OCEANA COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — Sportsman’s Charters came to the aid of a sinking boat at the mouth of the Pentwater Channel Sunday morning.

Charles Mears State Park Rangers notified Mason-Oceana 911 of a sinking boat with two passengers around 11:41 a.m., where Mason-Oceana marine patrol and other resources were sent to the scene.

According to the deputy’s report, a 55-year-old Hesperia man and a 54-year-old Sterling Heights woman were on board an 18-foot bass boat about a mile north of the Pentwater channel when they discovered water in the boat.

The pair began to bail water out of the boat and reported that the main engine would not start.

The boaters used their trolling motor to get back to the channel but waves continued to come over the stern of the boat, according to the report.

Captain Trevor Castonia and First Mate Cy Salt of the charter boat “Sportsman” saw the bass boat in distress and reportedly instructed the passengers to put on their life vests.

According to the Sheriff , by the time the charter boat had reached the scene, the bass boat was sinking and the passengers were in the water.

The “Sportsman” crew threw life rings to the boaters and pulled them onto their boat before taking them to the sheriff’s office marine division at Pentwater Village Marina.

Sheriffs reported that both boaters refused medical treatment. The U.S. Coast Guard – Station Ludington crew tied the boat off Sunday and it was salvaged and removed from the shoreline by Boat Tow US on Monday according to sheriffs.

2019 Spring Report VP

By Captain Bill Winowiecki – MCBA Vice President

The MCBA board usually enjoys the off-season by attending a few meetings and monitoring what is going on with our state fishery and then presenting the information to the membership. This past winter, issues have taken our board members from 10s of hours to 100s of hours, and now to 1000 hours of advocacy to protect our sports fishery.

It started in November with the lame-duck legislative session and Senate Bill 1145, a proposal to open Lake Superior and Lake Michigan to net lake trout by state licensed commercial fishermen. With the whitefish population in decline, lake trout numbers rising, lake trout are on the hit list as a target species by commercial fishers. We kept the pressure on our legislators all the way through January 1, 2019 when the lame duck session finally recessed and the bill died in committee. I want to thank all our members who backed us with your support of emails, phone calls, and letters to our legislators NOT to support SB 1145. Standing united, we made a difference!

In January we attended the Michigan Fish Producers Meeting. We were trying to understand where the commercial fishing industry stands in regards to the Tribal Decree, as they are also part of the upcoming negotiations. Commercial fishers have made it clear they want to target lake trout and walleye as part of their by-catch.

Mid-February brought another explosive issue when it was learned sports fishermen had exceeded their Total Allowable Catch (TAC) in Traverse Bay during the 2018 season. Within the guidelines of the Tribal Decree, the sports fishery is allowed 77,200 pounds of lake trout in MM4. Their reported catch of 93,000 pounds exceeded the TAC by more than 20 percent. If the state or the tribes exceed harvest limits by more than 15 percent, there is a penalty for the following season. Therefore, recreational anglers will be required to reduce their catch by nearly 32,000 pounds. The sports fishery will be allowed approximately 61,000 pounds for the 2019 fishing season.

A public meeting was held March 6 in Traverse City. Frustrated anglers were presented with seven possible proposals by the DNR to try and save their fishing season from complete closure. After extensive debate, two of the proposals were accepted. Option 1 offers a January 1 to September 30 lake trout season with a 15-inch minimum size limit and one fish daily bag limit. With Option 2 the fishery would open May 25 to September 2. May 25 to July 31 would have a 15-inch size limit and a two fish daily bag limit. August 1 to September 2 would have a 15-inch size limit and a one fish daily bag limit.

On March 7 the Lake Michigan Citizen Advisory Committee met and voted to support Proposal 1. There will be a hearing on March 14 with the Natural Resources Commission (NCR). It is hoped they will accept the regulation change, which is within the guidelines of the Tribal Decree. Implementation of the new regulation should go into effect by mid-April.

The foregoing all illustrate why MCBA is so adamant on raising funds to support the Coalition to Protect Michigan Resources during the Tribal Decree negotiations. We must stand our ground if we expect to stay in business. If we donít, the fishery will belong to the tribes and commercial fishing, and sport fishing will become a thing of the past.

By Capt. Eric Anderson, President

The Pistis Award is given in Honor of Chuck Pistis, former Michigan Sea Grant Program Director. It honors an individual or organization outside MCBA who is a defender of our Great Lakes and natural resources.

This year the Michigan Charter Boat Association proudly presented the Pistis Award to Roger Greil manager of Lake Superior State University’s Aquatic Research Laboratory. In his nearly 30 years as laboratory manager, Greil has played an active role in training hundreds of undergraduate students in fish culture management, many of whom have gone on to pursuer successful careers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Nearly two thirds of all fish production staff in the MDNR are LSSU alumni!

In addition to student training, Greil has overseen the development of the Atlantic salmon rearing program, which has been highly successful in Lake Huron and has resulted in creating a “world class” fishery. Greil is also a tireless advocate for the Great Lakes fisheries in general. He has been the recipient of two State of Michigan Outstanding Partnership Awards and the Grayling Award from the American Fisheries Society.

“It is my honor to present Roger Greil with the 2018 Pistis Award,” said President Eric Anderson.

Greil received the prestigious award during ceremonies at the MCBA Annual Conference and Awards Banquet held at the Great Wolfe Lodge in Traverse City the weekend of October 20. Greil was also the evening’s guest speaker, discussing LSSU’s Atlantic salmon program and the progress the Atlantics’ are making in the Lake Huron fishery.

[pdf-embedder url=”https://mcbamembers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/A-Statement-by-the-Michigan-Charter-Boat-Association-against.pdf” title=”A Statement by the Michigan Charter Boat Association against”]

The MCBA Award is an award that is intended to recognize members of our association who have contributed of themselves above and beyond the call of duty for our association. This year 2018 MCBA Award was presented posthumously to former board member Ron Beyer.

Capt. Beyer joined MCBA in 1990, was appointed Port Captain for Harrisville in 2003, and elected to the board as Lake Huron Director in 2005, a position he proudly held until his passing 2013. He gave graciously and freely of his time to the all-volunteer organization.

“It is my privilege to honor the late Captain Ronald Beyer with the 2018 Michigan Charter Boat Association Award, “said President Eric Andersen. (Capt. Rick Konecke graciously accepted the award for the late Captain Beyer)

“Capt. Beyer put a lot of time and energy into the revitalization of Lake Huron after the salmon collapse in 2004. He also called attention to a lake trout population that was seriously declining at the same time and worked with the Michigan Sea Grant and Department of Natural Resources exploring ways to do everything possible to restore those fisheries. Capt. Beyer was a problem solver and was able to resolve matters in a diplomatic way.”
Capt. Beyer was instrumental in planning MCBA’s Annual Conference when it was held at the Holiday Inn in Alpena. He also made all the arrangements for the NOAA Museum tour that weekend.

Capt. Beyer was appointed by then President Dick Stafford to the Lake Huron Citizens Fishery Advisory Committee in 2006. He was very vocal at these meetings, as he sought avenues to restore native fish stocks to Lake Huron, the lake he loved so dearly. The board and membership were always kept well informed of what was happening or planned for Lake Huron during his watch.

Capt. Beyer was a true friend to MCBA and cared greatly about the organization. He represented the organization with honesty and integrity.