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By Louie Stout
Big Fish Landed, But Not Without a Scary Fight
Bill Schwartz and his lifelong friend Kelly Patrick were looking for something to do prior to the Memorial Day Weekend.
So, a week ago Thursday, they hitched up Kelly’s 17-foot Ranger Boat and headed to Cory Lake near Jones, Mich. to do a little pre-season bass fishing. Although Michigan’s bass season wouldn’t be open for another couple days, the state allows catch-and-release of bass prior to the opener.
The morning started out fabulous.
“We were having a ball that morning,” Schwartz recalled. “We must have caught 20 bass or more of all sizes.”
Bill was throwing his favorite springtime bait, a cotton candy-colored Zoom Centipede on an eighth-ounce jig.
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By Louie Stout
When can we have fishing tournaments?
That’s been a major topic in social media among anglers and tournament directors ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
You’re confused and so is everyone else. To be honest, that includes DNR fisheries divisions in Michigan and Indiana who must interpret the sketchy details coming out of their respective governors’ offices.
So, here’s my attempt to outline what we know.
Michigan: On May 22, Michigan began permitting tournaments with no more than 10 participants providing all contestants practice social distancing.
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By Louie Stout
Fishing competitions remain extremely popular in Michigan and the same waters tend to draw the most events, according to DNR survey results.
The state’s Fishing Tournament Information System, a mandatory reporting process prescribed for tournaments conducted on state waters, shows more than 2,200 bass tournaments were held on 298 bodies of water in 2019. In addition, more than 90 walleye tournaments were conducted on 34 fisheries.
“We operate 1,300 boat launches around the state and have about 300 sites that host a tournament,” said program coordinator and fisheries biologist Tom Goniea. “That means 2/3 of our sites don’t see a tournament all year.”
Lake St. Clair remained the most popular tournament lake drawing 73 tournaments last season, followed by Muskegon Lake (59), Gull Lake (52), Gun Lake (48) and Austin Lake (45).
Southwest Michigan lakes that made the top 10 include Klinger, Portage and Paw Paw.
The average weight of per bass caught in Michigan contests was 2.21 pounds while more 3,722 weighed 4 pounds or more. There were 20 bass measuring greater than 20 inches caught in tournaments reported to the DNR.
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By Louie Stout
Do You Like Catching Indiana Muskies? Thank Mark Zeak
When Mark Zeak opened the Tribune to the sports section last November, a big smile spread across his face.
Pictured with this column was Mason Alvarado with a 32-pound muskie caught from the St. Joseph River.
“I helped start this whole muskie thing in Indiana many years ago,” said the 72-year-old Mishawaka resident.