# Well MWCD has done it again



## bttmline (Apr 7, 2004)

Got a letter from MWCD yesterday. They have increased the fee to have an open tournament to $50.00. The closed club events will remain $25 per event. There is a note saying if you do all your events on one form you will get a discount BUT I called to ask some ??????? and was informed that they decided to not give the discount. So all directors make sure you are aware of all the new changes.
Tim


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## Fish4Fun (Apr 6, 2004)

Thanks Tim, i had talked to MWCD a while back and they brought up the possibility of this. I told them it wouldn't be well received but from what i was told they do not see the funding from the state that the state parks and lakes see. I know last year the open fee was $50 if you had more than 25 boats. and $25 if you had less.


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## Fish4Fun (Apr 6, 2004)

I knew they were looking at some changes and i wanted clear somethings up since i havent got my paper from them yet so i called them and talked to Scott Barnhart and the fees are actually cheaper this year here is how there are no administrative fees this year and two fee schedules

Closed circuit tournaments:

1-10 tournaments $25 dollars thats it so you can run 10 tournaments as a club on a MWCD lake and you only pay $25 for the permit that allows you all 10 were last year you would have paid $25 for each tournament totaling $250

11-20 tournaments $75
21-30 tournaments $125


Open tournaments: Are based on number of boats
1-25 $50
26-50 $75
51 and up $100

Were as last year if you had an open you would have paid the price above for opens plus a $25 administrative fee. Which they typically waived unless it was a very big tournament.

Scott said they realized that it was too expensive for the clubs to have weekly tournaments at the MWCD lakes and thus the reduction in closed rates and dropping the admin fee on the opens. Hope this helps clear it up as Scott said the letters that went out can be a little hard to understand and misleading.


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## rockbass (Apr 16, 2004)

Hey guys, do you know if there are any permits/fees involved to have a bank based catfish tournament on the lakes?
I will be holding more catfish tournies in 07. I base mine on the river, but thought of holding a couple at a couple of the lakes. I don't have an official club of course either.

If niether one of you know anything for sure, no prob. I will check further into it when I decide what I am doing.


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## bttmline (Apr 7, 2004)

I hope you are right F4F. I also called Kelli Karnes and that was not the way it came across to me. But I am sure we will have it figured by spring.
Tim


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## Fish4Fun (Apr 6, 2004)

i have to talk to kellie tomorrow or monday as well but steve is above kellie in rank. And if you read the paper which i recieved it says what steve told me.


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## bttmline (Apr 7, 2004)

cool!!!!!!!!!!1


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## dmk (Jul 30, 2004)

The question still remains: "Why do the fishermen have to pay to enjoy their sport when all others who use the ramps and the lakes pay nothing?" The excuse I was given was for the additional patrols. This year my club used the MWCD lakes 5 times; we never saw a ranger, the outhouses were a mess and with no toilet paper and the parking lots were ill lighted and a mess in gerneral; in other words our fees were well wasted! It seems that it is possible there is no legal basis for their fees.

DMK


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Maybe it's to offset all the complaining they have to listen to. 



> It seems that it is possible there is no legal basis for their fees.


 They can charge any fee they want. Either you pay it, or you don't. Your choice.


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

Oh..... they put your money to use........ harassing bank fishermen, a friend of mine this summer got out of his truck and kicked a foam cup out onto the ground that was laying on his floorboard. he didnt notice it till like 2 minutes later when the ranger pulled up with his ticket book out "READY TO WRITE A CITATION" , my buddy offered to pick up the cup and dispose of it, that did NO good. He got slapped with a $125 fine and HAD to appear in court, I was there and that ranger was downright rude , even got kinda smart with me about why i didnt pick it up if i saw it. I WONT be fishing the lakes much next year, Ill stick to my rivers and streams, Im not gonna go out there and get harassed. Where are they when the jet skis are flying through the no wake zones and the $40,000 ski boats ??? I agree the restrooms for the most part are DISGUSTING !!!  yeah i NEVER understood the fees for parking at the ramps at the state parks or the tournament fees, i always thought our license fees helped upkeep the lakes and stuff.


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

Yeah I know exactly what your talking about TCBA...That was B.S. 125$ that I didnt have!!! That was downright rediculous! That guy was a total jerk...Snooping through my truck and trying to pin every tiny piece of trash on me, its like i told hiim...Why arent you out here when these idiot are out here drunker than hell and acting like idiots?


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

yeah like the UNOPENED 6 pack of beer in the truck you had in there and he tried to accuse us of drinking and acted like every beer can down there was yours. worst part was that 6 pack was in your truck for a week and had NEVER been opened. He was DEFINITELY out of line !!!


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

Yeah Like I was gonna drink beer that was in my truck for over a week and was pi$$ warm....yeah that guy was just an idiot with authority...


