THE CHANGING LAKE MICHIGAN 2017 SUMMER EDITION

MICHIGANS PREMIUM OUTDOOR JOURNAL SINCE 1947

Fish
Explore
Travel
Hit the road

PLUS:
HOW
for lunkers
this summer!

MARK MARTIN
DAVID ROSE
MARK ROMANACK
& BOB GWIZDZ
CATCH
WALLEYE
MUSKIE
BASS
PANFISH
AND MORE!
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www.michiganoutofdoors.com Official Publication of Michigan United Conservation Clubs
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 SUMMER 2017
THE CHANGING LAKE MICHIGAN 2017 SUMMER EDITION

MICHIGANS PREMIUM OUTDOOR JOURNAL SINCE 1947

Fish
Explore
Travel
Hit the road

PLUS:
HOW
for lunkers
this summer!

VOLUME 71, ISSUE 3

MARK MARTIN
DAVID ROSE
MARK ROMANACK
& BOB GWIZDZ
CATCH
WALLEYE
MUSKIE

contents
BASS
PANFISH
AND MORE!
$5.99 US | SUMMER 2017
PLEASE DISPLAY UNITL SEP 1

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DEPARTMENTS MUCC
www.michiganoutofdoors.com Official Publication of Michigan United Conservation Clubs

3 | BASECAMP
4 | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
7 | DIRECTOR'S DESK DAN EICHINGER
10 | ON PATROL
12 | AROUND MICHIGAN
14 | CONSERVATION NATION
16 | GREAT LAKES FISHING MARK ROMANACK
43 | GEAR: KAYAK FISHING MOUNTING SYSTEMS GARY ELLIOT
82 | FULL DRAW: SUMMER SCOUTING TOM NELSON
88 | CONSERVATION THROUGH EDUCATION SHAUN MCKEON
90 | THE CAMPFIRE TYLER BUTLER
92 | THE WILD LIFE DREW YOUNGEDYKE

FEATURES

22 | THE BITE OUT OF BOUNDS DAVID A. ROSE

28 | THE NEW LAKE MICHIGAN JIM BEDFORD
34 | A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR MICHIGAN MUSKIES BOB GWIZDZ
40 | SUMMARIZING SUMMER 'EYES MARK MARTIN
44 | DON'T FORGET ABOUT MICHIGAN LARGEMOUTHS BOB GWIZDZ
48 | COFFEE GRINDERS & COLD STEEL CALVIN MCSHANE
50 | DROP-SHOTTING FOR BOSS BLUEGILLS ROGER HINCHCLIFF
52 | U.P. ANGLING: THE COMPLETE RECREATION RICK FOWLER
54 | TROLLING FOR PANFISH BOB GWIZDZ
57 | HOW INFASTRUCTURE AFFECTS OUR RIVERS BRIAN CENCI
60 | TRACKING WILDLIFE FOOD WITH MI-MAST KELSEY FISHER & GARY ROLOFF
62 | A POSSIBLE STRATEGY FOR BOVINE TB IN MICHIGAN DEER DAVID DRESSEL, HENRY CAMPA III,
MIKE LOVELL, KURT VANCAUTEREN
66 | HOW DNR PARTNERS HELP WILD TURKEY HABITAT DARIN POTTER
70 | EQUIPMENT THAT ENABLES JEFF LICHON
73 | HUNTING ACROSS THE BORDER JEFF HELSDON
76 |SUMMER PRACTICE, FALL RESULTS DARIN POTTER
89 | ARE SOME BUCKS UNKILLABLE? TOM NELSON
92 | A NEW ERA IN TAXIDERMY ROB HARRELL

2 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

bAsecamp
by Drew YoungeDyke, Editor
WELCOME TO MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS,
Michigans premium outdoor journal.
Summer is all about fishing. And in this summer's edition
of Michigan Out-of-Doors, it's about every kind of
fishing everywhere - Great Lakes, small rivers, muskies
and walleye, bass and panfish, from a boat, in waders,
from a kayak. Fish, explore, travel.
David Rose shows us great fishing locations just outside
our borders in "The Bite Out of Bounds," and we're
excited to welcome the return of Mark Romanack's Great
Lakes Fishing column.
Mark Martin is everywhere, from the cover to his
own article on shallow-water walleye to even a guest
appearance in Bob Gwizdz's take on trolling for panfish
and Michigan's muskie resurgence. Gwizdz also has an
excellent feature on Michigan largemouths.
Rick Fowler and Calvin McShane show us you don't
have to travel far for fishing adventures - just over the
bridge - and Jim Bedford explores the changing fishery
of Lake Michigan.
Roger Hinchcliff provides some tips on catching "boss"
bluegills, and Brian Cenci provides an in-depth look at
how our infastructure systems affect the rivers we fish,
and how one drain commissioner is looking to fix that on
the banks of the Red Cedar.
We often talk about "sound science," and in this issue,
we expolore it. Gary Roloff and Kelsey Fisher show you
how to track wildlife food mast through the MI-MAST
app, and Dr. Rique Campa's team from Michigan State
explain a fascinating new proces that could help reduce
the spread of Bovine TB in northeast Michigan's deer
herd.
MUCC's own On the Ground program is featured
in Darin Potter's look at how partners help the DNR
improve turkey habitat, and Tom Nelson provides a
double-dose of deer knowledge on "unkillable bucks"
and summer scounting tactics.
Drew YoungeDyke portaging on the Sturgeon River
Continuing with the theme of exploring, Ontario's
Jeff Helsdon tells you what you need to know if
you're booking a Canadian hunting trip. Rob Harrell
goes behind the scenes with one of Michigan's best
taxidermists, and Jeff Lichon reviews equipment that
enables hunters of all physical abilities to go afield.
We're privileged to have some of the best fishing writers
in the Great Lakes writing in this edition of Michigan
Out-of-Doors, some of the best wildlife biologists
and researchers writing about the scientific side of
conservation, and some of the most knowledgable
outdoor writers providing their tips on how to prepare
now to have hunting success in the fall.
In short, with this magazine in your hand, you have
no excuses not to go out and make this the most epic
summer of your outdoor life, and put in the work to make
this fall the best of your hunting career. While you're
out enjoying our natural resources, though, don't forget
about the critical work that it takes to conserve them.
Since 1937, Michigan United Conservation Clubs
has been the leader in conserving Michigan's natural
resources and the voice of Michigan's hunters, anglers
and trappers. In June, MUCC will celebrate its 80th
Annual Convention in the city where it was founded,
and vote on a new yearly slate of policy resolutions.
Your support makes sure that MUCC can continue
representing you in Lansing for another 80 years.
Yours in Conservation,
Drew YoungeDyke, Editor
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 3
 LETTERS
Dear Editor,
For those who may be interested, the pro and con
article about mandatory antler point restrictions by Dr Jim
Brauker and I that was published in the spring issue of MI Out-
ON MANDATORY ANTLER POINT RESTRICTIONS of-Doors Magazine has led to a one hour debate between
Brauker and I that is now online via a Podcast hosted by Jim
Dear Editor, Scicluna and Gabe Forster. With an introduction before the
As a long time columnist, subscriber and MUCC mem- debate and a summary by the hosts afterward, the entire
ber, I always read my MOOD magazine from cover to cover. Podcast is an hour and 44 minutes long. For those who are
In the spring issue I read with great interest the two articles interested and have the time, heres the link to the Podcast:
regarding the pro and cons of MAPR's, Mandatory Antler http://www.hunt2fishoutdoors.com/podcast/episode-5-
Point Restrictions. I thought both authors did an admirable job apr-debate-with-dr-jim-brauker-and-richard-p-smith/
defending their views on MAPR's and the effect it has on hunt-
ers and whitetails here in Michigan. Richard P. Smith
As a landowner in one of the MAPR counties, I have
witnessed the effect of MAPR and thought I would relay my ON ANN ARBOR DEER STERILIZATION
opinion on the matter. I have a long history of hunting white-
tails here in Michigan, over 45 years in total. Before MAPR Dear Editor,
came into effect, local hunters in our area pretty much shot If you live in Ann Arbor or drive into the city you are
anything with a calcium deposit on its head. When MAPR was instantly aware of the deplorable condition of the city streets.
put into effect in our area, many of my friends and neighbors It is a godsend for the auto repair shops. Blown out tires, bent
were more than a bit sceptical. wheels, cars out of alignment and ruined suspensions. This is
Now after a few years of MAPR's I can honestly say the hidden tax you pay for a City Council that is more interest-
I am a fan of it. The first deer season was a bit slow and many ed in social and political issues. There are a number of items
questioned whether or not MAPR was a good thing. The fol- they fund that would seem to have a lower priority than road
lowing year our neighbor shot his largest buck since he started maintenance, but I would like to highlight one of them, culling
hunting in 1964. Several others in our area shot mature bucks the deer herd.
and suddenly MAPR was a good thing. According to the report in the Ann Arbor News
In recent years we have witnessed a much more (March 19, 2017), it cost about $150,000.00 this year and
intense rut. We find far more scrapes and rubs than in the past. may continue for four more years. You could fill a lot of pot-
We have also witnessed more daytime chasing and overall holes with that money.
whitetail movement. Calling in or rattling a buck was a rare The report did not say if White Buffalo (the company
event before MAPR, now I wouldn't think of going hunting that did the culling) delivered the processed meat to the local
without a call or rattling antlers. In Michigan, year and a half food bank or any other organization so the meat would be
old bucks do a good percentage of the breeding in non MAPR used properly. If they did not it would be an outlandish waste
areas. Yes, they are capable, but they are novices and are of good meat. If they did, is the cost of butchering included in
awkward at it. Biologically speaking they were never meant to the cost as they reported it.
actually participate in the rut at such a young age. Consider I believe there are at least two other options that
this if we were speaking of humans. could alleviate the problem. First: the city could invite lo-
To those who state they just want some venison for the cal bow hunters to do the culling. I am sure we could find
freezer, my response is, fill your tag with a doe. This is also the an adequate number of qualified archers to do the job. As
answer for first time hunters who wish to place their tag on a an inducement, allow them to keep the deer. If they did not
whitetail. This benefits the deer herd and gives the hunter the want the venison, arrangements could be made to give it to
success and or experience he or she is looking for. Food Gatherers or Sportsmen for the Hungry. Urban archery
In summary, I believe that MAPR's have had a positive seasons have been proposed (DNR Deer Management Plan
impact on the whitetails and hunters alike in our area. All of 12/8/16) to decrease deer/human conflicts stating therein:
my neighboring landowners that I have contact with, feel pursue policies that allow and encourage the use of hunt-
the same. Change is sometimes difficult for many. When the ing, including archery hunting in urban/suburban areas, to
change involves hunting, especially in a state like Michigan, address the urban/suburban deer issues.
you will always have many who find it hard to digest. A second option would be to put the burden on the
people who help create the problem by planting the types of
Tom Nelson, Host flowers and shrubs that attract the deer. Local nursery profes-
American Archer TV sionals could advise them on the types of plants that do not at-
tract deer. Gardeners can also use Liquid Fence to repel deer

4 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

as well as rabbits. This would relieve the city of the financial
burden and place it on the people who create the problem.
A fellow MUCC member, who is also a veterinarian, has
some observations regarding the surgical procedure used to
sterilize the deer:
Sterilization as a wildlife management tool is not only
impractical and expensive, it could even be considered less
humane than a well-placed bullet (or arrow). The American
Veterinary Medical Association Panel on Euthanasia consid-
ers gunshot a humane form of euthanasia for wild ranging
wildlife. It should also be considered that the stress and pain
from an abdominal surgery followed by the abortion of any
fetuses are significant and the inability to provide postopera-
tive pain relief and prophylactic antibiotic therapy is problem-
atic. This lack of an ability to follow up your surgical patient
is verging upon malpractice, if not an inhumane practice. In
addition, survival surgery in a tool shed cannot be considered
the same as aseptic surgery required by the Animal Welfare
Act. So a sterilization method to control the deer population
that is meant to be more humane than a method approved by
Our 80tth Annual Convention will be held
June 16-18, 2017 at the Comstock Inn &
Conference Center in Owosso
with special events planned at
the Shiawassee Conservation
Association, where we were
founded in 1937.
16w-o1ss8o
O
the AVMA, may be not so. A City Council decision based on
emotion to appease animal rights activists instead of proven
scientific reasoning is unwise.
One last observation about the veterinarian who
was performing the surgery on the deer: She was quoted as
saying, Im in favor of anything as long as it isnt hunting.
She obviously is not well informed about game management.
If you ask any professional game manager anywhere in the
world about how to control game animals, the first and fore-
most method is hunting.
Now if you dont think you can convince the property
owners to change the type of shrubs they plant or have them
spray the plants, give us a call and we will have a group of
well qualified archers line up at your door.
Russ Reister
Past President, Michigan United Conservation Clubs
Greg Peter
Veterinarian
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 5
 Since7
PUBLISHER
DAN EICHINGER MICHIGAN UNITED 193
MUCC CONSERVATION CLUBS
TM

EDITOR
DREW YOUNGEDYKE
editor@michiganoutofdoors.com 2101 Wood Street | PO Box 30235 | Lansing, MI 48909 | 517.371.1041 P | 517.371.1505 F | www.mucc.org
Uniting Citizens to Conserve, Protect and Enhance Michigans Natural Resources and Outdoor Heritage
ART DESIGN & TEMPLATE
SOLO 71 / DAVE BEHM Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) is a 501(c)
(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1937 by sportsmen's
ADVERTISING
clubs from around Michigan to protect conservation from
AMBER ALBERT
politics. Representing over 50,000 members and supporters
sales@mucc.org
and approximately 250 affiliated conservation clubs, MUCC
PRESIDENT is the largest state-based conservation organization in the
THOMAS HERITIER nation. MUCC members determine its conservation policies
through a robust grassroots process, which MUCC staff works
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT to implement by working with elected officials, state and federal
RON BURRIS agencies, its members and the public. MUCC has published
Michigan Out-of-Doors since 1947 and operates the Michigan
VICE PRESIDENT Out-of-Doors Youth Camp in Chelsea, MI. Learn more about the
GEORGE LINDQUIST full range of programs MUCC uses to advance conservation in
Michigan and become a member at www.mucc.org.
TREASURER
JIM DECLERCK

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
RICHARD P. SMITH
BILL MALLOCH
MUCC Staff
DAN EICHINGER AMY TROTTER
JANE FINNERTY Executive Director Deputy Director
CAROL ROSE deichinger@mucc.org atrotter@mucc.org
JACK VAN RHEE
CHUCK HOOVER STEPHANIE RUSTEM LOGAN SCHULTZ
DAVID VAN LOPIK Project Manager Digital Media Coordinator
BRUCE LEVEY srustem@mucc.org lschultz@mucc.org
GREG PETER
BILL KREPPS ANNA MITTERLING SHAUN MCKEON
Wildlife Co-op Coordinator Education Director
KRIS MATTHEW
amitterling@mucc.org smckeon@mucc.org
DOUG KRIZANIC
SARAH TOPP AMBER ALBERT
Michigan Out-of-Doors (ISSN 0026-2382) is the official publication of
Wildlife Volunteer Coordinator Membership Coordinator
Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), 2101 Wood St., Lansing
MI 48912, and is published quarterly. Telephone: 517.371.1041. stopp@mucc.org aalbert@mucc.org
Receipt of this publication is through membership in MUCC. For
membership information, call 1.800.777.6720. Single copies available TAYLOR RENTON SUE PRIDE
to the public for $5.99 each. Periodicals postage paid at Lansing,
Gourmet Gone Wild Manager Membership Relations &
Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address
changes to Michigan Out-of-Doors, PO Box 30235, Lansing MI 48909. gourmetgonewild@mucc.org Tracks Coordinator
All advertising communications should be sent to PO Box 30235. spride@mucc.org
Views expressed by freelance writers are their own and do not nec- TYLER BUTLER
essarily express those of Michigan Out-of-Doors or Michigan United
Youth Camp Director ASHLEY BUR
Conservation Clubs. Copyright 2017 by Michigan United Conservation
Clubs (MUCC). The Copyright Act of 1976 prohibits the reproduction of tbutler@mucc.org Policy Assistant
Michigan Out-of-Doors without written permission from Michigan United abur@mucc.org
Conservation Clubs. MUCC members may reproduce one copy for
personal use without permission. For permission to reprint a specific
article, and for inquiries, contact the editor at editor@michiganoutof-
doors.com.

