West Michigan fishing League 2011

[Nailer]

I have agreed to run the WMFL for 2011 and beyond.

I would like to make a few changes to keep up with the times.

I would also like to here suggestions, and input from the guys that plan to fish it. Send me a PM if you are not comfortable posting it.

The changes I'm considering are:

1, 8 rod limit.

2, Fishing all the events from Port Sheldon, or Holland (The fish cleaning station at Holland is very nice).

3, 5:30-11:30 or 6:00-12:00 fishing times.

4, Fish in 1'-3' predicted seas and cancel if bigger.

All the other rules and dates, will stay intact.

For those of you that don't know me. I'm the old bald guy with my son Jacob.

Ken.

[Adam Bomb]

Nice undertaking Ken. Have fun.

[1mainiac]

Can I ask why not just make it 9 rods so all 3 guys can fish. the 6 rod limit made it a 2 man event I can kinda understand that even if I disliked it. To me 8 rods makes zero sense kinda makes it a 2 and 1/2 man contest. I know there are a lot of days I don't run my full rod limit but that is weather and setup dependent. I know several will point out I did not fish a single event this season and I may not fish any next year either but the reason is simple for me it is a fun event that even if I win I can't cover my expenses and the rod limits mean I can't even just enjoy the day of fishing and donate my money at weigh in. Also I would move it entirely to Holland the setup there is way better than Port Sheldon and you don't have to risk your prop to get in and out of the launch. While it would cost me more to fish Holland I personally would be much more inclined to fish there than Port Sheldon and not polish my lower unit getting in and out.

[Line Dancin]

Good luck with it ken i am sure you will have fun running it. I do have a couple points for consideration for you:

If it was purley out of holland i may fish a few. June of course i am on erie though. I will NOT go out of port sheldon again. It is plain getting to shallow and is going to get worse. I talked to the manager of Holland state park and the Army Corp has no intention of ever dredging that port again as it is not being used by the shipping industry. They say that it is the states responsibility now as dredging is just helping the states boat launch. IF it is going to be done it is going to be done at the state level and when she proposed this in lansing was shut down and told that there was no plan to ever do it on state funds alone. There is no money for dredging available. All that is going to happen is that port is going to fill shut for guys that have a boat that has a deeper draft like mine. I do like going to port sheldon as it is closer to the house, but as Phil on Plum Crazy and i were talking earlier this year i dont have to buy garbage bags and deel with fish guts at home. So because of these two points holland is my new permanant port.

I also like the nine rod limit better than 8 but it is still better than a 6 rod limit. I am out there to kill fish whether i fish an event or not. With fuel prices i want to get as many fish as quick as i can. That is why i didnt fish the events before i want the max number of rods in the water for the crew aboard and i dont go out with no less than three, and i can see a 3 man rod limit.

[Nailer]

Personally I don't see a huge advantage of 9v8 rods. The 8 rods is 2 more than the two-sum's can run, and only one less than the three-sum's can run.

There where quite a few two man teems last year.

Input is what I'm looking for, so thanks.

[sjk984]

That makes sense. I usually only fiah 2 so it wouls even out the chance a little.

Steve

[1mainiac]

I will be honest I mostly fish 8 rods however it is nice to fish 8 and be able to toss another one out while changing lures or even fighting a fish. Many times on rigger bites we will have a replacement rod back down before the fish is in the box which would mean even though we fished a 8 rod setup we would have 9 in the water at times. Also as much as I dislike Laker fishing every now and then I will put my pump handle setup down the chute. so to me if 3 guys are allowed 9 rods that should be the max and I never fish with less than 3 it costs too much to not use every thing you can to catch fish. I guess a second thing to consider is the fact it is legal to run attractors we got stopped by the DNR years ago and he was going to write us up for 8 rods till we pulled lines and showed him that 2 of the rods had no lures or hooks just spin doctors. so we were legal because we were only fishing 6 rods.

