Urgent Fisheries Management Issue - Please Read

Recently it was brought to my attention something surprising and alarming with the Michigan NRC (what a surprise). A commissioner proposed an amendment to Fisheries Order 206 – “Bass - Closed bass CIR season from May 1 – Friday before the third Saturday in June for Burt, Mullet, Crooked, Pickerel, and Black Lakes and their connecting waters.”. There are a bunch of troubling things about this. But lets start from the top before we even get into the actual regulation itself.

The information that I am getting is that this is brought on by a commissioner who lives in Indian River with ties to the Burt Lake Preservation Association. I’m guessing this is just a big lake association and we all know how they usually have anglers best interests in mind right? Like constant spraying of lakes? There’s a word there that really bothers me though. Preservation, which essentially means don’t touch it. If you aren’t familiar with preservation vs conservation or the North American Conservation Model, than you should look that up. As an angler, hunter, and someone who cares deeply about those pursuits. I have 0 interest in natural resource policies driven by a preservation group. Even if you agree with the proposed amendment this should absolutely bother you.

I think we all had high hopes for the NRC in the beginning. But I can’t say that I’m surprised a commissioner has proposed a rule like this, but it is very disappointing. Catering to a special interest group to close fishing on an entire waterway? I don’t need to say much more on that but what a slippery slope that could be.

I’m going to pull some stuff from Dan Kimmel here and post it below.

“So first, this is NOT the Michigan DNR doing this. They also oppose this amendment as unnecessary. They are not seeing any evidence any regulation changes are needed due to gobies. The MDNR has told Commissioner Walters they have no plans for a study to look at this. If you are aware at all of their budget challenges, they cannot afford to pursue unnecessary research.

So that is Reason Number 1 we do not need this new closed bass season. There is no point in creating a season and calling it a test if there will be no before and after research to scientifically prove anything about this change.

Reason Number 2, the MDNR Fisheries Division is saying they do not see any need for this unnecessary restriction after considering the literature and what they do know about the smallmouth bass fishing in Michigan. So, the scientists are saying this season closure is not scientifically necessary.

Reason Number 3, the Michigan United Conservation Clubs is opposed through policy to this season closure. They would only consider supporting a test on a few lakes IF it appeared to be scientifically necessary (see Reason Number 2), and the MDNR was going to do an actual study of such a closure (see Reason Number 1).

Since this will not be a study and the scientists are saying it is not necessary, MUCC is opposed to a bass season closure.

Reason Number 4, no one else anywhere has closed a bass season dues to gobies. This is a pretty good sign it is not considered scientifically necessary, and it has been looked at by Ohio and Ontario. Neither the Ontario or Ohio studies showed population level negative harm, and the was the consideration that mattered.

Michigan would be the only state or province closing a bass season dues to gobies. That doesn’t look very good or scientific.

This would set a seriously bad precedent that could be extended to huge areas of smallmouth bass waters considering everywhere gobies are present. Something this significant should not be considered just because some non-scientists are behaving as if their unprofessional observations have any true scientific basis.

Studies have shown smallmouth bass are bedding deeper on many waters due to a number of changes. These locals on Burt Lake are not even aware there are deep bedding bass out there. They believe all the bass bed where they can see them, and they think they are not seeing as many now.

Reason Number 5 – because of this amendment, the MDNR Fisheries Division just performed a survey at Burt Lake looking for young bass. They were able to find plenty of young bass showing there is adequate spawning success occurring at Burt Lake. There’s no truth to claims there are no small bass in the chain of lakes. There is no evidence that bass recruitment is a problem.

Reason Number 6 – this would be another questionably enforceable regulation as it would STILL be legal to fish for walleye, pike and muskie during this bass closure, leading to more accusations that someone saying they are walleye fishing is actually bass fishing, etc. We took a very long time to get away from most of that online and live angler arguing and accusations. We do not need to return there just because a few lake association people believe they are now scientists. Regardless, people will still be catching bass during such a closure because they can legally be out there fishing with the same lures during that period.”

I guess now I’ll tackle my take on the regulation. I haven’t fished up there a long time, I don’t plan to fish up there anytime soon. If people are claiming the fishery is changing. That happens ALL the time everywhere. Especially with recruitment of a species. Environmental conditions play such a huge role in how many young, hatch, survive, and the key word recruit to the fishery. That never stays the same and all fisheries will have ups and downs. it’s also super easy to demonize fishing for bass on beds. Sometimes they take a trip to the weigh in, sometimes they meet a fillet knife, some eggs may get eaten by gobies, and sometimes they have a fully successful spawn. It is important to look at the population level effects vs what happens to an individual bass on its nest. In a lake with no human interference, not all juveniles are going to recruit to the fishery. It is also possible to have 100 percent nesting success and very little recruitment or little nesting success and lots of recruitment. Recruitment is the big word to really focus on as a billion baby fish don’t matter if they don’t make it to bigger fish. Bass are one of the most resilient species and if they have good habitat they are going to do just fine. To me this seems like a totally unnecessary regulation especially with no scientific evidence to back it up. If passed would set a concerning precedence on how natural resources are managed in Michigan.

More from Dan Kimmel at what we can do as anglers or hunters if you oppose natural resource management in this manner.

“What you can do is simply write an email to nrc@michigan.gov BEFORE November 6 stating you oppose this bass season closure on Burt and Mullett chain (The Inland Waterway). You could go further and state you oppose any bass season closure due to gobies. You can mention any of the reasons above, and/or use something more personal to yourself.”

“If you contact nrc@michigan.gov before October 31 end of day, you can get on the agenda to speak for 5 minutes. If you sign up after that date or at the meeting, you get 3 minutes. You are timed, and the time flies when you are speaking to the Commission. I will be signing up shortly to make sure I get 5 minutes.

The November meeting is Thursday, November 6, 2025 at Lansing Community College, West Campus Rooms M119-121, 5708 Cornerstone Drive, Lansing, Michigan 48917.

Please remember, at any time, these appointed Commissioners can make or change regulations that affect your sport. They need to hear from you. At minimum, please email them. If you have questions or comments, please contact me. Thank you.”

Dan Kimmel

djkimmel@greatlakesbass.com