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
AFFECTS MORE THAN DEER
What if I told you that an always fatal
disease for which there is no vaccine,
no antibiotic, no known treatment, and
persists in the environment for years, was
affecting North Americas most popular
big game animal. This was how my
friend Mike Butler, Executive Director of
the Tennessee Wildlife Federation con-
cluded a conference call I participated
in a couple of weeks ago. Mike was
proposing a TED talks on chronic wast-
ing disease (CWD) and suggested that
as a hook. For those of us who are com-
mitted deer hunters, the slow but certain
spread of CWD in places around the
country and even here in Michigan is
well known and is of high concern.
For those who skip over deer season in
favor of a duck blind, the grouse woods,
or trap line, CWD matters to you too.
The user pay concept for managing
wildlife in North America is one of the
fundamental principles of the North
American Model for wildlife conserva-
tion. Hunting and fishing license buyers
have been able to claim particularly
high moral ground over the decades
because revenue generated from those
licenses have restored everything from
wild turkeys to sensitive habitats. CWD
and wildlife disease in general has the
possibility to change all of that.
The vast majority of hunting licenses
sold in Michigan are driven by white-
tailed deer. With the funds generated
from those sales, wildlife management
on the full complement of game ani-
Director's Desk
These steps and others deal with re-
sponding to CWD in the free ranging
deer herd. Captive deer, bred and
moved around the state in the service of
the high fence shooting industry, present
another challenge. Not all of the details
are known about the latest case of CWD
showing up in a high fence facility in
Mecosta County, but we do know that
mals and some non-game animals is
at a minimum the rules and regulations
accomplished. If we had to manage
werent being followed, and the re-
turkeys with only the revenue generated
sponse, especially from the Michigan
by the sale of turkey licenses, Michigan
Department of Agriculture and Rural
may not be one of the national leaders
Development (MDARD) has been slow
for turkey hunter satisfaction. Or take
and weak. As of this writing, in mid-
American woodcock, Michigan is the
April it was believed that the facility had
number one location in the world for
only just de-populated all of its animals,
American woodcock hunting. I love
which were sent for testing (results not
hunting upland birds, but it is a small
yet available), nearly three months after
club by comparison to the community of
the initial positive and over 6 weeks af-
white-tailed deer hunters where the bulk
ter MDARD indicated the facility would
of the money is generated to accomplish
have its animals removed and tested.
the highly specific habitat work benefit-
MDARDs slow action only proves how
ting grouse and woodcock (and deer,
wholly inadequate and naive the regula-
too, though deer are not specific to that
tory framework around these facilities
habitat).
has been. That needs to change.
Other states have learned some hard
Anything that undermines public confi-
lessons about how to deal with CWD.
dence in the deer herd, its health, or its
To control and contain the spread, it can
prospects over the long term will have a
mean aggressive reduction in deer den-
depressive effect on license sales. If that
sities in certain areas. That is a bitter pill
happens, everyone suffers-not just deer
for a lot of deer hunters to swallow who
hunters. Deer hunting has not always
recoil at the idea of removing so many
been king in Michigan, but it is certainly
animals from a relatively small area.
king right now, and until another trend in
This is part of what tripped up aggres-
hunting emerges that can equal deer in
sive action in certain areas in Wisconsin,
terms of public participation we all need
allowing CWD prevalence among older
to be invested in making sure that deer
bucks to creep into astronomically high
hunting remains healthy, viable, and
territory. It can mean changes in baiting
well-supported. That means that those
and feeding practices. It can mean
who dont care a whit about shooting
changes in what condition you bring
a deer, need to be all-in advocating
deer, moose, and elk back from other
for aggressive and rapid response to
states. These are controversial subjects
emerging threats to deer-like CWD.
in their own right that stoke passions
even without the presence of a deer
-Dan Eichinger, Executive Director
disease concern casting a shadow over
them.
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 7
 MOMENTS of MEMORY
DEAR EDITOR,

Just finished reading my fall edition

of Michigan Out-of-Doors, and
wanted to get with you on the new
design of the magazine.

Call me old school,

The but Iof
bedrock enjoyed
conservation is taking care of our natural resources so that they can be passed
the magazine better the old way.
down to future generations. The natural resources that we conserve today were conserved for us
When I bynormally read the of
generations mag-
conservationists preceding us, and these generations are ever changing, ever
azine its from cover to cover, flowing. Here we honor the passing of one generation of
although my passion is mostly deer conservationists to the next.
hunting ,and fishing I enjoy reading
about some of the other passions
as well.
In memory of
And I liked it better with the shorter
stories that I could read in just a Ernie Ostwald, Jr.
few minutes in the morning before I from his granddaughter,
head off to work. Amy Trotter

I do like the larger print now that

the years have been added to my In memory of
birth date, and the eyes don't do
so well. But that could be obtained
Benjamin Senyk
from the
by reducing the picture sizes. I have
Truskey Family
been reading the magazine for
Julie Westerfield
probably over 40 years now, and
Joe Sokal
hunting, and fishing the out doors
MBI International
for probably 10 years more than
that, and still find them both to be
refreshing, and joyful. I also liked
the smaller paper size of the old
In memory of
magazine, and soft covers for this
allowed you to fold the pages and Wayne Obertein
hold it in one had comfortably. I from
know I'm only one person and like Matthew & Susan Berghoff
your final story different from all Jeffrey & Sharril McNally
others, but I really like the old mag- Bryan & Bobi Jo Parrish
azine much better. And truly agree Phillip & Mary Jane Ouillette
to Hunt Your Own Hunt. J.C. Meyer
Rodney & Kimberly Sweet
But do it ethically and honestly.

Sincerely, DeLoy C. Clark

Muckegon, MI In memory of
John Kivela
from the entire Michigan United Conservation Clubs family
DEAR SIR,

Having recently finished reading the

new format magazine, my firstIf you
im- have recently lost someone you would like to honor here,
pression in a word is "slick". Upon please contact Sue Pride at spride@mucc.org.
 TM

MUCC
LIFE MEMBER
Thank you to the following conservationists who have made a lifetime
commitment to conserving, protecting and enhancing Michigan's
natural resources and outdoor heritage by becoming a Life Member
of Michigan United Conservation Clubs:

Paul Smith of Jenison, MI

Megan Sebright of Rapid City, MI

Michael Fox of Traverse City, MI

William Demmer of Lansing, MI

Bryce Shelton of Davison, MI

Troy Strieter of Sebewaing

If you are willing and able to make a lifetime commitment to conservation, you can become a Life Member of
Michigan United Conservation Clubs with a $500 contribution to the organization.

Life members receive a lifetime subscription to Michigan Out-of-Doors, a Life Member MUCC ballcap,
a Life Member patch, and a certificate commemorating your commitment to conservation.

Contact Sue Pride at spride@mucc.org or visit www.mucc.org/join_mucc and select "Life Membership."
 In each issue of Michigan Out-of-Doors, you read select-
ed reports of the exploits of Michigan's brave conservation
officers. In this special edition of On Patrol, we've been
priviliged to share an excerpt from a new book written by one
of those conservation officers, John Borkovich. In "Wildlife
911: On Patrol Through the Eyes of John Borkovich," you will
read exciting tales from the field as Borkovich and his part-
ners work to conserve our natrural resources by enforcing
the regulations and laws set by the DNR, often at the risk of
great personal danger. It does much more than that, too: you
will read about the human side of law enforcement, in stories
sometimes humorous, sometimes thrilling, and often both, such
as the following story. - Drew YoungeDyke
CAviar anyone?
Excerpted with permission from Wildlife 911: On Patrol
Through the Eyes of John Borkovich
by John Borkovich
ON PATROL: Sp
Great Lakes sturgeon have been protected for
years. The sturgeon population has been declining
for decades and protection of these large, prehistoric
fish is a statewide priority. Great Lakes sturgeon can
live to be 100 years old. Unfortunately, some people
target the female sturgeon just for the fish's eggs. The
eggs (caviar) are a delicacy and regarded as the sec-
ond-most desirable caviar in the world, second only
to the White Russian Caviar.
In an attempt to ensure stable sturgeon popu-
lations for future generations, fish and game officers
spend a lot of time patrolling for sturgeon poachers.
There are even volunteer sturgeon watch groups
who help protect these large fish. These great, caring
people volunteer their time to help watch and pro-
tect our valuable sturgeon resource. They work long
hours, day and night, observing areas where sturgeon
are spawning and have a huge impact on the amount
of sturgeon poaching. One of these groups is called
St. Clair Detroit River Sturgeon for Tomorrow. This
group does a great job educating the public, and
10 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
helping protect sturgeon. Two of the group's mem-
bers, Dave Dortman and Michael Thomas are former
and current DNR employees who work full-time as
advocates for sturgeon, and they do a remarkable
job. Conservation officers can't be at all places at all
times, so volunteers serve as extra eyes to help spot
poaching. They call the DNR when they see suspi-
cious activity. The Department of Natural Resources
has placed such a high priority on protecting our
sturgeon. The state even offers a $1,500 reward to a
person who turns in a sturgeon poacher. Officers even
participate in directed group patrols working hard to
protect the "dinosaur looking fish." On many other
occasions, officers just go alone on patrol searching
for sturgeon poachers.
Most of my sturgeon activity took place at
night. However, it is not easy working at night. It is
also not easy working extra long hours. It is not easy
working out in the elements, being sometimes cold
or raining outside. It is not easy giving up relaxing
personal time, family time, and normal sleep time.
Although not always easy, working late at night is
necessary to be able to catch serious sturgeon poach-
ers.
One night late in June (during the closed
season on sturgeon) one of my partners, Dick Sawkin
and I were working along the St. Clair River tar-
getting sturgeon poachers. We were hiding in the
shadows in the storage area of a marina. We hid near
several broken down boats and some junk piles. We
could see some fishermen using very heavy 10 foot
long fishing rods. From the looks of their gear, we
knew they were targetting sturgeon in the St. Clair
River in front of them.
After a couple hours, we heard the Ding,
Ding, Ding of the Bell on one of the subject's large
fishing poles. We watched one of the subjects reeling
in something large. His pole nearly bent in half as
the monster fish tried to stay away from the pier the
fishermen were on. My partner and I knew that the
big fish was most likely a sturgeon, and the longer
the fisherman reeled, the more excited and anxious
we became. We knew that if the fishermen were not
poachers, that they would just photograph the fish
and let it go.
So we waited, and watched the fisherman reel
the fish in (now it had been over 20 minutes since the
fish bit). Then another subject used a huge landing
net and netted the fish. Sweet, indeed the fish was a
sturgeon, and it was big, about six feet long! Then in
a rather surprising move, one subject pushed a yellow
rope through the fish's gills. Then they immediately
began dragging the fish to their parked van. They
pulled the fish similar to the way hunters would drag
a deer out of the woods. Except these guys were re-
ally moving fast, almost running. They were moving
so fast that before we could climb out of our hiding
spots, the poachers swung the van's side door open
and threw the sturgeon inside. Then they jumped in
and began speeding away. The big one that got away,
I thought as I began sprinting to my patrol truck that
was parked at least a hundred yards away.
Being such a dark night helped conceal us
during the surveillance stage, but the darkness almost
helped the poachers get away. As I was running as fast
up. The K-9 cops had just finished training nearby
when they heard my call for assistance. I'm not sure
who was more shocked, the K-9 police upon seeing
the huge fish in the van, or the suspects for being
surrounded by six tactical looking K-9 officers. We
arrested the poachers and impounded their van.
It was almost day time and our successful
night came to an end. When the fish poachers left
in such a hurry in the middle of the night, they
left their tackle boxes and fishing gear on the pier.
Unbeknownst to us, some early-morning walkers
had found the fishing gear on the pier with no one
around, and assumed someone had fallen into the
river. Local police and marine officers returned to
search for the missing fishermen. One of my part-
ners, Ron Pinson, responded and was able to figure
out what happened. Ron was able to verify that the
fishing tackle belonged to the poachers, and they had
not fallen into the cold water and drowned, but were
instead they were in hot water in jail.

ecial Edition
as I could, I ran directly into an angle iron frame sign!
The bottom chord of the frame was a horizontal piece
of angle iron that was about one foot off the ground.
WHACK, my shin hit the steel. You know, the shin
bone - where it's all bone. Down I went like I was
shot. The pain was great, but not as great as my desire
to catch up to the maroon van with the poached stur-
geon in it.
Soon I was back on my feet, and made it to my
patrol truck. My eyes were watering from the pain
and I could barely see the tail lights of the suspects'
van as they sped away westbound. I closed the dis-
tance between the good guy and the bad guys, and
soon I hit my flashers. The vehicle continued west-
bound, and then I activated my siren and advised
dispatch what was going on. With lights on and sirens
blaring, I pulled up closer to the suspects' van. The
van then pulled abruptly into an apartment in a last
second effort to ditch me. The passenger door flung
open and I accelerated right at it. I jumped out and
order the suspects to raise their hands, and advised
them they were under arrest. Soon Dick Sawkin
along with six K-9 units came wheeling in to back me

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 11

 Around MICHIGAN
CONSERVATION NEWS FROM TWO PENINSULAS AND FOUR GREAT LAKES

DEER REGULATIONS PROPOSED attached, finished taxidermy products, cleaned teeth,

antlers, or antlers attached to a skullcap cleaned of brain
In May, the DNR presented its draft order for deer and muscle tissue. MUCC supports these bills.
regulations at the Natural Resources Commission (NRC)
meeting in Scottville. The draft order covers the 2017- THE TRAGIC LOSS OF A
2019 deer regulations cycle, which will be acted on in CONSERVATION CHAMPION
June. MUCC will be watching this process closely and
providing testimony consistent with our member-ap- By now, many have heard about the sudden passing of
proved policies. In an effort to stabilize deer regulations, State Representative John Kivela (D-Marquette) in May,
reduce public confusion, and enhance communications, who served as Co-Chair of the Michigan Legislative
the NRC and the Department agreed to begin a three- Sportsmen's Caucus. To us, John was a wonderful friend,
year regulatory cycle back in 2014. talented lawmaker, and champion for conservation. Our
members recognized his contributions by naming him our
LEGISLATION ON THE MOVE 2016 Legislator of the Year (pictured below, center with
MUCC Executive Director Dan Eichinger (L) and MUCC
Senate Bill 211 sponsored by Senator Dale Zorn (R-Ida) Vice President George Lindquist (R)). On behalf of the
and House Bill 4424 sponsored by Representative John entire MUCC community, we extend our sympathies to
Kivela (D-Marquette) are parallel pieces of legisla- his family, colleagues, friends, and the communities he
tion to help protect Michigan's deer herd from Chronic served.
Wasting Disease. In May, the Michigan
Senate voted out Senate Bill 211 with
amendments, and it was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources in the
House. Last month, House Bill 4424 was
approved by the House Committee and
is on the House floor. Both of these bills
would amend Part 401 (Wildlife Con-
servation) of the Natural Resources and
Environmental Protection Act to prohibit
the importation of a cervid carcass into
Michigan from outside the State and
increase the penalty for violating the pro-
hibition to be a misdemeanor punishable
by imprisonment for up to 90 days, or a
fine of at least $500 but no more than
$2,000, or both, as well as the cost of
prosecution. The following cervid carcass
parts may continue to be brought into
Michigan: hides, deboned meat quarters
or other parts of a cervid that do not have
any part of the spinal column or head