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## mikeshookset (Feb 28, 2005)

well dmk if ya ran 5 tournaments and never seen a ranger you was lucky i have been running tournaments on mwcd for 5 years and get checked for permits at least 2 times a year. so far i have been lucky as when i show them the permits they then leave us alone.. last year the permits was way to high as we all agree and thanks to all the fishermen and ladies that loudly complained they now went way back down. i do feel that permits are nessasry to help keep things alittle more organized so we dont have to many tournaments showing up at a lake at the same time. i was told that they charge the fee because they don get state funding. i also agree the restrooms absolutly suck!! the one at tappen should be labled a health hazard!! but then again some of the state parks arnt any better try the one at mosquito lake some time. they should start fining the jet skiers and water skiers and use that money to keep better restrooms. as far as the beer goes i had a buddy get sited at west branch for a unopened 12 pack. he got a lawyer and took it to trial at the end the judge ruled that the sign at the park entrance reads no alchoholic beverages and that it didnt read (no open alchohol) he got fine $300 plus court cost and his lawyer fees.


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## sparkman (Dec 18, 2004)

My feeling is that MOST of the MWCD rangers would do the job for nothing to strap on the 9MM. It seems to be an ego trip to be able to control people. You are right about the jet skis running all over the place. Also many of the PONTOON people will run you down or close to it with NO respect for someone fishing. I will not even go the the subject of sailboats. Well I feel better for getting that off my chest.


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

i know about 2 years ago they were holding a walleye-saugeye tournament at tappan and a guy from the tournament came up through below the church on the hillside and trolled down through there and tangled all of my wife and my rods up. he KNEW we were catfishing on bottom there he had trolled by like 3 times before he actually tangled us up, he was pretty rude about it all. he DID say oh just keep that crankbait i tangled you up with but NEVER apologized.  

Point im making is I understand having the permits so the mwcd rangers know how many boaters participating in tournaments will be on the water on any given weekend, but the fees are questionable for sure. i know sometimes when they hold these tournaments it ties up a ton of the parking spaces at the ramps for other boaters who want to fish or boat on that given weekend. so they MUST limit the amount of tournaments on any given weekend !! 

I dont understand the fees and all ..........ive been told IF you are holding a bank based tournament that you do NOT need a permit since you are NOT tying up space at the boat ramps and then i was told as long as NO money changes hands on their grounds that you dont need a permit for a bank tournament..........so can you weigh in there on their property IF no money changes hands ??? Id think theyd want you to weigh in on there grounds so all fish are released back into the lake ALIVE.

i KNOW of several places that hold catfish tournaments that are based from their own property, the question i have on those tournaments is HOW MANY OF THE FISH ARE RELEASED BACK INTO THE BODY OF WATER THAT THEY CAME FROM ???and how many are tossed in peoples gardens for fertilizer and wasted ???


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## rockbass (Apr 16, 2004)

TCBA........who told you these "rules" I am curious myself. If they did not come from a ranger/MWCD then who cares who said what? 
When it comes to catfishing tournies, it does not matter how many fish are returned if they are legally caught. At my tournies, everyone releases their fish unless someone wants a few to eat. All Flatheads are released though. I only know of one personal property based cat tourney and it is really none of my business if the fish are released. The ones that don't release them are the same ones who would eat them anyway. As long as they are legal fish, then none of my business.

I agree that the lakes would get their money if the rangers were doing their jobs better. go out and pick up the drinkers. Go pick up the people keeping illegally caught fish. Fine the idiots going too fast in the no wake zone. On any given day at the lake, you can see several people doing something against the rules or laws......whether it is litter, speeding, or drinking.


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## spot chaser (Apr 13, 2004)

tcba1987 said:


> Oh..... they put your money to use........ harassing bank fishermen, a friend of mine this summer got out of his truck and kicked a foam cup out onto flying through the no wake zones and the $40,000 ski boats ??? I agree the restrooms for the most part are DISGUSTING !!!  yeah i NEVER understood the fees for parking at the ramps at the state parks or the tournament fees, i always thought our license fees helped upkeep the lakes and stuff.



Just curious - d: yeah i NEVER understood the fees for parking at the ramps at the state parks or the 

what state parks charge parking?

MWCD is not a state park.


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## tcba1987 (Jun 22, 2004)

ROCKBASS................I NEVER said they were rules. i said that is what ive been told by different people at different times. I never said these ARE THE RULES follow them, i simply said that is what ive been told over the years. I WOULD like to know what the actual "RULES" are myself, in fact that was why i posted hoping someone would actually KNOW the rules for bank tournaments. Im not gonna mention who told me as long as money doesnt change hands on mwcd ground that you didnt need a permit but it was a TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR who should know. 

as far as the tournaments that are held away from any actual body of water, i was simply saying im sure there is a higher death rate for those fish. they weigh the fish a distance from any lakes or bodies of water......... im saying alot of the fish probably are not released alive and back into the original body of water that they came from....WHICH I BELIEVE IS A STATE LAW !! 

it concerns me IF alot of trophy fish are being wasted !!  thats all im saying i didnt want to get anyones blood pressure up !!


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## rockbass (Apr 16, 2004)

Thanks for clearing that up. I didn't mean you said they were rules, but you said you were told. I wanted to know who told you. MWCD/Rangers? Or just some random person. I figured if you already contacted the MWCD and got answers, I would not bother calling them.


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