[jgaul]

I would like to join this league for 2011. What do I need to do? any fees, etc...?? Just seems like I always hear about it after the fact, so I want to be pro active this year!! I have enjoyed this site a lot! Can't wait for 2011 fishing!!

[Nailer]

The first event will be mid May. The sign up will be posted some time in the spring.

There are no fees. In the past it has always been a $10 contest split up %50 to the winner, %30 to 2nd place, and %20 to third. There is also a $5 big fish contest that goes with it.

The WMFL is just a group of guys having a friendly competition. The group is open to all, except Charter Captains.

As of now I'm looking for input on the changes I proposed.

[DIRTY DOG]

This sounds like fun, I may be interested in doing this again this year if there all out of Holland and the hours are 6am to noon with the 8 rod limet.

[1mainiac]

Sorry Terry you will have to fish 2 rods to be fair to others LOL

[Line Dancin]

Personally I don't see a huge advantage of 9v8 rods. The 8 rods is 2 more than the two-sum's can run, and only one less than the three-sum's can run.

There where quite a few two man teems last year.

Input is what I'm looking for, so thanks.

OK i understand why you are doing it that way. sounds like there is a sound theory to it.

[BenLubbs]

I'd also be interested in fishing in the WMFL next summer to. I usually only fish out of Holland. To me, 9 rods vs. 8 doesn't really make a difference. The biggest issue for me would be the time and days that the tournaments are, since I'm going to be taking full time classes this summer:mad:.

Oh, and Saturdays work better than Sundays for me

[Nailer]

All the events will take place on Saturday with the following Sunday as the blow day.

Last year we where able to hold all of them on Saturday.

Just 5 events, one in each month from May till Sept.

[jimbobber]

Ken I may fish some of the events this year to since they are out of holland.8 or 9 rods dont matter to me 8 is better than 6 for sure.

[Sea-Mac]

I'll try and make at least one Ken. Its well known im not very good with that early morning stuff tho.

How about we fish from noon to 6pm?

Im kidding...but not really.

[Tad Pole]

I wouldnt be opposed to one or two evening bite events!

[Priority1]

Sorry Terry you will have to fish 2 rods to be fair to others LOL

I'll come over and ride on the Dirty Dog. That will be enough of a handicap for Terry.

[bmsstp4u]

will the dates be on the same as mscst tourney or different I would like to do both??

[Nailer]

The dates will be like last year. I think most events did not coincide.

I'll work on posting them soon.

[1mainiac]

Ken our schedule is the same as last year with 2 more dates added tentative dates are.

May 7th

May 21st

Jun 11th

Jul 2nd

Jul 30

Aug 13th

Aug 27th

Assuming we all keep the same weekends as last year I think we only had 1 last year that conflicted. Our Jul 30th date is based on the assumption that the Dreamweaver will will be on the 21st once we have a final date on that we will adjust our second Jul event if need be.

[tgafish]

Dreamweaver is July 23 in 2011 so you're all set:)

[SPOONWASHER]

Don't know if we will ever get a chance to fish but I like the 8 rod rule, not too unfair for the groups that can only have 2 people and still gives the 3 people teams a slight advantage...

[Nailer]

Ken our schedule is the same as last year with 2 more dates added tentative dates are.

May 7th

May 21st

Jun 11th

Jul 2nd

Jul 30

Aug 13th

Aug 27th

Assuming we all keep the same weekends as last year I think we only had 1 last year that conflicted. Our Jul 30th date is based on the assumption that the Dreamweaver will will be on the 21st once we have a final date on that we will adjust our second Jul event if need be.

This is what I'm coming up with.

May 15

June 4

July 9

Aug 13

Sept 10

The Holland big red is the dictator in August. My guess is it will be August 6th.

Having a battle of the leagues on August 13 out of Grand haven is an option.

[fishsniffer]

looks good ken..hope you guys have a great year:thumb: