MIchigan access

[Gills-only]

         I've heard different on the border lakes. You need a license to fish, you can fish into the Mi. water with an In. license but you must follow Mi. rules and regs. But don't quote me on this.

.        You are correct on the license statement, either license, rules on the side you are fishing apply, that being said I don’t think I would park at George ramp and walk into Indiana side and catch a few bass, after season and walk back to the ramp(Michigan side) and exit

[river_scum]

 yes you are correct about license.  if ramp for boarder lake is in mi. you need to fallow mi laws.  if you pull out with 150 gills on a mi. ramp you can get pinched.  I don't know about out on water though.  how would you know your across the line? how would they know you didnt catch them across line?  they have the burden of proof.  I have never been checked on a boarder lake but im guessing out on water is a free for all

 but if you set your bucket out on shore in Indiana then go retrieve it after pulling out your all good. 

 im betting any private ramps on Indiana side of boarder lakes will go up because of this also.

[river_scum]

Snitch, evidently you don't own a business, i.e. Bait shop; Gas Station; Motel etc. Your comment about Indiana and Ohio sportsman staying home, might be the end of alot of the economy and service jobs up in Michigan. They depend on the out of state funds to survive in many areas! Hex

I have often wondered how bad it got for businesses up in king country.  since the kings crashed they probably took a big hit from the lack of people chasing them up there.  towns like wellston most likely made the majority of their living during the fall run.

[river_scum]

well I did a few calls to day to fishing buddies.  I know 6 guys that regularly fish Michigan.  we talked about the ramp fee. 4 didn't even know about it(only 1 of them has internet).    one is my age and the others are 60-72.  wide range of incomes also. every one of them said they were not going to pay another cost.  its not just the "poor" that wont be buying it. lol they mite feel it they mite not?  sometimes its not about the money.

[3300]

lived in michigan all my life and never paid for a fee at a ramp site. i only know of one place that has one because the lake is so popular. that parking fee was only in the summer time. it seems to me you could use the ramps for free, but not park with the ramps and had to find a different place to park.

some of the great lakes beach parking is the the same, where you pay to park during prime hours and after 6pm it's free to park.

state parks have a fee to enter too.

my take is if it is that popular then i don't want to be on/in it and be crowded. there are plenty of places to go with no fee's and no crowds.

[princecraft]

I live in Indiana. I only live about 3 miles from Michigan border and fish Michigan lakes 98% of the time.  My boat is registered in Michigan and I have permanent Michigan trailer plates. Been this way for the last 50 years.  About 5 years ago I was told by the Indiana DNR that if they see that your vehicle has Indiana plates and your boat trailer has Michigan plates that you will be ticketed if they see you at the access.  There is a lot of Indiana lakes I would like to fish but won't because don't want to be ticketed.
I started seeing these recreational park pass signs on several lake accesses last fall that I fish for the first time.  Not happy about Michigan doubling the non-resident licensees fees and now this.  It is either re-registering my boat and putting Indiana plates on my trailer or getting the pass so I can fish Michigan lakes legally.  At my age(78) it is a no brainer for me.  I will be getting the recreational pass.  And by the way, some of the lake accesses I fish are nothing but dumps.  They are not kept up at all and can just barely get a boat in and back out.  The lakes are good but the accesses suck.  So all that extra money they are collecting are not going into keeping the accesses kept up.

[bigr]

I live in Indiana. I only live about 3 miles from Michigan border and fish Michigan lakes 98% of the time.  My boat is registered in Michigan and I have permanent Michigan trailer plates. Been this way for the last 50 years.  About 5 years ago I was told by the Indiana DNR that if they see that your vehicle has Indiana plates and your boat trailer has Michigan plates that you will be ticketed if they see you at the access.  There is a lot of Indiana lakes I would like to fish but won't because don't want to be ticketed.
I started seeing these recreational park pass signs on several lake accesses last fall that I fish for the first time.  Not happy about Michigan doubling the non-resident licensees fees and now this.  It is either re-registering my boat and putting Indiana plates on my trailer or getting the pass so I can fish Michigan lakes legally.  At my age(78) it is a no brainer for me.  I will be getting the recreational pass.  And by the way, some of the lake accesses I fish are nothing but dumps.  They are not kept up at all and can just barely get a boat in and back out.  The lakes are good but the accesses suck.  So all that extra money they are collecting are not going into keeping the accesses kept up.

I understand your feeling about how they use the money but you may be very happy the good lakes you have up there have poor access. Most people with the big fancy boats won't or can't get boats in. I gave a friend the name and access to my very best public gil lake and after he took his pretty boat to the ramp he hated the summer algaa on his trailer. He fished and caught the best fish of his life but said he won't go back. 

[buekerbug]

You only need the passport on lake's that have access on state park land.  I have a place up by traverse city on the lake and it's access is on state park land and I have to pay the $30 to launch my boat!. It sucks. I pay around $6000 a year for property taxes, and fishing.

[RoeBoat]

Definitely not just state parks but I don't think a list exists and I'm not sure there are even signs

[buekerbug]

[buekerbug]

If you go to the Michigan thread they say you need one for any state owned launch. I bought mine at a state park entrance. That's the only place I was told that sells them. All launches are posted if they require one.

[taxi1]

If your willing to put in the work to find quality fishing Indiana is very good when you compare what it costs to fish. Instead of going to MI or any other state say for two or three days put the same amount of effort into lakes with out the expense and other issues. Just getting away is sometimes reason enough to cross state lines but I've always enjoyed the challenge finding the good ones. I'm still looking for that good Walleye and Perch lake. I've got good river eyes. I'm think I'm getting closer on the lakes.

I've actually had poorer fishing on some Michigan lakes than Indiana. Some of the lakes up there get pounded a lot harder.

[princecraft]

You only need the passport on lake's that have access on state park land.  I have a place up by traverse city on the lake and it's access is on state park land and I have to pay the $30 to launch my boat!. It sucks. I pay around $6000 a year for property taxes, and fishing.

I agree with everyone that have said this is not true.  When the ice season starts you even need the passport for parking at the access.  I fish on some small lakes that the launches are terrible and never maintained. But they have the passport signs up and will ticket you if you don't have a sticker.