12 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

NRC BANS CHOCOLATE IN BEAR BAIT
A little over a year ago, Michigan's bear hunting organiza-
tions asked the Natural Resources Commission to consider
banning chocolate in bear bait to reduce the risk of harming
non-target wildlife. Chocolate contains theobromine, which
can be toxic to bears and other wildlife in sufficient quantities.
Organizations including the Michigan Bear Hunters Associa-
tion, the Michigan Hunting Dog Federation and the U.P. Bear
Houndsmen Association sponsored a resolution supporting
a restriction on chocolate in bear bait through the Michigan
United Conservation Clubs policy process. At the MUCC
Annual Convention in June 2016, MUCC's member delegates
approved the resolution, as well as another resolution asking
MUCC to educate hunters about the dangers of chocolate
in bear bait. In March, the Natural Resources Commission
approved a wildlife conservation order banning the use of
chocolate in bear bait.
The ban was adopted as part of the bear regulation update,
scheduled every three years. The NRC also adopted new
quotas, including an overall 19% increase in Lower Peninsula
unit quotas, both increases and decreases in Upper Peninsula
unit quotas, raising the maximum number of dogs allowed for
hunting or training from six to eight, and increasing the non-
resident license cap from 2% to 5%. The DNR's bear forum,
consisting of multiple conservation groups including MUCC
and those listed above, met during the year to discuss the
changes before the DNR recommended and the NRC adopt-
ed them.
MUCC RESOLUTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
AT ANNUAL CONVENTION IN JUNE
In March, Michigan United Conservation Clubs also held
its final Conservation Policy Meeting before June's Annual
Convention in Owosso. The meeting was the last chance for
clubs or members to introduce policy resolutions to be consid-
ered and voted upon at the Annual Convention. Any MUCC
member or affiliate club can introduce a resolution, which if
adopted, becomes the policy that MUCC's professional staff
advocates, such as restricting chocolate in bear bait.
Combined with the two earlier Conservation Policy Meetings
in September and December, this year's proposed resolutions
will include:
-Establish a sandhill crane hunting season
-Designate mourning dove as a game species
-Develop a short-term non-resident waterfowl license
-Create a pheasant release program for hunter recruitment
-Require hunters to wear a fall arrest system/full body harness
when hunting from a treestand
-Reintroduce cisco (lake herring) in Saginaw Bay
-Establish a fisheries policy which includes angler input on
research projects which would impact non-target species and
angler access
-Oppose the sale or transfer of state-owned public land over
80 acres or including riparian access unless designated as
surplus land under a transparent and open public process
-Oppose legislation which creates an unfunded mandate for
the DNR resulting in a diversion of game and fish funds with-
out a supplemental appropriation
-Restrict importation of cervid carcasses from other states to
deboned meat, clean skullcap, finished taxidermy, etc., and
increase fines for violation
-Reform captive cervid regulatory structure to prevent the
spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
-Remove suppressors from regulation under the National Fire-
arms Act of 1934 and allow purchase under same process as
the National Instant Background Check System
-Allow bear bait barrels on public land
-Allow a crossbow to be carried afield simultaneously with a
firearm during the December firearm deer seasons
-Allow youth hunters on private land to hunt within 660 feet
of a mentor hunter, provided there is uninterrupted electronic
communication, the hunter is over 14 and has completed hunt-
er safety and at least 20 hours of supervised hunting
-Calls on the Michigan DNR to make it a priority to acquire
severed minerals where the State owns the surface only
to protect and control the commercial use of public land;
particularly underground minerals in State Parks and lands
purchased with PR and Game and Fish Funds
-Work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinstate the
Public Resource Depredation Order on cormorants; and/or
with our U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators to come up
with a law to reinstate cormorant control
These are only proposed resolutions at this point; they will not
become MUCC policy unless approved at the Annual Con-
vention by a 2/3 majority of voting delegates representing
affiliate clubs and members if the resolution would change a
law or regulation, or a simple majority if it wouldn't.
MICHIGAN BEAR HUNTERS ASSOCIATION PRODUCES
VIDEO
The Michigan Bear Hunters Association, in a cooperative
partnership with the U.P. Bear Houndsmen Association and
the Michigan Hunting Dog Federation, collaborated with Clay
Newcomb, editor of Bear Hunting magazine, to produce an
excellent video showing what bear hunting with hounds is all
about, and by inference what it is not.
The video, titled "Defending Traditions," can be viewed on
Vimeo.com online.
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 13
 Conservation Nation
CONSERVATION NEWS FROM THE REST OF THE COUNTRY
MUCC GOES TO WASHINGTON
In a 1969 issue of this magazine, there is an article titled,
"MUCC Goes to Washington," describing then-Executive
Director James Rouman's visit to Washington, DC to advocate
for funding to clean up pollution in the Great Lakes. In March,
our current Executive Director, Dan Eichinger, made the same
trip, for the same reason, along with Greg Peter from our
Executive Board and the Chelsea Rod & Gun Club, as part of
the annual Great Lakes Day organized by the Healing Our
Waters - Great Lakes Coalition. This year, the visit took on an
added significance as President Trump's proposed budget
to eliminate the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) was
released while they were there.
"We have abundant and diverse fisheries that are only possi-
ble because of programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Ini-
tiative and we have waterfowl populations that are at record
numbers now, more than at any time over the course of the
last hundred years, because we have diligently restored our
marsh and wetland communities," said Eichinger, addressing
a rally in front of the U.S. Capitol. "All that work is possible
because of GLRI."
Michigan's bipartisan Congressional delegation is standing
up for the Great Lakes and full $300 million GLRI funding,
too, that is encouraging because it is Congress which must
approve the budget. In addition to submitting a letter through
the Congressional Great Lakes Task Force in February, many
of Michigan's Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen
addressed the Great Lakes Day event, including Senator
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Congressman Bill Huizinga (R-
MI), Congressman Sandy Levin (D-MI), Congressman Jack
Bergman (R-MI), Congressman Dan Kildee (D-MI), Congress-
woman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Congresswoman Brenda
Lawrence (D-MI).
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds projects throughout
the region which improve water quality, clean up pollution, re-
store rivers, lakes, wetlands and wildlife habitat, and prevent
invasive species, including about $17 million for Asian carp
prevention.
These projects, combined with similar projects throughout
14 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
the region, improve the health, quality, fisheries and wildlife
habitat of the Great Lakes. Since the Great Lakes and their
$7 billion annual fishery affect multiple states (and countries,
including Canada), their restoration is appropriately a federal
issue requiring federal funding through the GLRI.
Back to that 1969 article: MUCC and its partners were ad-
vocating for a $1 billion annual appropriation for cleaning
up Great Lakes pollution in 1969 dollars. When they only got
$600 million, they vowed to keep fighting. For context, the full
funding we're advocating for in the GLRI is half that, even in
2017 dollars.
CONSERVATION GROUPS SUE EPA TO PROTECT LAKE
ERIE FROM TOXIC ALGAE BLOOMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. To force the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency to protect communities and businesses from
harmful algal blooms that have plagued Lake Erie for years,
in April a coalition of businesses, conservation advocates,
and sportsmen groups sued, asking a federal judge to order
the agency to carry out its duty under the Clean Water Act.
In 2014, a harmful algal bloom poisoned drinking water for
more than 400,000 people in Toledo, and in 2015, an algal
bloom stretched for over 300 square miles.
We hope the lawsuit is a catalyst for the EPA to fulfill its
responsibility under the Clean Water Act so that state and
federal public officials can start putting solutions in place to
curb harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie that are harming our
drinking water, jobs, and way of life, said Mike Shriberg,
Great Lakes regional executive director of the National Wild-
life Federation. Continuing to kick the can down the road will
only make the problem worse for Lake Erie, our environment
and our economy. This is a problem that you can literally see
from space.
The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C.,
is in response to U.S. EPAs failure to perform its duty to accept
or deny Ohios decisions on whether Lake Erie is impaired,
a Clean Water Act designation that means that the water
quality does not meet legal standards for fishing, swimming,
and drinking. An impaired designation forces state and
federal partners to put in place an ac-
tion plan, enforceable under the Clean
Water Act, to restore it to health. Despite
poor water quality and Michigans
decision to list its portion of Lake Erie
as impaired, Ohio decided not to list
the open waters of the western basin of
Lake Erie as impaired.
Under the Clean Water Act, every two
years states submit a list of impaired wa-
ters to the EPA, which the agency must
by law accept or deny within 30 days.
The process is instrumental in helping
local communities, states, and the nation
identify unhealthy waters so actions can
be taken to improve the health of rivers,
lakes and streams. The U.S. EPA has
refused to act on Ohios list, which was
submitted in October 2016.
Groups have criticized Ohios omis-
sion of Lake Erie itself from the list of
unhealthy waters submitted to the U.S.
EPA because it relieves the state from the
obligation to effectively tackle the prob-
lem of harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie.
Farm run-off is the No. 1 contributor to
the resurgence of harmful algal blooms
in Lake Erie, and one way to address
that is through a federally approved
plan to reduce runoff pollution into local
rivers, streams and Lake Erie. Groups
are calling on the EPA to reject Ohios
list and designate all of western Lake
Erie as impaired.
The impaired designation is needed to
ensure that Lake Eries algae causing
sources and amounts are identified, fol-
lowed by a stakeholder implementation
plan, together with advanced technol-
ogy, and robust funding to reduce the
algae that threatens millions who drink
the water and billions of dollars is de-
pendent on Lake Eries economy, said
Sandy Bihn, executive director of the
Lake Erie Foundation. Relying on state
domestic action plans without source
identification and accountability will not
work.
In November of 2016, the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) listed its portion of the open
waters of western Lake Erie as impaired
under the federal Clean Water Act.
Reacting to deteriorating water quality
and the ongoing threat of harmful algal
blooms in Lake Erie, the DEQ included
the waters of the Great Lake that fall
within Michigans borders in its report to
the EPA. Michigans decision relies upon
clear science, and EPA endorsed it.
Many organizations have been encour-
aging regulators in Ohio and at the EPA
to follow suit.
Delay threatens Lake Erie and business-
es like ours, said Captain Paul Pachol-
ski, president of the Lake Erie Charter
Boat Association. Charter boat cap-
tains are counting on the U.S EPA to step
up and do its job, because this problem
will not go away on its own. The health
of our business depends on the health of
Lake Erie.
Michigan, alone, will not be able to re-
store Lake Erie, as it has jurisdiction over
a small piece of the lake, compared to
that of Ohio. Both states must take strong
action to reduce harmful algal blooms.
The waters of the Great Lakes are the
most critical asset we have, said Dan
Eichinger, executive director of Mich-
igan United Conservation Clubs. We
are committed to finding a solution
to Lake Erie algae, and we can't find
a solution until we acknowledge the
problem and commit to taking action to
solve it.
CONGRESS "EXPECTS" RELEASE OF
DRAFT STUDY TO STOP ASIAN CARP
ANN ARBOR, MICH. In May,
Congress approved a 2017 fiscal year
budget, which - in addition to restoring
funding for core Great Lakes programs
- included language that it expects
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
release its draft study on options to add
protections to the Brandon Road Lock
and Dam in Illinois, a key chokepoint
for preventing the spread of Asian carp
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS
toward Lake Michigan. The Trump ad-
ministration unexpectedly delayed the
release of the plan in February, prompt-
ing conservationists and a bipartisan
Congressional delegation from Great
Lakes states to call for its release.
Included in the Energy and Water De-
velopment and Related Agencies section
of the Appropriations Act of 2017, Con-
gress included the following language:
In lieu of House direction on Asian
Carp and Senate direction on Aquatic
Nuisance Species, the Corps is expect-
ed to release the draft Great Lakes and
Mississippi River lnterbasin Study (GLM-
RIS) Brandon Road Study consistent with
the urgency of its previous actions. The
Corps is directed to adhere to a public
and agency review process that is open
and transparent. Further, the Corps is
directed to provide quarterly updates
to the Committees on Appropriations of
both Houses of Congress on the prog-
ress and status of efforts to prevent the
further spread of the carp as we as the
location and density of Asian Carp pop-
ulations, including the use of emergency
procedures.
Marc Smith, regional conservation di-
rector for the National Wildlife Federa-
tion, said:
We appreciate the continued biparti-
san support from Congress in calling for
the release of the draft Brandon Road
study, said Marc Smith, regional con-
servation director for the National Wild-
life Federations Great Lakes Regional
Center. After many years of stakeholder
input and discussion, what is the U.S.
Army Corps waiting for? The longer we
wait for action, the closer Asian carp
swim to our Great Lakes.
HUNTING LEASE AVAILABLE
74 Acres Scottville area
treed, wetlands, adjacent
to apple orchards. 3 miles from
US 531 interchange, Ludington
616-257-7834
15
 Great
by Mark Romanack

Let the Spinners Spin

S
ummertime is walleye time all across the Great Lakes region. The dog days of summer have a rep-
utation for delivering poor fishing, but in Great Lakes waters some of the best walleye fishing of the
year heats up as spring rolls into summer. Places like Saginaw Bay, Lake Erie, Little Bay de Noc and
Munuscong Bay produce limit catches of eating sized walleyes on a daily basis.

Fishermen have lots of options when it comes to catching summer walleye, but the tried and true
nightcrawler harness, aka spinner rig, is hands down the go to choice of walleye anglers in the know. Spin-
ner rigs flat out catch walleye and these rigs can be fished in a multitude of ways. The versatility of the spinner
rig makes them not only deadly, but a lure and live bait combination that can be depended upon to consistently
catch fish.

16 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

LAKES
Sportfishing

SUSPENDED WALLEYE
Nightcrawler harnesses are fish catchers, but they
need a little help in terms of getting these rigs to depth. A
nightcrawler harness doesnt naturally dive so they are typi-
cally fished in combination with in-line trolling weights or small
diving planers that help them reach target depths.
Because summer walleye routinely suspend in the
water column to feed on gizzard shad, emerald shiners, smelt
and other pelagic forage fish, catching them often requires
saturating the water column with a multitude of spinner rigs.
Some popular options for getting spinners to depth include
the keel sinker, Snap Weights, mini-disks, Tadpole Divers and
Jet Divers. All of these trolling devices are effective at catch-
ing walleye when paired up with a
suitable nightcrawler harness.
Suitable crawler harnesses The versatility of the spinner rig
for open water trolling are a little
different than the garden vari- makes them not only deadly,
ety crawler rigs most anglers are
familiar with. Open water spinner
but a lure and live bait combination
rigs should be tied 50 to 72 inches that can be depended upon to
in length. The extra length helps in
separating the bait from the diver, consistently catch fish.
making it far easier to trigger strikes
when fishing in the typically clear to
lightly stained waters of the Great Lakes.
The blades used on these open water spinner rigs are
also unique. The average walleye spinner harness features a
modest No. 2 or 3 sized Colorado or Indiana style blade. For
open water trolling larger No. 4, 5 and even 6 sized blades
do a better job of attracting fish from greater distances.
Its also a good idea to tie up open water spinner rigs
using larger and more specialized hooks. A two hook rig that
features a No. 2 octopus style hook pinned to the nightcrawl-
ers nose and a No. 6 treble hook imbedded into the collar of
the crawler makes for an ideal fish trap. Many anglers dress
up these rigs by using colored hooks like the Eagle Claw
Lazer Sharp series that come in glow, green, pink, orange,
chartreuse and purple color options.
STRAY CAT CHARTEr Fishing
Lake Erie Walleye
& Perch Fishing
Monroe/Luna Pier, MI
www.fishstraycat.com
(734) 787-0030
18 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
Because not many manufacturers produce facto-
ry made spinner rigs that meet these specifications, lots of
anglers opt to purchase components and tie their own rigs.
For those anglers who would rather buy pre-tied harnesses the
Yakima Bait HammerTime Spinner and the Bait Rigs Big Water
Rigs are excellent options.
STRUCTURE FISH
Summertime walleye spend a lot of time suspended in
the water column, but its not uncommon to find walleye also
belly to bottom. Targeting these fish requires a different rig and
fishing strategy affectionately known as the bottom bouncer
and spinner rig. A bottom bouncer is a structure fishing sinker
that features a wire with a lead
weight molded onto the wire arm.
Both single arm and double
arm bottom bouncers are on the
market, but the majority of hard
core walleye anglers favor the
two arm models. On the two arm
bottom bouncer the short arm has
a snap and swivel that accepts the
spinner rig. The longer arm features
a lead weight centered so as to
give the bottom bouncer the perfect
balance required to tick along the bottom while presenting the
spinner a few inches above the bottom.
Spinner rigs used in combination with a bottom
bouncer must be shorter than the ones selected for targeting
suspended fish. By keeping the spinner rig 38 to 48 inches in
length, the spinner remains up off bottom and resists fouling
on bottom debris and also zebra mussels. Many anglers
equip their bottom bouncer spinner rigs with small foam floats
designed to add buoyancy and help keep the spinner from
contacting the bottom.
The trick when fishing a bottom bouncer is to use a
sinker heavy enough that it can be easily fished in contact with
the bottom. A good rule of thumb is to fish the bouncer behind
the boat at about a 45 degree angle to the bottom.
Depending on the water depth and trolling speed a
bottom bouncer ranging in size from one to three ounces is
typically required to stay in contact with the bottom. The best
bottom bouncer fishermen refine this presentation a notch or
two by setting their bouncer to make light contact with the
bottom.
A bottom bouncer doesnt need to drag on the bot-
tom to be effective. The ideal way to fish a bottom bouncer is
to let out just enough line that the bouncer makes occasional
contact with the bottom. This is achieved by free-spooling the
bouncer and spinner rig until it hits bottom and then holding
your thumb on the spool to prevent any additional line from
 Captain Jake Romanack of Fishing 411
TV holds a typical "eater" Great Lakes
walleye taken trolling spinner rigs in
the Michigan waters of Lake Erie near
Bolles Harbor
playing out. Troll for a few seconds
like this until the line pulls taunt and the
bouncer rises up off bottom a little. The
final step is to free-spool the bouncer
one more time and engage the reel the
instant it touches bottom.
A bouncer rig set as described
will make contact with the bottom every
few feet, present the spinner close to
bottom and fish cleanly through even
snag infested bottoms. Bottom bounc-
er rigs also fish more efficiently when
placed in a saddle style rod holder
mounted near the transom of the boat.
TROLLING TOP
TO BOTTOM
Because walleye often suspend
in the water column and sometimes they
are found on the bottom, many anglers
favor a trolling approach that uses three
different spinner presentations at the
same time. Snap Weights ranging in
size from 1/2 ounce to an ounce and a Two anglers fishing this six rod
half in size are often used to target the spread are literally saturating the water
highest fish in the water column. These column with fish catching baits.
rigs are fished in combination with in-
line planer boards to gain more trolling
coverage and to also make contact with
boat shy walleye.
FINAL WORDS
A second spinner set up de-
The final piece of the puzzle
signed to fish a little deeper are spinners
involves using quality fish bait. Some
fished in combination with No. 1 or No.
anglers might claim they can catch wall-
2 Tadpole Divers. These sinking divers
eye using spinner rigs equipped with
are ideal for targeting walleye in the 15
soft plastic lures, however the majority
to 25 foot depth ranges. Tadpole divers
still preach using live and healthy night-
are also most effective when paired up
crawlers for bait. The larger the night-
with in-line planer boards to achieve the
crawler the better they work for fishing
maximum amount of trolling coverage.
walleye spinner rigs.
Last, but certainly not least the
In the middle of the summer
bottom also needs to be fished and
nothing fishing the bottom better than
when fishing is slowing down for many
species, walleye fishing in the Great
a bottom bouncer and spinner rig.
Lakes is just heating up. The tried and
Because summer walleye are routinely
true spinner rig is one of the most ver-
deep enough that the boat can pass
satile of all trolling rigs. For those anglers
over them without spooking them, most
who are out to catch the makings of a
anglers fish the bottom bouncer and
fish fry, there is no better advice than
spinner rigs straight out the back of the
to let the spinners spin. MR
boat.
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 19
Fish Stocking
Expands
Opportunities
for Michigan
Anglers
A SPONSORED REPORT BY THE
MICHIGAN WILDLIFE COUNCIL

