The Michigan Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environment passed House Bill 6271 [S-1], which gives authority to the DNR to issue an order to regulate the taking of fish with a spear or bow and arrow. In the spirit of Proposal G, this bill now allows the details of spearing regulations to be developed by DNR fisheries managers rather than legislators. It was initially drafted in response to pressure from MUCC and the Michigan Darkhouse Angling Association to extend the season for spearing through the ice from December through the first two weeks in March, which the DNR supported but required legislation to enact.
HB 6271 [S-1] also allows the DNR to increase the number of lines/rods allowed per angler from two to three and hooks allowed on all lines from four to six.
Once the bill is passed by the full Michigan Senate and signed by Governor Granholm, the DNR will move to expand the darkhouse angling season through a Fisheries Conservation Order at the next Natural Resources Commission meeting.
If they do extend the muskellunge spearing season it will make more mature/spawning fish susceptible to being harvested. Most of the big females that are speared in the UP are speared in the last weeks of season. By the way Will, you use the word angler and the definition of angler does not include spearers (<url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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), just to clarify.
Spearing will not be included for St. Clair. Three rods per license will be lawful on all MI waters, including St. Clair.
The spearing was pushed straight to legislation from an Upper Penninsula group. It will expand spearing season to include December and 15 days in March. Very concerning. However, it does give the DNR authority to manage without restriction from the legislators. This is an important step as some of the MMA folks know from past experiences.
"jasonvkop" said:
[quote="Will Schultz"]
HB 6271 [S-1] also allows the DNR to increase the number of lines/rods allowed per angler from two to three and hooks allowed on all lines from four to six.
Does this include St. Clair? If so, could this make canada kind of mad as they just made it two rods for st. clair?
I don't think this will bother Canada at all.
Yes Poppy makes a great point. The spearing crowd may have in fact handed themselves thier hats. Now based on science a Biologist can place spearing bans on certain lakes without legislative action. Could finally see the one fish per year tag enacted. As it stands now someone can spear a musky every day. Kingfisher
i can honestly say that this is sickening. for example (two to three rods) do you need three bows or guns to shot deer or other game animals,i dont think so. as far as the spearing goes stop it. do we really need longer seasons on any of our fishing,small game or big game.SPORT FISHING OR HUNTING IS TO BE FUN AND CHALLENGING NOT GREEDY!!!maybe this is harsh but this is how i feel
"Poppy" said:
However, it does give the DNR authority to manage without restriction from the legislators. This is an important step as some of the MMA folks know from past experiences.
This is the important part guys. No longer can a rich lake owner who happens to be a member of the Michigan house can push for legislation regarding laws about spearing and such. The D.N.R. will make the future decisions regarding where you can spear, what you can spear and how many. Who cares if the season is longer if they can only take one per year. It is now in our grasp to use science to prove that the Michigan Muskellunge need better regulations . I say its time to rally for the one per year tag. With proceeds going to the Musky restocking efforts. The Spearing group can claim that hook and line fisherman kill as many or more Muskies every year. My own limited research shows this to be true. There are more harvested Muskies every year by hook and line fishermen.
Now with that in mind why would we want to attack the spearing crowd when the fault is really still in the average hook and line fisherman. The answer to the falling numbers of Muskies mostly naturals is to limit harvest by all methods and to increase education as to why they should not be harvested at all. The D.N.R. knows full well how hard they are to raise and how poorly they reproduce in the wild.The facts and science are on our side. Also there is a lot to be said about Muskies over 42 inches being pretty toxin laden. Could it be true that this fish may be placed exempt from harvest altogether? I think the D.N.R. should ban harvest of Any esox over 40 inches just to protect the public from poisoning. Big Pike are also toxin factories after they reach mid 30,s and should be passed up as table fare. These facts are all known to the Michigan D.N.R. Toxin facts published in the advisory available from the Michigan D.N.R..
Three rods ?? All that will mean is more guys getting tangled up and more cussing on the water. I cant even fish two rods for Bluegill much less three. I really dont think there will be any noticable difference in the fishery due to the increase of rods per man. But tip ups are another story. Does the new law apply to tip ups? Three tip ups per man could be offset by a One pike per day limit [smilie=brows.gif] . I am liking the fact that Pike limits were reduced to two fish per day from 5. That means if a guy gets his two fish faster because he has three rods oh well??? he still gets only two eh? Mike and Michelle
Kingfisher-
We may kill more fish but we don't kill anywhere near as many fish per person as spearers do. I think it's totally unfair to say we are the problem when we give so much to the fisheries and they just want to up the harvest and forget about what most anglers want. We create more business for local economies and care more about the health of fisheries. A single muskie tag would be a great thing for sure. Maybe it will cut down on the sublegal fish that are speared and lower the overall harvest of adult spawners. I don't like the season extension but am very happy that it is in the DNR's hands now.
There are more people in the DNR who spear pike and muskies than most people know…………………………..not sure how I feel about this just yet. Time will tell. Hey, I think the kill tag was my idea! You Newbilly's I tell ya! Hey John, how's it goin'? Big fish time is coming, love this cool weather………… cold fronts, moon phases and all!
Remember the Proposal G the sportsmen passed few years ago to have DNR wildlife management be based on science & biological decisions? The legislators never liked the Pro-G and are still trying to subvert it today because it stepped on their toes. One example are the legislator's challenging the no deer baiting in court. We have the same legislators vs fishery management science challenge going on today. I support the DNR sound science biology for fishery management, but we will never totally get away from 'social' fishery management such as having 'flys only' waters on the prime waters for the elite. The muskie fishery is unique and does require more public education. That part MMA can support and work on. However, don't be surprised that we get more future challenges from the anti-ProG legislators and other well connected private individuals that don't support the muskie fishery. One example is the 'elite' opposition to native GLS reintroduction program for the drowned river mouth lakes.
Roscommon man enjoys pike spearing
ROSCOMMON — Rod Denley enjoys pike spearing, and he also has collected hundreds of vintage fishing spears from the days when people could stick about anything that swims.
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"John E. Sox" said:
If they do extend the muskellunge spearing season it will make more mature/spawning fish susceptible to being harvested. Most of the big females that are speared in the UP are speared in the last weeks of season. By the way Will, you use the word angler and the definition of angler does not include spearers (<url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
">[Permission to view this media is denied]
), just to clarify.
John makes an important point. Many of the larger female pike and musky begin to move in to the shallower spawing habitat towards the end of February and beginning of March. I used to spend a lot of time in a shanty on Whitmore in the 70's and watch the big pike and Tigers come in this time of the year. I was using tip ups, not spearing. Many of the large female spawners become very susceptible during this late ice period. Let us hope that the DNR uses "sound biology" to manage. We may need to do more than hope though.
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