salmon are starting to show up on S lake mi…2 kings 9 coho and a brown trout today on Profishient Charters

10 coho, 1 steelhead and 3 browns today on Profishient Charters… fish are a bit scattered but are on the feed in southern lake michigan. Silver Streak mini’s in gold/orange did most of the damage on flatlines and divers. Great to be back on the water. Cold front moving through might slow things down early this week, but we expect HOT action by next weekend..

It seems that our Great Lakes are under assault once again, now by a Scandinavian Wind Power generation company. They have proposed construction of a 100 square mile wind farm 3 miles off the coast of Ludington and Pentwater….with their targets set next on the entire shoreline from St Joseph north to Manistee.

We at Profishient Charters stand in strong opposition to this front for a variety of obvious reasons, but most importantly that wind farms will NOT allow us to create independence from foreign oil as developers might suggest.

Please visit http://www.protectwithpower.org/scandias-proposal/ and join the fight today to protect the world’s most precious resource, the Great Lakes. Given that our current white house administration has failed to act sufficiently to protect the lakes from the invasion of Asian Carp, and has created a ‘task force’ to create groundwork for federally mandated fishing restrictions, it would come as no surprise to us that they are in full support of the proposed wind farm project. All of this mind you within the past three months. It would appear the current administration knows their time is near the end, and they are on a full assault to take control of the Great Lakes.

Help us protect this valuable resource, and to not allow it to be taken over by outside interests, federal bureaucracy, or aquatic invasive species.

The crew on Profishient Charters, Lake Michigan USA

Profishient Charters of Southern Lake Michigan is a mere week away from beginning it’s 2010 charter fishing season. Warm temps and a mild winter have given us the opportunity to get a jump on the fish this season. We are looking for a VERY strong spring fishery on the southern end of Lake Michigan this season. The spring of 2009 proved to be absolutely intense action with huge spring kings crashing the beach, mixing in with the ferocious Coho bite. Being as near as we are to the season start, if you are looking to join us for this fantastic fishery then now is the time to book your trip. Dates are rapidly filling up for late March, April and May.

There are places that we as individuals go to that are as important to us as just breathing and being alive…. to keep our selves and sanity in check. For many of us those places are in the great outdoors. Whether you are out of bounds on the side of a mountain out west downhill skiing, or stooped on a precipice miles from any road on your mountain bike, or with your son or daughter on a trout stream fishing a hole only your grandfather knows about. These places are yours. They are your place to step away, find balance, challenge yourself and to pass on a tradition to those most important to you.

What if you woke up one day and were told that in the name of environmental protection the federal government no longer allowed to go to that “place”? As an individual who cherishes the outdoors you know there is no discernible “environmental impact” of your presence in these places. Knowing this would you be accepting of this infringement? Would you honestly believe that the federal government “knows best” and that surely their intentions are to protect these places from damage to the ecosystem?

We at Profishient Charters woke up two days ago to such an infringement. Though not as law, but as proposed legislation by the Obama administration, every angler in this country is now confronted with the fight of our lives to protect our heritage. The Obama administration has proposed new legislation that would restrict yours and our ability to fish within mandated areas of public lakes, streams, rivers and oceans. This proposed legislation is not inspired by protecting previously damaged waters in an effort to allow the ecosystem to repair itself. The proposed legislation is not inspired to protect endangered species of fish or vulnerable reproductive areas. This legislation is proposed upon the premise of extending the stranglehold upon our liberties and freedoms as individuals.

The Obama administration has now ended the public input period for the federal fishery strategy. As opined in the ESPN article (http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/news/story?id=4975762), the Council of Environmental Quality and other governmental agencies are proposing restricted fishing zones in ALL U.S. waters. This includes ocean, lakes, streams, rivers, and tributaries. Repeatedly cited as a driving force behind this legislation is the broad-reaching term “overfishing”.

The proposed legislation would effectively give the federal government far reaching powers to restrict ANY angler in ANY waters, including the Great Lakes.  A “review” of the white house task force commission is located here, and with obvious concern we stand guarded against statements such as:

“The challenges our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes are facing are complex, and to meet these challenges we must have the participation of a wide spectrum of views from within the federal government,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “The Task Force has a wealth of opportunity to make our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes healthier – both environmentally and economically.”

Statements such as these are clear and obvious indicators that the federal bureaucracy has truly convinced itself that once again it knows best.

Contemplating the audacity of the Obama administration to determine the Great Lakes put-and-take salmon and trout fishery as potentially being subject to “overfishing” gives us great reason to be concerned. Our ecosystem, and fishery, is unique in many ways. We, meaning you our customers who buy fishing licenses, PAY to stock our Great Lakes with sportfish such as salmon and trout. To allow such legislation to pass in the face of this gross negligence by the federal government would be even more negligent on our part.

As sport men and women, and those who cherish not only fishing but all of the great outdoors, we urge you to take action upon this issue. Should such legislation pass it would serve dangerous precedent to further infringe upon our freedom and liberties to enjoy the outdoors in all of the many ways that we do. The precedent, once set, serves as a step towards restriction or banning of hunting, restriction of hiking and biking trails, and nearly any outdoor activity that makes use of public waters or lands.

Please contact your congress men and women to voice your concern on this issue….for not only yourselves but for that of future generations who will also need to find their “place” in the great outdoors.

Please visit keepamericafishing.org to protect your heritage.

—The Captains of Profishient Charters, Lake Michigan, U.S.A