Environment
Ban on baiting trout with chum stirs controversy
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By MARIE ORTTENBURGER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Many anglers and guides are unhappy about the Natural Resources Commission’s new ban on scattering fish parts and eggs to lure fish on trout streams.
“It kind of drives me nuts,” said Chad Betts, owner of Betts Guide Service and Outfitters in Newaygo. Known as chumming, the practice has long been controversial. Critics say it can cause disease and that it’s an unfair way to catch more fish. But some anglers don’t think those are reasons enough to categorically ban the practice on trout streams, as the commission did in July. They argue that the ban will deal a blow to Michigan’s fishing tourism economy.