Sometimes Mother Nature needs a helping hand.
Thats been especially true in Michigan when it comes to cre-
ating and sustaining the states world-class recreational fishing
opportunities.
Certainly the big fisheries we have in the Great Lakes and
many inland areas Chinook, coho, steelhead, Atlantic salm-
on and brown trout are all non-native species to Michigan
but are here thanks to our fish-stocking program, said Ed
Eisch, fish production manager for the Michigan Department
of Natural Resources (DNR).
Fish stocking is a critical activity of the DNR. Not only does it
help provide diverse fishing opportunities, but it also supports
Michigans economy.
Recreational fishing in Michigan is a $2.5 billion industry,
with 38,000 jobs that are directly attributed to our sportfish-
ing industry, Eisch said.
Forty percent of all Michigan recreational fishing, including
70 percent of the Great Lakes trout and salmon fisheries,
depends on stocked fish.
In Michigan, six state-operated and two cooperative hatch-
eries work together to produce the species, strain and size of
fish needed by fisheries managers. These fish are then deliv-
ered at a specific time and location for stocking to ensure their
success. Most fish in Michigan are stocked in the spring.
In 2016, the DNR put more than 34 million fish weighing more
than 350 tons into Michigans waters.
Fish stocking has produced world-class sportfishing oppor-
tunities for Michigan anglers and attracts fishing enthusiasts
from all over the Midwest, Eisch said.
AN IMPORTANT TOOL
Michigans world-renowned fishing is a great example of the
power of fisheries management. Along with harvest regula-
tions and habitat protection and rehabilitation, hatchery fish
are another important management tool used to:
Restore lost fish populations such as lake stur-
geon in the Ontonagon River
Rehabilitate formerly depressed fish populations
such as walleye in the Saginaw Bay
Provide ecosystem balance such as stocking
Chinook and coho salmon to control alewives in
the Great Lakes
Offer diverse fishing opportunities such as chan-
nel catfish, walleye and muskellunge in many
inland waters
Michigans fish production is possible through the work at its
fish hatcheries, three permanent egg-take stations and numer-
ous rearing ponds.
Last spring, the Thompson State Fish Hatchery near Manis-
tique produced more than 1 million fish, including steelhead
and Chinook salmon. Those fish were then planted in 68 sites
statewide, mostly on the Great Lakes.
Included in this years statewide fish-stocking total were 26
million walleye fingerlings and fry. The DNR and tribal part-
ners rear these fish in ponds with extensive support from local
sportsmen organizations.
The Lake St. Clair Walleye Association (LSCWA) is just one of
the groups that assists the DNR in its stocking efforts, by op-
erating two walleye rearing ponds at Selfridge Air National
Guard Base near Mount Clemens.
Each April, the DNR puts 300,000 walleye fry in two football
field-sized ponds, and the clubs members monitor the fish for
six to eight weeks.
The walleye fry are 1 to 2 inches long when they arrive in
our ponds and about 4 to 6 inches when theyre taken out
again by the DNR and stocked in lakes all over the state of
Michigan, said the LSCWAs Tim Muir.
Since its inception 41 years ago, the Lake St. Clair group has
reared more than 3 million walleye, Muir said.
Were happy to play our part in this whole system, said Jim
Lease of the LSCWA. I want my grandchildren to have the
right to go out and fish for walleye or perch, and if we dont
do something to help, maybe that all goes away.
SPORTSMEN PLAY A VITAL ROLE
Sportsmen have a direct impact on the health of all of our
states abundant wildlife and natural resources. Hunting and
fishing license sales generate the primary source of funding
for conservation work; wildlife management is not funded
through state taxes.
Not only are fishing and hunting license fees used to stock
lakes and pay for species conservation and wildlife reintro-
duction programs, theyre also earmarked for preserving
Michigans beautiful forests, lands and river quality.
Since wildlife is a renewable natural resource, all anglers and
hunters help keep wildlife populations at a healthy balance
with their habitats through regulated hunting and fishing. Fish-
ing regulations that establish the season, number and size of
fish legal to keep are another tool for protecting and sustain-
ing species.
PROTECTING MICHIGANS
NATURAL RESOURCES
This conservation work continues to preserve Michigans
outdoor heritage.
The Michigan Wildlife Council was created in 2013 to in-
crease non-sportsmens knowledge about how wildlife and
Michigans outdoors are managed and funded, and the role
sportsmen and sportswomen play in preserving Michigans
great outdoor heritage for future generations.
Our natural resources are part of Michigans outdoor her-
itage and something we want to be here for generations,
said Matt Pedigo, chair of the Michigan Wildlife Council. All
people of Michigan enjoy the states beautiful forests, waters
and wildlife, which is why we take great care to protect and
enhance these valuable assets.
Learn more at www.hereformioutdoors.org.
The Bite Out
of Bounds
Late summer is a great time of year for diehard anglers
to hit unique waters just over Michigans borders.

by David A. Rose
The authors wife, Carol, holds a big northern
pike she landed in Ontarios Canadian Bush, and
which are the name of the fish-catching game in
Granite Hill and Buck Lakes.
 To say Im spoiled when it comes to the many places Ive
fished throughout North America the past few years is an
understatement. Countless casts have been made from the
Arctic Circle to the tropics of Mexico and points in-be-
tween And a slew of fish species has been landed.
But I realize many destinations are well out of range of
even the most diehard anglers in both overall cost and du-
ration of travel. And this is why theres still no better place
to fish than near home, especially for Michiganders. After
all, the variety of fish that call the waterways of this state
home alone is astonishing.
Still, its nice to take a short break from the everyday fish-
ing trip, hook up the boat trailer, nab a non-resident fishing
license and cast a line into a lake or river within another
state or providence - particularly in areas where fishing is
the main attraction. And there are many great bites just
outside Michigans boundaries that are literally just a short
ride over the border. Some so close they can be made into
a day trip; others, on the other hand, a little more ad-
venturous, requiring a short airplane or train ride over or
through the wilderness of the north. And you can do them
all without breaking the bank.
So why travel to other areas to fish when what we have
here in Michigan is already so grand?
Foremost, the lessons learned from fishing other places
can be brought back to your home waters, so you to catch
24 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
fish with techniques they have never seen before; which in
turn means more bites. Besides that, its just fun to explore
and fish other places.
And its the late-summer through early-autumn seasons
that are the finest times of year to take a trip dedicated to
fishing; the bugs are nearly nil and void, the days still warm
yet nights cool, and the core tourist season is at its tail end;
thus fuel, lodging and food prices tend to fall.
The following is just a minute portion of the bites found
just out of Michigans bounds, where not only have I
fished, but had extremely good success when it comes to
catching some of the Midwests most popular gamefish.
PERCH FOR DINNER!
Strike up a conversation about your latest catch of yellow
perch within a room of noisy anglers and that part of the
building may suddenly go quiet with eavesdroppers. And
then questions start: Where? On what? How deep? And
that first question can be answered by saying Lake Eries
Wester Basin; which can be accessed within 42 miles of
Michigans southeastern state line.
No, its not a knuckle-busting fight of this rather small
species that makes grown men excited to catch em, but
their fine table fair. And starting late summer through ice
up, the same deep water adjacent to the reefs and islands
that saw so many huge walleyes in early spring and hefty
smallies during the early summer months see a pot-bellied
perch migration.
One of the closest ports catering to anglers is Port Clin-
ton, Ohio (portclintonchamber.com), where several public
boat-launching facilities can be found, as well hotels and
eateries. And the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
states conditions are perfect for anglers to see large num-
bers of perch in the waters near this port this year due to
great recruitment in 2014 and 2015.
The key to finding perch here, however, is locating the
shiners, says Jeff Placzkiewicz of Parker Guide Service
(parkerguideservice.net). Once youve located the baitfish
on your sonar, [which tend to be in 20 to 35 feet of water]
the perch will be in the area. Just anchor up, drop your bait
over the gunwale and start catching.
The rigs are simple, with the hooks of your perch rigs
nipped with either a wiggler, shiner or small piece of
shrimp. Small jigging spoons fish at bottom take their fair
share of larger fish, as well.
Monstrous muskies and eyes
Located only 24 miles from Michigans Upper Peninsulas
Largemouth bass are just one of the many species to target just a
few miles from Michigans border, in Mercer, Wisconsin.

SPRING 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 89


boarder, at Menominee, Michigan, is the small town of
Oconto, Wisconsin (cityofoconto.com), which sits upon the
shore of Green Bay. And the reefs and large basins to the
east and south of this angler-friendly local are loaded with
both muskies and walleyes.
This Great Lakes location is also inimitable because, al-
though its quite far when traveling from the Lower Pen-
insula, hundreds of miles can be taken out of the travel
equation if you utilize on of Lake Michigans ferry systems.
From my home near Traverse City, for example, I was able
to save both gas expense and vehicle wear and tear by tak-
ing my boat on its first boat ride upon the S. S. Badger out
of Ludington. From there, the ferry chuggedcrossing the
state line about 40 miles off shore in the middle of the big
laketo Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where its only 73 miles
26 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
Plump perch, like this one, can
be caught just over the state
line, in Ohios Lake Erie.
north by car.
Another interesting point about the fish that reside off
Oconto? Many are the same ones that were in one of
Michigans most popular fishing destinations during the
spring months, Little Bay de Noc, but have migrated back
into Green bay after spawning.
Two techniques stood out when I was there in late summer
a couple years ago: targeting walleyes suspended 10 to 12
feet below the surface over 20- to 35-feet of water while
trolling crawler harnesses behind in-line planer boards,
and, casting for muskies around the many reefs with large
jigs tipped with soft-bodied baits that resembled minnows;
then rip-jigging them back to the boat.
The walleyes here are chunky from gorging on the plethora
of baitfish that call this lightly-stained water home, averag-
ing 3 to 6 pounds. The muskies, on the other hand, were
huge; many tickling the 50-inch mark.
Large largies and portly panfish
Ever heard of a place with too many fishing options? Well,
me either But if theres one place where the amount of
lakes as well number of fish species could be overwhelm-
ing, its Mercer, Wisconsin. (mercercc.com)
Encompassed by the Turtle Flambeau Flowage and 214
other lakes, this small townlocated only 15 miles from
the border of the Upper Peninsulas western end (23 miles
south of the town of Ironwood, Michigan)is dedicated
to hunters and anglers. And not only are there fish species
like pike, walleye and muskie that you would expect from a
northern Wisconsin destination, but extremely good large-
mouth bass and panfish, especially crappies.
The last time I was there, the largemouth were keying in
on most any crankbait I threw, as long as it was running
along the outer edge of a weedbed off a point adjacent to
deep water. And the bass were plump from eating shiners
and young-of-the-year fishes.
The crappies, however, were found suspended high in the
water column over deeper water, or within downfalls along
the shoreline where deep water butted up to it. Using
small feather jigs tipped with a minnow was the key to
catching success.
As summer wanes, both these species tend to head to
shallower water and the thick weedbeds these lakes sport.
Trains and eyes
Michigans in close proximity to the wilds of the Canadian
Bush. But accessing the middle of nowhere is not as diffi-
cult or far away as it may seem.
What was once the countrys main means of transporta-
tion, train, is now one of the most unique ways to travel
nowadays. And its the Algoma Central Railway Passenger
Train is what makes a trip to Lake Wabatongushi such an
exceptional, yet easy-to-get-to fishing destination.
You and your gear can board the train a mere three miles
from the border at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, within her
sister city across the Saint Marys River. From here its an
eight-hour ride in comfortable seating to the lake. If thats
too of a train ride for you, drive three hours north to Hawk
Junction, just northwest of Wawa, and the same train will
pick you up for the rest of the one-and-a-half-hour ride
into the wilderness.
Once to the designated whistle stop, the folks from Err-
ingtons Wilderness Island (wildernessisland.com) will pick
you up in handcrafted cedar wood boats and take you to
an island full of cabins and a main lodge.
The lake is relatively shallow, averaging 17 feet, and the
walleyes here are plentiful. Jigging and trolling crankbaits
are the most popular ploys. Pike, too, are common fish
here. Like so many Canadian lakes, Wabatongushi is loaded
with piles of rocks; which is where the walleyes come to
feast on aquatic insects and minnows.
And dont forget, youll need a passport or enhanced driv-
ers license to cross over into Canada. And dont attempt to
cross if you have had any trouble with the law, including a
DUI.
Planes and pike
The last destination over the border dose require more
travel time in the car, as well a short plane ride in a small
float plane. And if youve never flown in a de Havilland
Beaver or landed on water, youre in for a real treat.
Granite Hill & Obakamiga (Buck) Lakes can be accessed by
first driving just under 200 miles from the Soo to White
River, Ontario, where you then load your gear and your-
self onto a float plane at White River Air Base for about a
30-minute ride To PK Resort. (pkresort.com)
While both lakeswhich are connected by a 3-mile-long
riverhave plenty of walleyes swimming within them,
what stands out is the northern pike fishery here. This is
because theres and un-official rule enacted by PK, as well
neighboring Buck Lake Wilderness Lodges & Outposts
(fishbucklake.com), in which all trophy-size pike and wall-
eye are to be released, while smaller fish can be kept for
eating.
Basically, casting #5- and #6- in-line spinners into any
cabbage weed was going to be attacked. Trolling large,
deep-diving crankbaits along some of the steep rocky
banks worked wonder, too, as there are whitefish in the
system that the pike feed upon.
The bite out of bounds
Looking to take a break from the everyday? Look no fur-
ther than a fishing trip just outside Michigans state line
for a days or weeks worth of catching. Many are close to
home, yet, itll feel as if youre a world away.
David A. Rose is a writer, author, photographer and fishing
guide who live in the Traverse City, Michigan area. Check
out wildfishing.com for more information.
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SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 27
The
New
Lake
Michigan
by Jim Bedford

Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are really one huge lake connected by the Straits of Mackinac. But these two Great
Lakes have differences. Lake Michigan is deeper and its watershed is inhabited by many more people than Lake
Hurons watershed. Many rivers rich in nutrients flow into Lake Michigan while the largest tributary to Lake Huron is the
relatively short St. Marys River that delivers the pristine water of Lake Superior to northern Lake Huron.

These differences explain why the crash of plankton feeding alewives occurred much sooner in Lake Huron than Lake
Michigan. But, now eight or so years later, the Lake Michigan food chain is following the same path it did in Lake
Huron. To review, the root of the problem is the population explosion of the quagga mussels that now carpet the sub-
strate of both lakes. These mussels feed on plankton by filtering the water. Pelagic prey species like the alewife feed on
plankton and the Pacific salmon, especially the chinook, depend greatly on the alewives.
Fisheries biologists have seen the diminishing
forage base coming and have been reducing
salmon stocking levels in recent years. Michigan
has switched to a system that uses the predator
prey-ratio to determine how many salmon to stock
and set possession limits. When the ratio is high,
the allowed catch will also increase to take some
pressure off of the forage fish.

Using this system the DNR proposed a significant
reduction in the stocking of chinook for this year.
When the proposal was brought to the Lake Mich-
igan Citizens Fisheries Advisory Committee last fall
the committee, by a small majority, agreed with the
decision. Subsequently, due to lobbying by some
members of the committee the DNR decided to de-
crease the reduction in chinook plants and increase
the reduction of other species. In Wisconsin, a
similar plan was followed. There is no doubt that
chinook are very important to the big lake anglers.

The possible good news to all this doom and gloom
is that another invasive species, the round goby, is
dining in a big way on the quagga mussels. This is
allowing all the bio-energy stored in the mussels to
re-enter the food chain. And, while Pacific salmon
are adapted to feed on fish species that suspend
in the water column feeding on plankton like the
alewives, many other predator fish are having
no trouble focusing in on the gobies. Steelhead,
brown and lake trout, Atlantic salmon, and, even,
whitefish are very actively feeding on these fish that
stay near the lake bottom. Cool water Great Lakes
fish like walleyes and smallmouth bass are also
taking advantage o f the very abundant gobies.

There is also the chance that the salmon will adapt.
Cohos are showing up with gobies in their stom-
achs on a more regular basis. Some northern Lake
Huron chinook salmon have even arrived at the
cleaning table with round gobies in their bellies.
Dont forget that the chinook that were brought
here from Oregon in the late 1960s were of the
Tule strain that tended to darken before heading up
stream in late September almost ready to spawn.
Since then a Great Lakes wild strain of chinook
seemed to evolve in our northern Lake Michigan
tributaries. Bright silver wild chinook salmon now
show up in the Little Manistee, Pere Marquette,
Betsie, and other rivers in July and August, months
away from spawning.

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 29


The late Carlos Fetterolf
with a nice king salmon
Bill Shake, a long time fishing friend, who
was the assistant regional director for
fisheries for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Ser-
vice in Portland, Oregon for many years,
reports they often catch chinook salmon
in the Pacific Ocean with scratches on
their gill covers and sand lance in their
stomachs. These slender bait fish hug
the bottom and the salmon must turn on
their sides and swim tight to the bottom to
capture them. So, I definitely think that
there is hope that our chinook might also
eventually adapt to eating gobies.
30 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
Based on the college fisheries biology
and aquatic ecology classes I took a
really long time ago, I thought the new
food chain of plankton-mussels-go-
bies-salmon might be less efficient than
the plankton-alewives-salmon one. But
former DNR research biologist and now
Lake Huron Basin Coordinator Randy
Claramunt doesnt think there will be
much difference.
There is another positive for this likely
new Lake Michigan food chain. The
gobies are a healthier food for the sal-
monids inhabiting the lake. Alewives
have an enzyme, thiaminase, which
breaks down an important nutrient,
thiamine or Vitamin B1. This is a critical
nutrient for salmonids and the lack of it
was considered to be having a major
negative impact on the natural repro-
duction of lake trout. Evidence of this is
obvious now as the lake trout are very
successfully reproducing in Lake Huron,
where alewives are now rare in their
diet. We are already seeing signs of
improved natural reproduction of these
fish in Lake Michigan.
The decline of salmon fishing in Lake
Michigan has not been a steady one.
Anglers fishing during the summer of
2012 were probably thinking what
crash? The chinook salmon fishing
was very good, both in total numbers
of salmon and catch per angler hour.
The black cloud was that the fish were
smaller than normal. Fisheries biolo-
gists use the term condition factor to
describe the health of the fish. It is a
comparison of the girth of the salmon
to their length. In the 2012 season the
chinook were skinny, their condition
was below average. Some trollers just
thought the fish were younger. Great
Lakes anglers often describe their
salmon as Age or age 3 or age 4 fish.
But these groupings are typically based
on their size, not their actual age. The
success rate of the 2012 season was
likely due in large part to the fact that
the salmon were hungry rather than
there were large numbers of salmon in
the lake. It definitely makes sense that
hungry salmon would be more likely to
grab a lure.
In 2013 the salmon became much
harder to find and catch but, suddenly,
their condition factor greatly increased.
The fish were bigger, not because they
were older, but because they were eat-
ing better. Apparently the last success-
ful year class (2012) of alewives had
become large enough and available
to the salmon. Add in the fact that the
competition was down due to smaller
numbers of salmon and it is easy to see
 "Back to back
years of low
numbers in the
box seemed to
point to a real
decline in the
Lake Michigan
chinook fishery."

