spring mill pond report....

was out at spring mill pound and caught about 10 gills and no trout nice keeper sized gills 8-9 inches each sorry no pictures forgot the camera and buddy took the gills with him to eat tonight. wish i had the camera but it was a scramble to get out the door lol's. any how will be hitting few lake/ ponds this year be ready for the reports.... seems the only guys that caught trout at spring mill lately snagged them. so you know how that goes fish get lock jaw people start to start jerkin the rod on the trout. we did good on the gills and could not complain about any thing to need to snag fish it ridiculous up here in Michigan on the salmon trout and steel head and what risks people take to steel fish! so others don't have a shot at them?? if there that hungry i will help you catch gills but when it come to steeling fish from our water i think Michigan ranks number one for on the water cheats, it sad but true! sorry for the rant of sorts but you guys know what i mean... any ways be ready for more reports....

Thanks for the report.

In the know the feeling as I grew up watching people "tight line" for steelhead on the Manistee river. If I had any advice it would be this:

I have a couple of buddies that are Michigan Conservation officers. When speaking with one of them one day, I asked... So, what happens when you get a call from someone, say a fisherman, that explains he saw someone doing something wrong? He said: We love it. Reason is, we know they usually are not lying, are true intentions, and want to help rectify a situation. These guys work more off from tips than any other enforcement agency I know. They are spread really thin so they need our help. The first Michigan CO class in a long time is currently running in Lansing so that will help strengthen the numbers. We have to remember that many times over, these guys have thousands of acres they attend to, fishing, hunting, protecting boaters and so on.

I carry a business card in my wallet. Their cell numbers are usually on it.

@wicklundrh

if not call the rap line it on the back of the fishing licences. this is the first time in a long time i have been so called "carded" here in Michigan. it has been since last may i got checked i have had my licences checked twice by the metro park police this year. today the guy said i seen yours don't need to see it again and i showed him it any ways.. but there are those that risk it and i don't care to hang out with them... you what i mean.

any how my dad is friend with Jeff one of the dnr fish biologists here in south east Michigan. they use to hunt together on a piece of land around here that Jeff helped us find. any ways i have talked to Jeff and yep very under funded in those areas that why people do it. cause they know the chances are slim to get caught but still call rap line any ways no mater what is his advise...


any ways good advise keep up the great work guys! by the way i have been on the manistee many times. and you must be sick of it too being from there it happens that often up there. it so bad on the lower sections during salmon season, that i almost i run out of cell phone minutes every salmon season up there.. but of course you know that. juts trying to be descriptive to people about our poaching problems here in Michigan...

remember the silver spider epidemic/ flossing i called the dnr on a group of guys poaching at the damn with those about 5-7 years ago. and told the guys at the gate of the entrance to the north side boat ramp of the damn they were poaching and man did they bust them all about 20 guys in all that day with about 200 fish in the trunks of their cars. any ways surprised there was not gun fire that day...

any ways had been check the most at the metro park but that's how it goes there spread so thin and the metro park has there own police so you can see why i get checked so often there.


any ways great points and keep a eye out on that river there were a lot of dead steel head on consumer fence i heard it going to be even more fierce and brazen for steeling fish when it comes down to it when there are less to do it to...

any ways wish you the best and bad karma is a mofo for poachers.... dont for get the camera to photo there catches and the people involved... photo's speak a thousand words... any ways that karma that bite you in the behind when you do wrong and it karma that does you good when you do the right thing!

The CO in our area is the only one in the county. He patrols in his truck and patrols in his boat, and I think a jet ski at times and a atv. They keep him running all the time. Way more than one guy can keep up with.

Larry,

Like that all over. They are concerned with the danger of everything, the high medium age of the CO's, and everything else. Time to over fill their stocks to make retirement available to some in the next few years.

In my county, we have a pretty Lazy one. I spoke with my buddy about it (who works in a neighboring county) and he pretty much said the same thing. Every job has them. For the most part, they are way overworked.

I'll leave you with this:
Two years ago, a friend of mine and I pulled out on to the lake with the quad. We pulled all our gear nearly 2 miles to the spot we catch massive crappies. It was bout 4:30pm and the bite usually doesn't start until 5:30pm. It was cold out (maybe 8 without the windshield). We were just getting settled in when I heard someone outside the shanty. I told him to come around back as the front zipper was frozen. He stuck his head in the door and it was my CO friend. I was amazed to see him. We had only caught two crappies so far (bite had not started) but he was impressed with the size. Later I thought about it and realized the amount of knowledge of good fishing and hunting spots these guys have (what an advantage). Anyway, we shoot the bull for a minute and I ask "how did you get out here"? I walked he said. We don't have an ATV in this area and I didn't recognize the truck in the parking lot. We chatted for a bit and then offered him a ride back to his truck. He was apprieciative for the ride and us taking our time out of fishing to make sure he made it back safe, warm and quickly.

There are always a few bad apples, but most of the ones I have met are really stand up guys that love the outdoors as much as we do. The pay isn't the best in the world but they don't do it for that. Any help I can give them, I will go out of my way to make it happen. They are doing their jobs. If I ever get a ticket for anything, it would be because I am in the wrong, not because he is being a jerk.