they can take them out. One per year per angler does not add up to decimate the fishery. I have said all along I hate spearing period. However Im not willing to give up cool water release fishing to end it. Close the season from December 15th till the current opening days for each area. Ill support that. I would support two short harvest seasons as well. meaning both sides warm water and Ice fishermen concede and have a 10 day harvest season like we do with firearm deer. This way you end all the bans but they only get 10 days to harvest. But either way Im not going to support any closed season that does not allow me to fish during the cool water periods from May first to June.

Now that said, I would support a full spearing ban on Muskies. I would support catch and release only, I would support the Chain being protected right now from all harvest of any type until such a time as numbers recover. Yes in years past harvest has decimated some of our fisheries. The new one fish per year law is supposed to correct that. It has had one season so far and I am confident it will slow the harvest rates to where our stocking efforts will completely wipe out any harvest. Lakes that are the hardest hit should be the lakes that get the most fish.

Like Joe I am not willing to throw our Pike under the bus either. The trade off for removing any spearing bans should be a shorter season like my 7 or 10 day Idea. Unless the darkhouse group concedes to a shorter harvest season I say we counter with a total spearing ban and go toe to toe with them. They dont have a leg to stand on. Mike

"Kingfisher" said:

The numbers are going to add up in time because we are stocking faster then they can take them out.

We don't stock every lake though.

I'm definitely in support of the June opener statewide. Although it may not be appealing to everyone it would effectively extend the protected range of waters throughout the state during spawning, and at minimum reverse the percentage of waters protected/unprotected. It's not just hard water anglers that are harvesting fish. I'm sure there are other areas like the chains that we don't hear about that people have figured out once a year they become extremely vulnerable and are taking advantage. Maybe I'm bias but i feel it would be the best decision for the greater good of the fishery as a whole. Seems like a small sacrifice with a huge payoff to me.

"Kingfisher" said:
They should be issued in a lottery to control the number of tags issued. All the data on which counties, lakes and total kill numbers CAN BE COMPILED AND COUNTED.

I think this goes along with making it like the Sturgeon Harvest which would be cool.

"Kingfisher" said:
That is the only way to know for sure how many fish we are losing every year.

The problem is people will still illegally kill muskies and obviously not report them, but that will happen no matter what regulation is in place.

Obviously in a perfect world the goal should be a statewide ban on spearing or statewide season closure, on Nov 30 or Dec 15, that would eliminate spearing but that seems like an unlikely possibility at this point. While we should fight to achieve that ultimate goal eventually I don't know if it is worth making that priority one if it is going to hinder our chances at the most important part of that goal, which in my opinion is to protect our natural populations from harvest, whether it be by spear or hook/line.

I think our first priority should be to close the seasons on those waters during the times they are harvested most, during winter through the ice and spring during the spawn. To your point Jason, there is scientific evidence to support that these waters have low populations that are at an unhealthy level according to the MDNR's muskellunge management plan. The lower Antrim tracking study proves both that and that there is overharvest occurring as evidenced by the low numbers of fish netted and the high percentage of tracked fish that were harvested over the short amount of time they were being tracked.

I realize a lot of people here are concerned about how the spearing effects our stocked waters, Austin comes to mind most here, but the fact is that these waters are being replenished with large numbers of fish from our DNR's stocking efforts and while it sucks that there are fewer big fish caught in these lakes because of the spearing, the 1 per year tag system along with continued stocking should help alleviate that problem over time. The northern waters do not have the benefit of being stocked and the 1 per year tag system is going to do nothing to help these waters because most of these people only take one fish a year anyways. The problem is 1 fish per year from a handful of people is still way too much harvest for those waters.

I will always argue for a statewide ban on spearing but it doesn't seem like that is going to be an easily attainable goal. If we can focus our efforts on these places that need it most and get a ban on spearing for these waters, we can move onto the next goal of banning it statewide, but for now, I think our first priority should be protecting the Antrim and Indian chains.