Battling a chinook
why the salmon caught were very healthy looking fish. These
well fed fish were harder to catch, though, and the catch rate
dropped dramatically compared to 2012. My favorite quar-
ry, the steelhead, was also much fatter. For the first season in
a number of years, steelhead weighing in the mid-teens were
a probable catch rather than a rarity.
The roller coaster ride continued in 2014 as we were back
to smaller and much reduced numbers of chinook salmon
being caught. Back to back years of low numbers in the box
seemed to point to a real decline in the Lake Michigan chi-
nook fishery. This decline has been confirmed with continued
poor chinook fishing during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. At
the fall meeting of the Lake Michigan Citizens Fishery Adviso-
ry many charter boat reported that they had their worst sea-
sons ever. The 2015 and 2016 hatches of alewives were up
a bit but still near the all time lows. Back to back mild winters
should help with their survival if they can find enough to eat.
If we use the current Lake Huron fishery as a predictor of
where we are headed in Lake Michigan, then lake trout will
be the main quarry with steelhead, brown trout, and, perhaps,
Atlantic salmon adding to the catch. Most Lake Michigan
anglers are not very enthused about having lake trout as the
primary catch. They dont fight well and generally rated low-
er of palatability scale. The latter reason is changing as the
proportion of alewives in their diet diminishes. More color to
their flesh and a lower fat content are positives.
If steelhead are to become the new silver fish of Lake Mich-
igan open water fishery, then we obviously need a lot more
of them. But, just planting more is not a viable option. Their
hatchery requirements are very different from chinook salmon.
The salmon only spend about six months in the raceways while
it takes a full year to raise steelhead smolts.
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SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 31


The River Mouth
Gauntlet
It would seem like it would be a piece of cake for smolts to
transition from the stream to the lake. Unlike ocean bound
fish, there is no need to totally flip their osmoregulation
system in order to switch from freshwater to saltwater. This
is a pretty big physiological task that our fish dont have to
endure.
The main tasks for the smolts are to find something to eat and
to avoid being eaten. These tasks have been made much
more difficult by the mussels. Zooplankton is a primary first
food for smolts when they enter Lake Michigan and, as we
know, plankton is pretty scarce now thanks to the mussels.
They will also find insects and larval fish but they may not find
enough food to survive. If they do make it, their growth may
be slowed.
In the spring, predators abound near the mouths of the
tributaries. Pier anglers depend on this for good fishing. The
rivers are almost always warmer than Lake Michigan in the
spring and this warm water attracts a bunch of minnows and
other prey fish which in turn attracts predator fish. Smelt are
making spawning runs and, later, alewives also move near
shore to spawn in the lake. With their prey fish already in
short supply you can bet the salmon, steelhead, and browns
wont hesitate to become cannibals when opportunity
knocks. Learning to what degree this is happening via an an-
gler aided diet study of salmonids caught on the piers would
seem to provide some valuable data to the DNR.
- Jim Bedford
Wild steelhead numbers can be enhanced by
giving them access to more miles of cold tributary
streams that are capable of raising steelhead to
smolt size. Dam removal and fish passage over
the dams would help accomplish this goal. The
dam on the Dowagiac River near Plainwell will
soon be removed and that will open many miles of
cold water mainstream and tributaries to steel-
head for natural reproduction. Some other dams
that immediately come to mind where steelhead
passage would be very beneficial to natural repro-
duction are those on the White in Hesperia, on the
Sable near Ludington, on the Boyne down from
Boyne Falls, on the Rogue in Rockford, and on Fish
Creek in Hubbardston.
In addition to finding ways to produce more
smolts, wild or hatchery, we also need to enhance
their survival. An especially critical time for smolts
is their transition from the river or planting site to
the lake. See the sidebar for more information on
this period of the life cycle of anadromous salmon
and trout.
If we are, at least temporarily, headed to a lake
trout, steelhead, and brown trout fishery in Lake
Michigan, this angler thinks it is very important
that the DNR keeps in mind that steelhead have
been managed for a river fishery and this should
certainly continue to be the case. Steelhead are
a wonderful game fish and will always be sought
after in both the lake and the tributaries. But, it is
Michigans river fishery for steelhead that is world
class and we must preserve that!
While a lot of gloom hangs for the Lake Michigan
fishery right now, myself and many others do not
think the current situation is permanent. We may
not see salmon numbers as high as they have been
during peak years but they will come back. Wild
chinook and coho are hanging on in Lake Superior
and northern Lake Huron. Zebra mussels have de-
clined greatly and quagga mussels have declined
in shallow waters. At some point, an equilibrium
or balance will be reached. JB
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 A Bright Future for
MICHIGAN MUSKIES
by Bob Gwizdz

Jon Bondy with a nice muskie

58 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SPRING 2017

Theyre known as freshwater
barracudas, the fish of ten thousand
casts, and a handful of other moni-
kers which indicate both how vicious
they are and how tough they can be to
catch: muskellunge.
Its a safe bet that fewer than one in a hundred per-
haps one in a thousand Michigan anglers have ever
caught a muskie. Because of their physical attributes,
which include their ginormous size and razor-sharp
teeth, muskies are rarely caught by anglers who are
not targeting them specifically and using appropriate
tackle. And in a state with more than 11,000 lakes and
36,000 miles of river, they are found in relatively few
places.
Still, those who seek them love them. The Department
of Natural Resources has changed the focus of its
muskie program in a number of
ways so in the future, they will
likely be more widespread and "...the DNR is in the process
more numerous across the state.
of creating new brood-
Over the course of the last de-
cade or so, state fisheries officials
stock lakes for Great
have reduced the creel limit Lakes strain muskies."
- from one a day to one a year
and begun a policy of setting size
limits along the same lines as trout regulations; waters
with high growth potential will have longer length lim-
its than those where fish are slow-growing, though the
DNR has been slow to adopt larger minimum length
regulations.
But the biggest change is in stocking policy. There are
two strains of muskellunge in Michigan: northern and
Great Lakes (aka spotted). Historically, the DNR has
stocked lakes and rivers statewide with northern-strain
muskellunge, a fish that is native to only the west end
of the Upper Peninsula. More recently, the DNR has
switched to stocking Great Lakes muskies into the
lakes and streams of the Lower Peninsula. Biological-
ly, its the right thing to do: stock the fish that belong
there.
The biggest problem with the shift has been coming
up with brood stock. The DNR long stocked northern
muskies statewide simply because they were available.
Really, only Lake St. Clair and the adjoining rivers have
the kind of Great Lakes muskie population that will
allow fisheries personnel to collect brood stock for the
eggs and milt needed by the hatchery. Further compli-
cating the process is the fact that the water in the Lake
St. Clair system is dramatically colder than it is inland.
That means the females arent ready to drop eggs until
later in the spring; the fingerlings raised in DNR ponds
are smaller, when fall stocking season arrives, than
they would be had hatchery personnel gotten a faster
jump on the process in the spring.
So the DNR is in the process of creating new brood-
stock lakes for Great Lakes strain muskies. The first
will be Thornapple Lake in Barry County, which has
boasted a stocked northern muskie population for
decades.
We were genetically mismanaging by stocking the
northern strain, said Nick Popoff,
a DNR fisheries biologist who
oversees aquatic species and regu-
lations. As far as were aware, there
has never been any natural repro-
duction in the lakes we stocked
with northern strain.
Great Lakes muskies are showing
up in surveys at Thornapple after
just a couple of years of stocking: a very positive sign.
Were seeing fish at Thornapple and we're seeing fish
in the Muskegon and Grand River, too, Popoff said.
The organized muskellunge angling community is in
agreement with the stocking strategy.
Were 1,000 percent on board with it, said Will
Schultz, one of the founders of the Michigan Muskie
Alliance. The Northern strain was not the right strain
down here. This has been a long, long time coming, but
were headed in the right direction.
Schultz, who sits on the DNRs warm-water citizens
advisory committee, says the DNR hatchery/nursery at
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 35
 Will Schultz of the Michigan Muskie Alliance
Wolf Lake has stepped up its game dramatically and is
raising more and healthier fingerlings with fewer eggs
than in the past.
"They used to take two 2 million eggs and some years
theyd only get 1,000 fish, he said. Now theyre grow- right through winter if it didnt freeze, he said, and is
ing a ton of fish with a half million eggs.
Schultz, who has been a muskie fisherman for more
than 20 years and a guide for the last 10 is con-
vinced muskies have a bright future in Michigan and
more anglers will target them once there are more
places to fish for them.
Its an unbelievable thing when a lake pops up and
starts producing fish, he said. It creates fishermen.
Muskie season opens the last Saturday of April in Low-
er Peninsula inland waters and runs through March
15. Its open year-round in the Lower Peninsula waters
of the Great Lakes, though the St. Clair River-Lake St.
Clair- Detroit River complex doesnt open until the
first Saturday in June and runs through Dec. 15. In the
36 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
Upper Peninsula, the season is May 15 March 15.
Schultz, who will fish 85 to 100 days a year on 10 to
20 different bodies of water, says he starts on opening
day and doesnt quit until the lakes freeze. Hed fish
optimistic that as muskies become established in more
Lower Peninsula rivers, there will be more winter fish-
ing opportunity in the future. Ice is the only thing that
stops me, he said.
Schultz says muskie fishing starts off fast around then
opener, when hes fishing in the shallows looking for
spawning or immediately post-spawn fish.
Usually it starts quickly with good fishing, then starts
tapering off through June when they go into their
summer patterns, he said. In spring there are a lot
of shallow fish and you catch males more readily, so
youre generally using smaller baits. It usually takes
the females several weeks after spawn to get back in
the game. And by the end of June, their guard is up a
little bit, the water gets warmer, youre fishing with the
biggest lures, and the weeds are at full growth, so they
get a little tougher to catch.
Summer is a matter of changing tactics, said Schultz,
who says hell average a little bit more than one musk-
ie a day throughout the season. You fish the outside
edge of weed lines at whatever depth that is and there
are daily migrations. Theyll spend 90 percent of their
time wherever theyre comfortable in deep water, then
under low-light conditions, they
make those movements shallower
to feed. "Michigan's best
Their main food source is suck- muskie lake is,
ers; on every inland lake study
thats ever been done, suckers beyond a doubt,
are a very large percentage of
their diet, he continued. The Lake St. Clair..."
next highest will be whatever is
dominant in the lake. If there are
perch, itll be perch. In Lake St. Clair most of what they
eat out there is white bass.
Muskie fishing is always hit-or-miss and summertime
fishing is even more so, but that doesnt mean you cant
catch them. Ive had as many five- or 10- fish days on
lakes in the summer as I have in spring or fall, Schultz
said.
Schultz continues with his summer pattern right into
fall, though as the weather gets cold and the weeds
begin to die out, hell move shallower to fish the best
weeds. He uses his biggest baits of the years and adds
another wrinkle: large, live suckers.
Theyre hard to come by and hard to keep alive in
warm water, Schultz said. When the water tempera-
ture gets below 55 degrees, in October, I use suckers.
Michigans best muskie lake is, beyond a doubt, Lake
St. Clair, the giant Great Lakes connecting water that
we share with Canada. St. Clair has always been a good
muskie lake, but over the last couple of decades, its
gotten nothing but better. The increasingly clear water
(because of zebra mussels) favors sight feeders like
muskellunge and allows weed growth at greater depth,
creating additional habitat. There are more muskies
and more big muskies in Lake St. Clair and the
adjoining rivers than anywhere else in the state.
Only on Lake St Clair do you apologize when you
send people home after catching three or four muskies
because it was slow, said Don Miller, a veteran charter
boat skipper on the big lake who has seen the fishing
continue to improve, something he attributes, in part,
to the catch-and-release ethic that dominates muskie
fishing these days.
Miller installed a large live well
on his 30-foot Baha Cruiser so he
can let the fish regain its equilibri-
um before he releases it. At times,
when the fishing is hot, hell have
two or three fish in the well at
once.
Most of the bigger boats have live
wells now, said Miller, 61, whos
been running a charter boat for
33 years. It gives the fish a chance to calm down and
recover before you let it go. I usually keep them for 10
or 15 minutes, until they start feeling better, before I
put them back into the lake.
Lake St. Clair Musky Fishing Charters
Capt. Gregg Moseley
Mobile: 248-464-9279
Email: gmoe82@gmail.com
Web: lunkerlandersportfishing.com
Follow us on Facebook
Booking Now for the
2017 Musky Season
(Jun 3 Dec 15)
U.S.C.G. Licensed
DNR Inspected and Insured
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 37
 "...the good
ol' days of
muskellunge
fishing in
Michigan are
still ahead
of us."

The author with a muskie

38 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

And that gives them a chance to live long
and grow large.

People come to St. Clair because they

know they have a chance to catch a big
fish now, Miller said. I couldnt count
the number of states people have come
from to fish for muskies with me and
theyve come from probably 15 different
countries. I get Europeans often from
England or Germany every year.

About one in every eight or nine fish

is a 48-incher or better, he continued.
Ive had a lot of fish in the 50-inch
class. When you start getting into 52-
to 54-inch fish, theyll weight around
40 pounds. There are a lot of 38- to
40-pound fish around, but a 38-pound
fish is a 40-pounder that hasnt eaten its
dinner yet. It eats one smallmouth bass
and its up over 40.

Miller said he typically catches 300 to

400 muskies a year these days.

When I first started out, if I saw 60 a

year I was doing well, he said. A hun-
dred was the goal and we never seemed
to make it. Now, with the catch-and-re-
lease ethic and the live wells, there are a
lot more muskies to be caught in Lake St.
Clair.

As well as in the Detroit River. Veteran

Windsor fishing guide Jon Bondy has
developed a deep-water jigging tech-
nique that may not be foolproof, but is
the next best thing. Ive fished with him a number of
times over the years, typically within the first month
of the season and again in October or November, and
only once in all of those trips did we fail to catch a fish.
Often we caught multiple fish. Twice we did double
digits.
Those kinds of days are unusual, but Michigan fisher-
ies managers think theyll be less rare in the future as
more fisheries develop and more fish become available
to anglers.
Mark Martin with a lunker
The state is invested in muskellunge management,
Popoff said. Were continuing to develop a na-
tive-strain of brood stock from Lake St. Clair, Thomp-
son hatchery is going to add a warm-water facility
and some ponds, and were going to update some of
our facilities at Wolf Lake. Theres a big investment on
muskellunge rearing facilities.
With all the changes in muskie management, it appears
as though the good ol days of muskellunge fishing in
Michigan are still ahead of us. BG

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 39


By Mark Martin
Walleyes are thought more as deep-water marauders
during the mid-summer months than anything else. And
theres no doubt they can be found wallowing within the
main-lake basins of lakes and reservoirs this time of year.
Whats not realized by countless anglers, however, is these
fish will swim within weeds, wood and rocks in extremely
shallow water during the summer period, as well. Such
shallow water, in fact, their dorsal fins sometimes poke
through the waters surface, while at the same time their
bellies are rubbing the lakes floor.
Theyre in such skinny water to feast on tiny forage such as
the insects and crustaceans waggling their way amongst
the silt, in addition to the other small fishes here. And
whats even more overlooked is these fickle fish will often
feed ferociously all day long; even during bluebird sky days.
And this is why theres no doubt in my mind, one of
mid-summers most overlooked methods for catching
walleyes during the heat of it all is casting crankbaits,
swimbaits and jigs in shallow water, no matter where the
sun may be overhead.
40 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
SUMMARIZING
a l l o w
Sh yes
Chris Engle of Gaylord with an Otsego Lake walleye
Oh, sure, the bite is going to be grand during the twilight
hours of dawn and dusk, too, but if youre willing to endure
the extra boat traffic, youll be surprised at the bite that
can occur.
Clear water revival
One thing many of the lakes this state offer that differs
from others is ultra-clear water. Some have been pure in
nature since they were formed after the last glacier reced-
ed 10,000 years ago, while others are now clearing up after
being invaded by water-filtering zebra and quagga muscles.
No matter the reason for the purity of the H2O, however,
fish are tuned in to feeding throughout the daylight hours.
And in clear water, they rely on their eyesight as well by
picking up vibrations through their lateral lines. But as you
can imagine, it takes more effort to catch these shal-
low-water eyes, which can be easily spooked by nothing
more than a shadow overhead.
Cast further
In skinny water during the warm months, the faster you
retrieve your offering the more strikes youre likely to get.
But long casts are necessary. And I use rods, reels and line
that aid me in long distance casting without any added
effort.
First off, attempting to whip out any old lure on too heavy
of heavy line and too short of a rod isnt going to cut it.
In general, the lighter the line, the thinner its diameter and
the further a lure will fly. And this is why I use as light of
line as I can get away. But it also has to have the strength
to make good hooksets, especially when using lures with
larger hooks.
Superline, by far, is my first choice for casting. This is
because these braided lines have a thinner diameter than
monofilament and fluorocarbon.
Take 8-pound-test Berkley Fire-
Line Fused Original, for example,
"...it's easy to miss
which has nearly the same di-
ameter as 2-pound-test monofil-
ament line. Such thin line slices
strikes if you're not
through the air with ease, and
the nearly-no-stretch properties
paying attention."
of it allows me to feel every tick
of a weed top or tiny pebble on
bottom. And with that, you can
only imagine what the strike of
a walleye feels like.
But not every strike is easy to identify.
This is because walleyes tend to swim up behind their prey,
open their mouth, flare their gills and suck in, all the while
swimming along in whatever direction the forage was trav-
eling and then keep on moving on. Oftentimes a tick is all
thats felt telegraphed through the rod tip. Its easy to miss
strikes if youre not paying attention.
In short, set the hook whenever you feel anything out of
the norm, even just the slightest resistance.
The right rod is essential for making long casts, as well.
Short rods, say, 6 to 6 -1/2 feet in length are better for ac-
curacy; but to make longer cast I opt for stick somewhere
around 7-1/2 feet. In my arsenal of rods are medium-pow-
er Fenwick spinning rods for crankbaits and swimbaits, and
medium-light power ones for jigging.
Lured by another
Right off the bat, Ill tie on a crankbait that is heavy in
weight, yet wont dive deep.
Rapalas Shadow Rap and new Shadow Rap Shad are good
examples of this. Both are plastic lures with an internal
fixed-weight system that not only aids in allowing these
lures their erratic, twisting side-to-side action, but allows
them greater distance on the cast. And they only dive 2 to
4 feet, which is perfect for skinny water, and run true right
out of the box. A sharp stop-and-go action with baits like
these will have the walleyes attacking.
And I always use a snap, not snap-swivel, whenever I con-
nect a crankbait to superline. This allows the bait to keep
its full action during the retrieve. A knot tied directly to the
lures eyelet, however, will more than likely impede the
wobble. And I tie the snap directly to the line via a Palomar
knot one of the few knots that wont pull free with this
super-slippery string.
The swimbaits I like to use, on
the other hand, are solid-body
verses hollow-body ones.
Northlands new Impulse Core
swimbait is a good sample.
These baits come in four sizes
from 2-1/2 to 4-1/2 inches to
match the forage of most any
lake.
Skewered onto a light-weight
swimbait head, the density
of a swimbait like an Impulse Core alone will allow me to
make longer casts, yet the lighter head keeps the bait from
plummeting to bottom so quickly. This bait has a ribbed
body, too, which creates more drag and keeps them up off
bottom longer.
But theres more to making walleyes bite swimbaits than
just employing a long, steady retrieve. What I do is twitch
my rods tip as I reel in, which, in turn gives the lure a
nervous stop-and-go action like a baitfish trying to flee an
attack. And it drives walleye wild.
In contrast, cast-jigging in shallow water is one of the few
techniques in which letting the lure just tickle the lakes
floor is a good thing. But I always use the lightest jighead
the conditions at hand will allow me, and lighten up the
line a bit.
A standard round jighead, like Northlands Sinkn Jig in 1/8
ounce, is my most-used. In super skinny water, say, 2 to 4
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 41
 feet, Ill lighten up to a 1/16-ouncer if
the wind is calm.
And six-pound-test superline is my
go-to when casting jigs, and I use
the brightest color offered, such as
FireLines Flame Green, so I can see
the line twitch when a walleye strikes.
And I have never seen it make one
bit of difference, bite wise, in which
the brightly-colored line tied right
to the jig has turned off fish. Even in
ultra-clear water. Again, I tie the jig to
the line with a Palomar knot.
And although I mentioned allowing
the jig to fall to bottom, I dont let it
set there. Generally, Ill cast the jig out
and, on a taught line, let it pendulum
down towards me. The millisecond I
feel the jighead tap the lakes floor is
when I swing the rod tip up about two
feet, then let the process
"If you're looking to land
start again. Most of the
time, walleyes will hit the
bait as it falls. Again, the
strike may be very hard to
feel, so set the hook any-
time something feels differ-
more walleyes this summer,
don't overlook the fish in
ent than the dozens of other
casts you made beforehand.
As for the baits I tip jigs with
when casting, they tend to
be artificial over live bait
super skinny water."
this time of year. A fake bait will stay
on the hook better when making long
casts, and they can be fished faster
without fear of coming off the hook.
Berkleys 3-inch PowerBait Pro Jig
Worm imitates all sorts of different
underwater bugs, and GULP! Min-
nows emulate shiners and shad, and
can be ripped through the water with
an erratic darting motion. And you
can catch several fish on each without
having to replace them.
Location is everything
Walleyes wont be just any ol where
in shallow water. They will, however,
be wherever the most forage is.
Early on during the summer months,
42 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
Ill search out areas with softer bot-
toms as this is where more aquatic
insects will be. And these areas are
easier to find as weeds tend to flour-
ish in soft-bottom areas verses gravel.
In clear water, donning a pair of
high-quality polarized sunglasses is
often all thats needed to see where
to cast. Toss to the edges of what
looks to be shadows in shallow water,
which are either weeds or silted areas,
and be ready for a strike right of the
bat. The fish are here to feed, and as
soon as they see your offering they
will attack.
Later in the summer, Ill look to areas
covered in pea-size gravel to larger
rock as this is where small crayfish
live, which walleyes feast upon when
the bug hatches slow.
Utilizing sonar units that allow you to
see out to the side of the boat to find
these areas will help in both stained
and clear water. My Lowrance HDS-
12 Gen3, for example, is capable of
showing up to 600 feet out to either
side of my boat via its Structure Scan
HD. This technology allows me to find
spots, as well see the fish themselves,
without having to get too close and
spooking fish.
Lastly, fish the leeward shorelines,
where the most wave action is. A
choppy surface will break up light and
will create a different, fish-attracting
look to your lure than what it would
look like in calm seas.
Shallow minded
If youre looking to land more wall-
eyes this summer, dont overlook the
fish in super skinny water.
Make long cast while using thin low-
stretch line and longer rods, as well
weighty crankbaits that dont dive
much, solid-body swimbaits and jigs
with lightweight heads. And fish them
fast
Mark Martin is a touring walleye pro
and instructor with the Fishing Vaca-
tions/Schools. For more information,
check out his website at markmartins.
net.
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GEAR | KAYAK FISHING
MOUNTING SYSTEMS
by Gary Elliot
With the popularity of recreational and fishing kayaking
growing quickly, many of you will be looking to purchase a
kayak either angler ready or basic and adding your own another kayak or boat. Another is the Railblaza StrarPort
accessories as you go along.
A good question to ask yourself when you are ready to acces-
sorize your kayak is: Can I use my accessory or accessories
on more than just my kayak? Most kayak accessories are not
limited to just kayaks, but are made for boats, ATVs, motor-
cycles and even coolers. Thinkimg ahead and purchasing
mounting systems that accommodate flexibility to add what-
ever we may need along the way can save us not only time,
but money in the long run. Lets take a look at what type of
mounts there are and how they can be used for more than just
a kayak.
Most kayaks now come with track systems and most of the
time you want to add more. So first, determine length (to ac-
commodate the number of accessories being used), plastic vs.
metal and finally plan out where on the kayak or recreational
vehicle you want to mount the track. Then you have a selection
of accessories based on companies that go on the track to
accommodate their accessories.
Examples of items that can move from kayak to ATVs, boats,
motorcycles or coolers are, camera poles, phone, rod and
cup holders can be moved from kayak to kayak, kayak to
boat and kayak to ATV if you have the same mounting device
available on each item.
Two perfect examples and my personal favorite is the Fish
Finder Mounts Magnetic Transducer Mount. This versatile
mount can be put on a kayak in seconds to hold your trans-
ducer by a magnet and quickly taken off and moved to
base, where I can attach to my track or screw on or pop rivet
to my kayak and use my fish finder or camera pole on any of
my kayaks or anywhere else I have mounted a StarPort base
available.
Some companies even offer tie downs to mount on a track
which are useful to secure gear not only on a kayak but an
ATV, boat or motorcycle as well. Cell phone and drink holders
can be mounted to a kayak and quickly moved to a cooler,
motorcycle, ATV or even a push mower. Lithium batteries are
becoming more popular for kayaks to run electronics and
those same batteries can be used on other outdoor recre-
ational vehicles to power cameras, charge phones, Bluetooth
devices and power electronics on other boats as well.
Overall, when purchasing accessories for your new kayak
look at the items you may want to use and begin to think how
you can utilize them on each of your outdoor recreational
vehicles.
Referenced gear can be found at the following websites:
www.confluenceoutdoor.com
www.railblaza.com
www.yak-gear.com
www.yakattack.us/
www.rammount.com
www.scotty.com
www.FishFinderMounts.com
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 43
 Don't forget about
MICHIGAN
LARGEMOUTHS
When someone mentions Michigan bass fishing, most people
immediately think smallmouths. For good reason; there are a
handful of world-class smallmouth bass fisheries in Michigan
and the brown bass have been in the news big time in the last
few years as the state record was broken twice, most recently
by a giant 9.98-pound specimen caught on the Indian River
last September.
But smallmouth bass are only part of the equation. Although
Michigan doesnt enjoy a reputation as such, it is home to
some outstanding largemouth bass fishing as well. Fact is,
the state standard for largemouths, 11.94 pounds, was set at
Pine Island Lake in Kent County in 1934 and was equaled 25
years later by a similar specimen taken at Alcona Dam Pond
in Oscoda County. Thats a pair of darn-near 12 pounders al-
most most two pounds better than the state record smallmouth.
Truth is, several of the states top smallmouth fisheries are also
excellent largemouth destinations. Need an example? Lets
start at Saginaw Bay, which some say is the states best brown
bass fishery.
Last summer, I spent the day on the Bay with Greg Sochocki,
a fairly regular fishing partner of mine with whom Ive spent
many a day strumming the smallies there. But on this outing,
Sochocki and his son Jamie, had something else in mind:
largemouths.
We went out of Pinconning and as soon as we cleared the
end of the channel, we made a hard turn and headed into the
44 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
By Bob Gwizdz
shallows. It was only a matter of minutes before we were in
the plus column as the younger Sochocki jerked a two-pound-
er out of the pencil reeds on a jig and crawdad trailer from
about two feet of water. Minutes later, his dad scored a
similar specimen on a chatter bait. Then it was my turn when
a somewhat larger (Id say 3 -pound) bass clobbered a
spinnerbait Id chunked well back in the reeds.
What was so remarkable is that none of us had fished the
area in years. Thats because you couldnt get back there in
years; the water level, which came up several feet over the
last couple of years was so low that they only way to get at
those fish in recent years was to wade.
Over the course of the day, we covered miles of shallow
water on the west side of the bay, much of it no more than
a foot-and-a-half deep and the deepest, where there was
a cut leading up to someones shoreline property, no more
than five. The fish were in much of it. In the nine or so hours
we spent there we caught more than 60 bass (as well as a
fair number of pike, a dogfish and one crazy perch that hit a
full-sized spinnerbait) by pounding the reeds and cattails and
phragmites. The bulk of the bass were two-to-three-pounders,
but we had a bunch of three-pluses and a handful of fours to
go with them. I dont think we broke five pounds, though all of
us were broken off by big fish a couple of times.
We pretty much stayed with spinnerbaits and jigs, though the
younger Sochocki had quite a bit of success on a swim bait on
a jig head, too.

Thats pretty much all you can fish out here, his dad said.
If it was little bit calmer, the frog bite might have been good,
too. The fish are hungry. You just have to put something in front
of them.
You could fish in here for a year, he continued. There are
miles and miles of this stuff and its like that all along the bay,
all the way up to Au Gres on this side and all the way up to
Bayport on the other.
We kept trying to discern a pattern cattails or reeds, hard
bottom or muck, areas that had submerged vegetation, too,
or places with clean bottom but the fish were just scattered.
The only thing we found out for sure was in areas where the
bottom was carpeted with vegetation, we werent getting bit.
Otherwise there were fish everywhere; sometimes they were
Jon Bondy
lands a largemouth
thistighttocover in stuff so thick you had to punch your baits
into it, other times we caught them in little, mostly open, scat-
tered patches of reeds.
You can sometimes go for a long ways and not catch a fish,
but you cant get discouraged, Greg said. Another 100
yards down it could be bingo. When you find a spot where
there are concentrations of fish, you stay and fish that area
thoroughly. Otherwise, just keep moving.
The best part of it, Sochocki said, is the fishing only gets better
heading into fall when the minnows are moving shallow and
the bass are strapping on the feed bag.
But those arent the only times you can smack the Bays big-
mouths. I usually make my first bass safari of the spring on the
bay, concentrating on the cuts and canals, often in April but
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 45

Chris Freiburger on Otsego Lake
Jim Horn on Diamond Lake
46 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
always by early May. The largemouths move into those areas
in search of spawning habitat and spinnerbaits or plastic
worms pay off in spades.
Saginaw Bay is no anomaly. Other notable smallmouth
fisheries have similar characteristics. Lake St. Clair lauded
by Bassmasters magazine in recent years as the best bass
fishery in America, largely because of the smallmouth fishery
- offers outstanding largemouth action. There have been
numerous times over the years, when the wind got up and we
couldnt get out to the main water structure that wed hoped
to mine for smallies, when we headed into protected back
water marshes where the largemouths saved the day.
And there have been times when we went out specifically
for the largemouths. Joe Balog, a pro fisherman who lived
near Lake St. Clair for many years before moving south, was
a big champion of the lakes largemouth fishery. Numerous
times, spring, summer and fall, we enjoyed excellent large-
mouth fishing, mostly in shallow water. Balog especially liked
late-season largemouth fishing.
When it comes to largemouths in the big, shallow bays that
have a lot of vegetation in them, they really get concentrat-
ed in cold water, he said. The grass starts dying away.
Not all of it dies, but its way, way down eighty percent
will die and whatevers left will hold large schools of fish.
Its compressed habitat. There are thousands of acres water
thats less than seven feet deep around Selfridge Air Base
or Metro Beach and the bass really get concentrated. At
Metro Beach, they get on those little sandy spots and the
bass really pile in them. It can be the mother lode.
I dont know if the average guy is going to find them but
there are some special places where 100 fish will be on one
little hard-bottom spot. I dont know whether its a forage
thing or the crawfish are in there or what, but theyre there.
They can be persnickety, Balog says, but you can get them to
go if you work at it.
Ive had times when youll get on a huge school of fish and
catch them really good on a jig and then two days later, you
cant get them to bite it. Youve got to go to something else.
But then two days later youll get them to bite a jig again.
When they get difficult like that, Balog will keep trying differ-
ent presentations until he finds what theyll take. Sometimes
its a grub, sometimes its a blade bait, and sometimes its just
a straight-tailed worm. Some days a specific presentation
will outshine others. It doesnt go by the rule book except that
theyll almost always bite a blade, Balog said.
And, of course, there are plenty of largemouth lakes that
arent that shiny for smallmouths. Virtually every lake in the
southern third of Michigan that boasts decent bass fishing is
predominantly a largemouth fishery.
Whats notable about largemouths is that theyre far more cov-
er-oriented than their smallmouth cousins. Anywhere there you
can find weeds or brush, you can usually find largemouths.
On some of the more developed southern Michigan lakes, you
can have a grand time just fishing around boat docks: running
spinnerbaits around the posts or flippin soft-plastic baits under
the overhead cover.
But fishing deep-water structure can be
productive, too, especially in the summer and
especially if theres cover associated with the
break lines.
doesnt work, take a jig or Texas-rigged plastic worm and get
it down there amongst them.
None of this precludes bass fishing in northern Michigan, of
course. If you check the Department of Natural Resources
Master Angler lists, youll see plenty of entries from lakes
north of Clare. Fact is, Houghton Lake, which I think all of us
would agree is Up North, is an outstanding largemouth
lake.
Smallmouths may be more glamorous. They may get the
press. But if youre a bass fisherman and smallmouths
are all you pursue, youre missing some of the best
angling Michigan has to offer. BG

To me theres no better sport than fishing

largemouths in and around the lily pads. The
water may only be foot or so deep under
them, but thats enough. As Sochocki says:
They dont care about depth. All they want
is a food supply, cover, and
oxygen in the water. Theres
plenty of food in there and
the vegetation is giving off
oxygen. Drag a plastic frog
over the lily pads and youll
be reminded why topwater
fishing has always been
so applauded. And if that

Joe Balog with a nice largemouth

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 47

 Coffee
Grinders &
COLD STEEL
Fueled by a wild obsession with the glimmering
reddish hues that hide in the shadows of tea stained water,
I choose to spend my time racing down snow covered river
banks, chasing blurs of chrome in incidents of panicked
bliss. Scattered along Lake Superiors Southern Shore,
these dark waters conceal trout, yet illuminate the dimly lit
corners of our being. Beginning as quaint spring fed creeks,
they travel north and carve through modest towns and
crowded timber. Like all Michigan rivers, they are marked
by their distinct features: rough, dynamic, and shaped by
the rugged landscapemuch like the crazed and obsessed
men who walk their banks in search of swimming secrets.
Unlike Michigans West coast, however, Upper Peninsula
streams remain uncrowded, making them well-suited for
those drawn to waters uncharted. Walking these streams
now, I find that most of the boot prints are left by men
in their 60sYoopers forged by the boom of the mining
industry, whose lives are indexed by spring and the return
of their aged addiction: the steelhead.
Lake Superior steelhead have frequently been
viewed as something to be prizedand rightfully so. For,
these steelhead have, for the most part, been unaltered
by humans since their original planting in the late 1800s.
However, over the years, these fish have adapted to a
harsh climate, rivaling their native reaches in the Pacific,
and thus formed a gene pool unique only to this area. The
resulting fish are strong, tenacious, uncannily aggressive,
48 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
By Calvin McShane
and, as the old timers say, full of piss and vinegar. Early
in my ongoing quest for fresh run steel, I regularly crossed
paths with these steelhead stalwarts, who often peddled
misinformation to preserve the hard-earned insights of
their craft. Eventually, once deemed tight-lipped enough
to hear their secrets, I was able to learn from the men
who tell their life stories in terms of the run. Here, on the
riverbanks that weave together the fabric of the Upper
Peninsula, I learned the traditions of an undoubtedly one-
of-a-kind fishery.
The rivers on Lake Superiors South Shore are very
different from the popular rivers of Lake Michigans east
coast: there is less water suitable for fishing, and they are
characteristically small, narrow, and fast. The high gradient
of these rivers provides an abundance of pristine spawn-
ing gravel. However, deep pools that hold many steelhead
are hard to find, and thus the task shifts to finding pocket
water where moving steelhead rest. Most of these un-
dammed and wild rivers find their headwaters in cedar
swamps and start as tiny brook trout streams, only to pick
up steam the closer they get to Lake Superior. This type of
tight-spaced water does not lend itself to the techniques
I learned during my college days spent on Lake Michigans
eastern shoreline. In these conditions, a finesse presen-
tation is not needed; instead, the method is meant to get
your presentation down to the fish and get down fast.
 I quickly learned that the necessary tackle was
utilitarian and, for the most part, entirely dissimilar from
what I considered standard steelhead tacklenamely,
spinning/center pin reels, noodle rods, etc. These old tim-
ers used fly reels that they referred to as coffee grinders,
which I assume was inspired by their bulky maroon frame
and the annoying grind of their clicking drag. These coffee
grinders were actually Martin 72 multiplier fly reels, now
famed for their 3:1 retrieve ratio and underrated smooth
drag. The reels were spooled with straight 8lb monofila-
ment and paired with 89 8wt G Loomis fly rods. From
their mainline they tied a loop-to loop-connection to
a 6lb leader finished with a size 6 hook, with split shot
attached to the tag end off one of their loops. This rig is
meant to be simple and efficient, avoiding any unneces-
sary terminal tackle. At first glance, the method appears
similar to the chuck-n-duck fly fishing employed on the
larger rivers of the Great Lakes. However, unlike chuck-n-
duck, with time and proper technique, this Lake Superior
set-up was not meant to bounce along bottom where the
angler remains in consistent contact. Instead, the objec-
tive isthrough experience and proper reading of the
waterto develop a thorough understanding of the con-
tour of bottom and, in turn, the most efficient attempt at
a natural presentation. The takes are subtle and at times
unrecognizable but, once hooked, these Lake Superior
brutes fight like no other fish and even bring seasoned
anglers to their knees. In the few instances where I
successfully performed this traditional craft, I entered
a league of sportsmen who understand that there is no
better place to understand ourselves than a battle with a
chrome lake run rainbow, with solitude peeking over our
shoulders.
Over the years, I continued to visit the same
steelhead grounds where I watched old men grow older;
their only source of motivation fresh from the Lake Supe-
rior shore, resting at the bottom of steep banks. Time has
changed the rivers holes and pools from my childhood,
yet the steelhead remain the same. One by one, I and PICKEREL LAKESIDE CAMPGROUND AND
old men alike throw on our waders, grab a fly rod, climb
down the hill, and exercise a few if we are lucky. On the COTTAGES: Balwin Area - Over 1000' of all
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notoriety into the faint memory of our past. Every spring, and 4 clean modern cottages.
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part of this yearly ritual. Without these fish, the memo-
ries that fill our laughter would exist only in imagination.
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For the decades past, these South Shore veterans have
fished more water than I have swam innot in search of
something, but to be in the comfort of something so fa-
miliar. In the dark, quick waters of Lake Superiors South
Shore streams, these old timers had found a mystique
written about since the dawn of rod and reel. I think it 888-939-6667 or 231-745-6667
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SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 49

 DROP-SHOTTING
for BOSS BLUEGILLS
Ask most folks whats the first fish you have ever caught? The
bluegill will most likely be the answer. Many anglers first love
affair and introduction to the sport of fishing were through
fishing for panfish. The gill is native to North America and lives
in streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds. It is commonly found east
of the Rockies. If I had to choose one of my favorite fish to eat
you would hear me mention species like a perch and walleye,
but at the top of the list; I would have to say the bluegill. Those
tasty fish belong in a corn meal jacket in my opinion, but I
also practice conservation.
When targeting large Summer, or Fall schools of fish, always
keep conservation in mind. When catching large gills keep
in mind the size of the female plays a large role in how many
eggs she will produce. A smaller female could produce as
few as 1,000 eggs, and a large, healthy female can produce
up to 100,000 eggs. Release the larger females to keep the
fishery intact for future generations and feel free to keep the
smaller ones for a delicious fish fry.
Locating Fish
The savvy anglers who are in search of trophy gills sometimes
have fits on trying to locate them within any given body of
water, during the Hot summer months. Big gills move to deep
this time of year and suspend in open water where they sus-
pend just below the surface and feed on plankton and other
aquatic creatures and go deep during the day and to lounge
on the bottom. The bluegill tries to spend most of their time in
water in temp ranges from 60 to 80 F. Contrary to belief blue
gills enjoy the heat, but shy away from direct sunlight - they
50 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
by Roger Hinchcliff
of Steelhead Manifesto
typically love deeper water but will linger near the water sur-
face in the morning to stay warm after a cold night. Example:
early and late in the day, the school may move up to 8 to 10
feet deep, but as the day goes on they go deep.
A school size of 10 to 20 fish or more are pretty typical and
will use all of the water column and structure to their advan-
tage. Tip: Aquatic insects mostly live in vegetation. Coontail
and milfoil weeds are my favorite weeds to target for big gills.
They can hide and hunt for food at the same time. I look for
differences in cover like thinner patches, or points. Find deep
water weed edges and you should connect with the biggest
gills the lake has to offer. When the sun gets high and the
temps go up look for fish in deeper water.
When fish are on beds early in the season its easy to locate
them, and catch them. You just cruise the shallows with some
polarized glasses and look for beds and fish. Not so easy
when the fish choose to go deep right? Finding them can be
easier than you think. But the right equipment can make all
the difference in the world. Such as the use of a good depth
finder. Whether it's fixed or portable model its indispensable
in helping you find these fish. First look for the right depth
and structure. Such as deep water humps, sunken islands,
and deep weed edges. Use of your spot lock trolling motor,
anchor or even a simple marker buoy can help you stay on
fish once located. Once fish have been found, the action can
be fast and furious. Now that we covered some biology of
the fish and use of electronics to find them lets talk rods and
rigging.
Rigging
Most have heard about drop shotting for Bass, how about
drop shotting for Blue Gills. This technique can be deadly on
deep open water gills. Its so easy to do and so effective for
deep water panfish. I find it tough to try anything else.
You must first start with the right rod when fishing deep water.
Especially when fishing lets say anywhere from 20-30 foot
depths. The right rod will help you land more fish. A longer
fast action rod is my favorite because the rod helps by picking
up the slack line when a strike is detected. Yet the rod is limber
enough to handle light leaders and still have the power to get
those big gills out of weeds. My favorite rod length would be
in a 7-foot range. Once I have my rod picked out I use braid
for my main line. I love to use braid in a 4-8 lb. diameter and
tie in a 3 -7-foot piece of fluorocarbon or mono in.
When fishing deep water the braided line helps in getting a
great hook set. Braid has less stretch than mono. My leaders
are typically anything from 4-6 lb. mono or fluorocarbon for
cagey bluegills. If Im fishing in heavy weeds or structure I will
bump up to an 8lb leader. For the most part, the lighter the
leader line, the more bites you get in my opinion.
How to rig it up: Tie a Palomar knot to a small hook in a size
6-10 long Aberdeen hook and leave the tag end at least a
foot or more long. Its important that the hook is facing up after
tying your knot. Sometimes I will vary how long I make this
tag end so it will vary how far my bait is from the bottom. I will
fish it sometimes just 3 inches off the bottom. The goal here is
to get the bait in their face, by keeping it eye level with the fish
you will connect.
Pass the tag end through the hook eye to make the hook stand
out horizontally and affix a small snap swivel. I like to use a
snap swivel and then attach my weight. This is so I can change
out the weights easily based on conditions. This rig is great for
pitching under docks too.
By having the weight below the hook, it enables anglers to
suspend a bait off the bottom perfectly. It also works great
when presenting bait over a weed edge, or other types of
structure. Sometimes I will add a dropper line when drop
shotting. By presenting the bait with this stealthy presentation it
minimizes those big bluegills wariness. It's accomplished when
the fish grabs the bait it doesnt feel the weight. By the time,
they do its too late because you have already set the hook.
By using a large weight, you can get the bait down very easy.
Especially when the action is hot and heavy trying to get a
soft plastic bait down on a light wire hook 20 feet down could
take forever. This rig is deadly with its ability to get in the ac-
tion fast and accurately. Drop Shotting will deliver a bait eye
level with the fish without compromising the lure or action like
no other presentation.
The rig can also be pitched up under boat docks for example.
Or cast near structure and slowly retrieved back to the boat. I
even use the rig as a search tool by drifting when trying to find
fish schools. As you can see its a very versatile rig that can
cover a lot of water and help you find fish.
Baits
Some of my favorite baits to use would be worms or crickets,
grasshoppers, wax worms, small flies and even American
cheese pushed on to a hook. My favorite colors for gills are
orange, yellow, red and my most favorite color is green. Their
natural diet consists largely of small invertebrates and aquatic
insects.
Another favorite with drop shotting is the use of soft plastics. I
love tiny plastics it gives the pan fish less time to scrutinize and
less to be wary about. The small plastics in the inch range
creates a reduction in weight. This allows the gills time to
inhale baits easier. The last thing you want is for them to fail to
suck the bait in, and they turn and swim away. Big cagy gills
will sometimes just sit there and suck on a bait.
I also love the Berkley Gulp products for panfish. Im no
scientist and cant tell you whats in the stuff, but the fish love
it thats for sure. If I had to choose my top baits for large
bluegills? I would go with a cricket, leaf worms or pieces of
crawlers. Or wax worms that have been dyed in a product
called Krazy Dust.
My favorite again is green sometimes fish want a certain col-
or. Your bait choices or rigging need not be complicated.
Its all about getting the bait in front of fish, if you do that
youre cooler wont be empty. I must say when it comes to big
bull bluegills in deep open water the fight is great. Those fish
turn sideways and look like a big pie plate coming up to the
boat. On light line and tackle those fish pull so hard. Its a lot
of fun and a great way to introduce someone to fishing. So,
get out this summer and enjoy the thrill of a Big Boss Blue Gill
youll be glad you did.
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private access to the Pere Marquette River. Great
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SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 51
 U.P. ANGLING
The Complete Recreation
by Rick Fowler
You can travel to the ends of the earth for a fishing vacation,
but some of the best you'll find is just over the Mackinac
Bridge.
I have been fortunate to have fished many bodies of water
in the past four decades. From steelhead in the Bear River of
Michigan, to specs in Canada. From cutthroat trout in Mon-
tana to native trout in the often wild rivers of North Carolina.
From banana fish to white tarpon, to Mai Mai in the Gulf of
Mexico. Yet, I consider myself a novice. Can I catch fish? Yes!
Do I always catch fish? No! I am a recreational angler who
benefits as much from the setting Im in as in the thrill of the
catch itself.
Michigan residents have the luxury, or so the saying goes, of
not being more than a mile away from a body of water. Yet,
many of us often travel to the remoteness of Canadian waters,
or seek the challenge of the boundary waters in Minnesota, or
motor west to the pristine trout streams of Colorado to satisfy
52 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
our fishing vacation dreams. However, the diversity, the chal-
lenge and clear waters can also be located in our own state.
It is true that a man often does not know what he has, or has
not, until he travels elsewhere. After experiencing many prime
fishing areas, I shall always return to the UP.
Much has been written, and rightly so, with outdoor enthu-
siasts in mind about the St. Ignace area with its clear waters.
The Straits of Mackinac, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan
do offer a variety and abundance of game fish. Also the Les
Cheneaux Islands have gathered ink with bays that have in
the past teemed with northern pike, bass, panfish, and perch.
Resort owners on Drummond Island extol in the benefits of
fishing their section of the Eastern UP, as well they should,
since the walleye, perch, bass and salmon fishing remains
superb. Grand Marais penchant for whitefish angling off the
local piers is a reason for visiting this area and what hasnt
been written about the fabulous walleye fishing in the Glad-
stone/Escanaba waters?
 waters like walleye, pike, lake trout and rock bass. Indeed,
Indeed, these are the places that have achieved fame and this section of wilderness is as close to the Boundary Waters of
laid down claim to being the most formable fisheries in the northern Minnesota as one can get.
UP. There are, though, other waters where anglers in search
of fewer crowds, less trodden paths, and a vacation itinerary Vacation Paradise and other clichs are often used to
that is flexible, can seek to truly enjoy the recreation of fishing. describe our vacations, our getaways, if you will. Yet for the
There are hundreds of miles of out of the way spots that can angler searching for heaven on earth in Michigan waters,
be explored in Upper Michigan waters. one has to see, know and believe that the answer to so many
vacation questions can be as close as the UP. Miles and miles
For instance, the Driggs and the Fox rivers near the town of of streams, rivers and inland lakes await recreational fishing
Seney might be your style if youre looking for brook trout. vacationers and it begins once you pull through the toll booths
The Fox can be fished with fly or spinning rods, but keep in at the bridge.
mind as you wind your way down river, the tag alder increas-
es and footing gets UP waters, especially
more treacherous as those less traveled, can
you go. The Driggs be the canvas that rests
is, for the most part, the eye, soothes the
a wading river, but nerves, and reassures
there are many log you that what was left
jams you might have behind in business or
to meander through other pursuits is really
or around. Both are left behind. As a 1960s
remote, but as sug- era brochure stated:
gested, remoteness is "Yes, we have majestic
nice. Also in this sec- Tahquamenon Falls, but
tion of the UP lies The to compliment its beauty
Little Two-Hearted. we also have 150 other
Maybe less famous waterfalls. Yes, we have
then her sister The Big the famed Lake of the
Two-Hearted, but Clouds but we have
thats what makes it over 4000 additional
intriguing. This is one lakes offering endless
of the few set back (fishing) vacation op-
waters that Ive seen portunities. Each bend
anglers float fishing. of the highway brings a change of scenery. By roads can lead
to quiet out-of-the-way-places where one can fish the cold,
Around the Marquette area, lake trout charters take anglers to brittle waters of a trout stream."
the infamous Stannard Rock section of Lake Superior. In fact,
the state's largest laker was boated here. Yet, river anglers There is another clich that states, some things never
can venture to the Carp and the Chocolay, set up camp, and change. Thank goodness thats true of the UP.
prepare themselves for one of the most scenic stretches of
remote river the UP can offer. In addition, both offer up native
trout that will tax your abilities, and your decision not to bring
all your flies.

There are many lakes in the Upper Peninsula that do not allow For Sale in Michigan's Upper Peninsula
motors. One such section is the Sylvania Wilderness area
Two bedroom home on 40 acres,
just east of the Wisconsin border. This tract of over 21,000
half good hardwoods, half open.
acres has 36 lakes and 19 ponds, most with an abundance
of smallmouth. Take note, it is catch and release only for Near Federal land and snowmobile trails.
smallmouth (see local regs for further information). Its called Phone 906-630-3674 if interested.
portage hopping in this area of lakes in the furthermost west-
ern section of the UP. Most anglers portage their canoes from
lake to lake seeking bass and other species that inhabit these

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 53

 Trolling
for panfish
Trolling. Its for salmon, right? And
muskies.And walleyes.When most
anglers think about trolling, they think
about big water and catching big fish.
But Denny Hettig is not most anglers. He
trolls small water sometimes lakes as
small as 40 acres beginning shortly
after ice-out, right through summer, and
into fall. And he fishes for pan fish.
A 65-year-old retired utilities worker,
Hettig has been trolling for pan fish
mostly bluegills, but he catches plenty
of crappies and perch, too -- for more
than 20 years. Hes turned it into an art
form; Ive been fishing with him for more
than a decade, a couple of days a
year, spring, summer, and fall, and
weve never failed to catch a nice mess
of fish. And the whole process was born
out of frustration.
The reason I did it was I was a walleye
fishermen and I just got tired of the
bluegills eating the tails off my night
crawlers, he said. Lets face it: If you
downsize your equipment and go to
four-pound test line and light-action
rods, bluegills are a blast.
54 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
by Bob Gwizdz
When Hettig says downsize, he isnt
kidding. The first thing he did when he
decided to troll for gills was start tying
up worm harnesses, just like crawler
harnesses, but much smaller. He ties a
couple of No. 6 hooks about two inches
apart a little bit less than the length of
a red worm with a simple spinner on a
two foot length of four-pound-test
monofilament.He slides a snap swivel
on the line ahead of a swivel, then
attaches the harness. The snap swivel,
which slides freely on the line, is used to
attach a pencil-style weight, anywhere
from a 1/64th to 1/4th ounce. And
then he trolls. Anywhere.
The first time I fished with Hettig, he slid
his boat off the trailer, got on the trolling
motor and we started fishing immediate-
ly; he didnt look for weed beds or
drop-offs or any sort of structure ele-
ment. He just started fishing. And we
started catching.
You know how when youre fishing, and gets deeper as the day progresses,
you see those little rings on the surface
out in deep water? he asked. Those
are bluegills. Everyone is fishing in on
the bottom in 10 or 15 feet of water, but
the majority of the fish and especially
the big ones are out in open water.
I didnt take him long to convince me.
Hettig trolls slowly, one mile an hour or
less, and just covers water. When he
starts catching fish, he notes the area
and will double back over it again until
the bite peters out, then hell just start
covering water again. There are lulls, of
course, sometimes lasting 30 minutes or
more, but eventually he gets on fish
again and the catching commences.
Generally, Hettig starts out with four
rods (two per angler)in rod holders
and, as the bite progresses, he notes
which depths are producing best, then
changes weights so hes got more rods
in and around the strike zone. Some
days the deeper rods produce. Some-
times the bite is higher in the water
column. As a rule of thumb, the bite
starts nearer the surface early in the day
especially if its sunny, but as with
anything else in life, there are excep-
tions to every rule.

The first thing in the morning when you
get to the lake, just spread out with
different weights until you figure out
whats going on for the day, he said.
Itll change every day. When youre
doing this, youre picking off your active
bluegills from all over the lake. When
youre tight-lining them, youre on a
school of fish and youre just pounding
that school. Doing this, I might take six
or seven out of a school, but by then Im
off somewhere else.
occasions, rainbow trout as well as
bluegills and perch.
Its an excellent way to find perch, and
when I do, I often stop trolling and start
still fishing for them. But there are times,
especially in the late fall and I mean
late, late fall when you can really wail
on the perch doing this. They want the
spinner.
If you want to catch a lot of crappie,
cut off the back hook and put a wax
worm or a small plastic grub or a cured
minnow you know the ones you get in
a jar -- on there. They take those better.
Slow trolling for crappie some of the
guys call it strolling -- is a time hon-
ored tradition across much of the

I catch my biggest fish up in the day,

he continued. You can catch fish all
day and the later it gets, the better it
gets. Cloudy days are better than bright
sunshiny days.

Ive fished with Hettig on everything

from cold rainy spring days to hot, still,
August days when youre afraid of heat
stroke. Weve always caught them.

People dont really believe you can

catch bluegill trolling around like that,
says Hettig, who is one of those 10% of
the anglers who catches 90% of the fish.
But it works. I have total faith in it. Ive
never been skunked; even on the worst
days, I still manage to take some fish
home. It works better in some lakes than
it does on others, but I probably fish 90
lakes a year and if I get on two lakes
where it doesnt work very well, thats
about average.

It works best on lakes that have deep,

open water, he said. On shallow
lakes, itll work, but you wind up running
into the weed factor. You spend so much
time keeping your lines clean, you might
as well fish bobbers. But personally, Ive
never been able to find very many big
bluegills on those shallow weedy lakes,
anyway.

To Hettig, a seven- to eight-inch bluegill

is perfect. When he starts catching
bigger ones and weve caught plenty
of 10s he generally throws them back
as he not only prefers the smaller ones
for the table, but he also believes its
important to maintain the brood stock
for the future.

And bluegills arent all; over the years

weve caught everything bass, pike,
walleyes, and even on a couple of

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 55

 country, especially in the South, where
crappie seem to get a lot more respect
than they do in Michigan . Mike Cash-
en, a postal worker from northern
Indiana who fishes the lakes of south-
west Michigan regularly, says he started
trolling from crappies about 20 years
and isnt about to stop.
Youre not going to catch as many as
you do in the spring because theyre not
as heavily concentrated, Cashen said.
But we used to stop fishing after spring
because we couldnt find them, they
were too dispersed. Then we started
trolling in deep, open water. Wed find
them on a depth finder you never
know at what depth theyre going to be
holding. Usually we start on the outside
edge of the deep weed beds and then
go from there.
Cashen typically uses two rods with
small jigs tipped with curly tail trailers
when trolling. Hell usually use a
1/32nd ounce jig and a 1/16th, he
said, but will go up to an 1/8th ounce
jig if its really windy.
Thats the maximum I would use, he
said.
Cashen said he used to stop trolling
56 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
when he hits an area with a concentra-
tion of fish and cast. But that never
works, he said. I think the speed or the
depth control is off.
Cashen said he often uses a stop-and-
start pattern -- the fish often bite as the
bait is falling, he said -- and will some-
times pump one of the rods so the jig
rises and falls. Hes noticed that he often
gets bit while turning -- while the jig is
rising or falling in the water column.
Hettig says the same. When hes trolling,
he often makes a long series of S turns
so the baits are constantly rising or
falling in the water column. As often as
not, he said, the bites come on the turn.
I know some guys who purposely use a
zigzag pattern all the time and they
swear by it, he said. The depth of the
water doesnt matter. You can be out in
40 feet of water and catch them 15 feet
down.
Both Cashen and Hettig swear by using
electric motors when trolling for pan fish,
but Ive had some excellent experiences
using the outboard, too. For many years,
I fished Houghton Lake with retired
conservation officer Mike Mol for
walleyes, trolling tiny and I mean, like,
two inches Rapalas. In the course of
the day wed catch plenty of pan fish,
too crappie, rock bass, perch and
pumpkinseeds as well as some bass
and pike. The last time I fished Houghton
Lake with Mol, I brought along a few of
Hettigs harnesses theyre called Bos
Bluegill Busters, named after his old dog
-- and a box of red worms and the pan
fish action improved, especially for
bluegills, which are less likely to mess
with minnows (or minnow baits) than
other pan fish.
The best part of this fishing is the simplic-
ity. It doesnt take a lot of sophisticated
equipment. Rod holders allow you to
fish more rods comfortably, but you can
do well simply holding the rod in your
hand. And theres no problem detecting
the bite, which makes this a perfect
technique for youngsters, neophytes, or
those poor unfortunate souls who just
never seem to get the hang of fishing.
But its a great technique for experi-
enced anglers as well. Its a low-cost,
laid-back approach to angling that pays
off with plenty of action and some of the
best table fare you can gather in
Michigans out-of-doors.
HOW INFASTRUCTURE
AFFECTS OUR RIVERS...
The DNR began stocking the Red Cedar River at
Michigan State's campus when MSU re-opened
it to fishing in 2013. A new infastructure project
looks to protect that investment.

by Brian Cenci

When we think of the hazards posed by aging infrastructure,

crumbling roads, bridges and dams readily come to mind.
Lead drinking water service lines are also at the forefront of our
thinking. It may yet be easy to overlook the crucial role and crit-
ical condition of buried infrastructure serving our communities
with wastewater and storm water conveyance.

Ingham County Drain Commissioner (ICDC) Patrick E. Linde-

mann, whose job includes managing hundreds of miles of ag-
ing storm water drainage pipes, is keenly aware of the need to
re-engineer old systems. We used to build systems to move
water from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible, Linde-
mann said. That approach quickly washes sediments and other
pollutants into waterways, damaging habitat with high-velocity
flows and harming water quality for humans and aquatic spe-
cies alike.

Now we engineer systems to manage storm water on site

and at its source. Lindemanns next major project will retrofit a
variety of low impact design features into a highly impervious
(paved) urban landscape aimed at slowing flows, reducing
flooding, and removing engine oil, debris and other danger-
ous pollutants before they reach the nearby Red Cedar River.

The Montgomery Drain

Much of what we love about our urban communities - easy ac-

cess to workplaces, shopping, arts, culture and entertainment
- has another side. Every road, roof, parking lot, and sidewalk
increases the speed of storm water runoff, carrying toxic chem-
icals and debris straight to the river.
Our scientists and engineers calculate that, each year, 50 to
75 thousand pounds of pollutants are washed into the Red Ce-
dar River from the Montgomery Drain watershed area, said
Lindemann. Citizens, environmental groups, and Drain Com-
missioners from both Ingham and Livingston Counties identified
the Montgomery Drain outlet, located just west of Michigan
State University, as the single largest contributor of pollutants
to the Red Cedar River.
Engineers working on retrofit plans for the Montgomery Drain
inspected current conditions. They found a number of crumbling
The author with a steelhead on the Red Cedar River
pipes, some of which will be replaced or rehabilitated, others
will be removed as low impact design features are installed in
their place.
In 2014, the City of Lansing and Ingham County petitioned the
Drain Commissioner for significant reductions to pollution from
the Drain. The petition initiated legal processes governed by
state and federal laws, including Michigans Drain Code and
the U.S. Clean Water Act. Once petitioned, the EPA requires
me to meet six minimum measures, Lindemann said. These
include the elimination of illicit discharges, public involvement,
and public education.

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 57

 Environment + Economy and live music to our community. Momentum is building and
we think that the sky is the limit for Art in the Wild.
Lindemanns team has invested many hundreds of hours into
identifying illicit discharges, recording existing infrastructure The Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council (Mid-ME-
damage, participating in community meetings, and engineer- AC) is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. More information is
ing water quality solutions. We are going to daylight the wa- available at www.artinthewild.org and www.midmeac.org.
ter. Instead of piping pollution straight to the river, we are engi-
neering a surface-water system of ponds, wetlands, waterfalls
Building Community Spaces for Outdoor Living and
and other design features that will hold storm water, allowing
Learning
sediments to settle, cleaning nearly all of the runoff from this
watershed, Lindemann said.
We are including voices and support from everyone. This will
be a shared space where everyone can gather to celebrate
The plan for the Montgomery Drain will transform parts of
art, environmental stewardship, and myriad other accomplish-
Ranney Park and the defunct Red Cedar Golf Course into a
ments in our community. Trails through the park will connect
naturalized system modeled after the highly successful Tollgate
with the Riverfront Trail. We anticipate hosting art festivals and
Drain near the Groesbeck Golf Course in Ingham County. En-
5K runs, this will be a place where people can recreate in so
vironmental solutions and economic development are not op-
many ways.
posing forces. The blue and green spaces we will create will
attract visitors to nearby businesses, said Lindemann.
Bringing to the surface what was once buried water infrastruc-
ture will shed light on our shared responsibility for maintaining
Much of the re-engineered space will remain a City of Lansing
our most important resource in our Great Lakes State. We
park. The ballpark and skatepark within the project area will
have looked at the research that shows water has a calming
not be affected. The existing sledding hill will be re-engineered
and nourishing effect on us. It is our responsibility to create and
to face north, preserving snow for as long as possible.
preserve these spaces for our communities and future genera-
tions.
We are pursuing cost-effective solutions to prevent pollution
and reduce flooding, Lindemann said, and encouraging re-
Montgomery Drain project leaders are seeking funding that
sponsible development within the project area will improve the
would allow them to rebuild fish habitat in the Red Cedar River
economy throughout the region.
along the project area. With that funding support, the oppor-
tunities to enhance fishing and, through onsite tutorials, en-
The construction of SkyVue Apartments is already nearing courage the next generation to engage in fishing are greatly
completion. Some reports suggest that additional development increased.
valuing approximately $500 million is slated for the area.
Lindemann wants the area to be a living classroom, where
Art in the Wild people of all ages can enjoy being outdoors and learn about
environmental principles.
Im required to educate citizens about their role in protecting
water quality. Were building an innovative system that will in- Construction on the Montgomery Drain is expected to begin
clude educational signage. So, how do I get people who ar- Summer of 2017.
ent already environmentalists to the site? Thats the question
the Drain Commissioner asked himself.

The answer came to him: make room for art in all its forms
throughout the project area. I was talking with my wife, Dr.
Melody Angel, and we had the idea to place sculpture and
murals, some with environmental themes, in the project area.
We also want to create inviting and accessible performance
spaces for live musical and theatrical performances.

Art in the Wild is a private initiative under the auspices of the

Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council, Lindemann
said. No taxpayer dollars will be used to buy the sculptures
or other art. Were pleased that some area businesses, includ-
ing Marshall Music and Medawar Jewelers, have already ex-
pressed interest in partnering with Art in the Wild to bring art

58 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

 GIVE INVASIVE
SPECIES
THE BRUSH OFF.
Clean Your Gear Before Entering
And Before Leaving The Recreation Site.

TM

MUCC
Help Prevent The Spread
Of Invasive Plants And Animals.
REMOVE plants, animals & mud from boots, gear, pets &
vehicle.
CLEAN your gear before entering & leaving the recreation
site. STOP INVASIVE SPECIES
STAY on designated roads & trails. IN YOUR TRACKS.
USE CERTIFIED or local firewood & hay.
 TRACKING
WILDLIFE
FOODS
With
MI-MAST
By Kelsey Fisher
& Gary Roloff
Summer is a time when Michigans great outdoors are lush
and green. Heavy dew shines in the morning sun as you walk
to your favorite fishing hole. A chorus of bullfrogs and cicadas
call out in harmony as fireflies dance in the night sky. Many
of us will take this opportunity to get some fresh air away
from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Soon we will be
scouting for deer on our favorite oak ridges, following salmon
up the rivers, and picking blueberries, blackberries, and rasp-
berries. For those of us interested in animals, whether it is on
public or private ground, we will pay attention to the avail-
ability and production of wildlife foods. Collectively, some of
these naturally occurring foods are called mast.
Mast refers to the fruits or seeds of trees, shrubs, or other
plants. We know for certain that mast is important to wildlife.
Wild turkeys, black bears, and white-tailed deer rely on
acorns (for example) to build fat reserves for winter months.
Large mammals like deer and bear will move less when mast
is abundant, making them less likely to congregate around
specific food sources. Abundant mast also has positive effects
on fawn birth weights and survival the following year. The
availability of hard and soft mast prior to the winter dormancy
of black bears can directly affect the likelihood of females
successfully rearing cubs. Several Michigan furbearers also
depend on mast productivity to feed small mammal prey.
60 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
There are two types of mast. Hard mast includes fruits with
hard exteriors (like acorns, beechnuts, hazelnuts), which gen-
erally become obvious on the plant in late summer and ripen
mid-to late-fall. Soft mast include fruits with fleshy exteriors
(e.g., apples, blueberries) and generally become obvious
on the plant in early summer and ripen late summer through
early fall. Wildlife use of mast is not restricted to the ripening
seasons. Sources of soft mast are important late winter food
sources for short-distance migrant birds like robins and cedar
waxwings. Chokecherries remain on the tree well into winter
and can provide an important energy source for ground for-
aging birds in late winter when snow covers other foods. It not
uncommon to see turkeys perched in choke cherry trees eating
fruits in March. For those of us interested in wildlife, it should
be obvious that knowing something about when and where
mast occurs is important. This valuable information about mast
production can be collected anywhere in Michigan through a
program called MI-MAST: Wildlife Food Tracker.
Little is known about what drives mast production. In some
years acorns completely cover the forest floor, while in other
years there are none. These patterns do not occur consistently
throughout different regions of the Lake States. In any given
year, masting is likely related to individual plant characteris-
tics like species and age, weather, soil productivity, and past
land management. To better understand patterns of masting,

the Michigan Department of Natural Resources - Wildlife Division, Mich-
igan State University, and Michigan United Conservation Clubs teamed
up to produce and market MI-MAST: Wildlife Food Tracker Program.
MI-MAST relies on citizen scientists (like you) to collect information on
masting. Mast observations from year to year are stored in an individual
account that you make, providing a valuable tool for monitoring wildlife
foods on lands you are interested in. There are mobile phone applications
and a web page, and each has pictures and descriptions of the different
plant species to help you with identification. Collectively, observations
from all over Michigan could provide valuable wildlife food information
useful for management. Indeed, MI-Mast was initially developed as a way
for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division to
monitor mast production throughout the state. In this capacity, observations
from individuals would remain confidential, and your observations would
only be summarized across broad areas (like counties). This means that
your secret hunting or bird watching spot would not be revealed!
You can visit the website at www.mimast.org to create a free account. The
easiest way to collect data is through one of the IPhone or Android mobile
applications that can be downloaded from the App Store. Data collec-
tion is easy and quick, can occur at any time of the year, and will provide
you with useful information on wildlife foods over time. If you have any
questions on MI-MAST, please contact Dr. Gary Roloff at Michigan State
University (Roloff@msu.edu).
SOUND
SCIENCE
IN THE
CLASSROOM
Individuals from Grand Valley State Uni-
versity developed a MI-MAST lesson plan
for middle school teachers. This field-based
activity gets kids involved with outdoor ac-
tivities, while accomplishing performance
expectations for Next Generation Science
Standards for middle school life sciences.
One of the most authentic ways to study
ecology and species interactions is to go
outdoors and observe it firsthand. In the
MI-MAST classroom exercise, students
would look at how resource availability af-
fects wildlife populations, and learn about
the interconnection of organisms within
their local ecosystem. Active classroom
participation allows students to collect
data, identify mast species, and think
about the wildlife that might use those spe-
cies. Additionally, the instructor builds data
from year to year, providing a real-world
example of mast production over time.
By getting students outdoors, the lesson
plan developers and MI-MAST program
partners hope to spread an appreciation
for the natural world and conservation that
links to the technology (their cell phones)
that most of the students are familiar with.
More on this classroom exercise can be
found in the fall 2016 issue (page 57) of
the Michigan Science Teachers Association
Journal.
 A Possible Strategy for
Bovine TB in Michigan Deer?
Researchers from Michigan State Unitversity have been testing a promising oral vaccine
for white-tailed deer in the bovine tuberculosis (bTB) area of the northeast Lower Peninsula.

By David Dressel, Henry Campa III, Mike Lavelle, and Kurt VerCauteren
Photos by David Dressel
There it is: the sun, beating down on the snow covering your
garden or perhaps the fields you planted last year. As the
snow melts you feel the suns warmth on your skin for the first
time since the long, harsh Michigan winter began. You can
see the freshly exposed crop fields as the sun begins to warm
up the land. However, youre not the only one feeling the
suns rays beaming through the blue sky, or better yet, to smell
spring right around the corner.
Over the winter in northern Michigan, white-tailed deer
have been secluded in deep conifer swamps trying to stay
warm. As spring breaks they begin to venture out and feed
on the newly exposed plants and crop residues from last fall.
Deer are eager to feed and replenish their nutrient-stressed
bodies as the years winter has taken its toll. Some deer may
have tried to venture across roads to reach a thawed field
with emerging vegetation and were struck by a vehicle. Or
perhaps some have succumbed to starvation from the harsh
winter. However, others meet their demise through a more
chronic and slow process: disease.
The Bovine Tuberculosis Problem
It all began in 1994, or perhaps 1975, when a hunter harvest-
ed what appeared to be a sick deer. The deer tested positive
for bovine tuberculosis (bTB). This was the second positive bTB
case in Michigan deer; the first was in 1975 but many thought
it was an isolated case. The 1994 incident led to the statewide
surveillance and testing of road-killed and harvested deer
for bTB as wildlife managers tried to gather information and
formulate a plan to manage this emerging disease.
Wildlife managers have come a long way since that initial
bTB case. State efforts have decreased the prevalence rate
of bTB in deer from 4.5% to around 1-2%. This decrease is
attributed to numerous management strategies that are still
in practice today: disease control permits, fencing, liberal
antlerless harvest and baiting restrictions. However, Michigan
residents, livestock producers, wildlife managers, and hunters
continue to hear about cattle herds contracting the disease
from spillover of bTB from deer. To date, there have been 66
cattle herds infected with bTB in northeastern lower Michigan
(MDARD Legislative Report BTB Program Oct 2016 Qtrly
Update). With the continued occurrence of bTB-infected cattle
herds and a stalled bTB prevalence rate, an additional man-
agement strategy has been proposed to combat the disease.
Researchers from the USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services
National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC, Fort Collins, CO)
and Michigan State University, Department of Fisheries and
Wildlife, along with Michigan Wildlife Services biologists
have collaborated on a project evaluating a potential vacci-
nation strategy to inoculate deer against bTB if it is desirable
in the future. The objective of our study was to create an
oral vaccine strategy that could reach the maximum number
of white-tailed deer in the core bTB area, Deer Manage-
ment Unit 452, west of Alpena. It was our hope that we
could design a cost effective placebo vaccine strategy that
if successful could be used with the actual vaccine Bacillus
Calmette-Guerin (BCG).
Lets Talk Deer
As fellow nature enthusiasts, hunters, and conservationists, we
all appreciate the importance of understanding deer ecol-
ogy. Whether we are trying to observe, study, or hunt that
animal we must understand its behavior. Even if we are simply
setting out trail cameras to scout for a hunt, we are studying
the animals movements and patterns. To design a successful
vaccination strategy, it was crucial that we understood how,
when, and possibly why deer would behave under certain
conditions such as snow cover, temperature and forest cover
throughout the year.
Lets begin with an idea that became the framework for our
vaccine strategy: timing of winter break up in northern Michi-
gan. Deer tend to congregate in deer yards during the peak
winter months in northern Michigan and conserve energy by
limiting their movements. Reduced movement and feeding
leaves deer in a nutrient deficient state as winter drags on.
When the snow begins to thaw, deer are drawn to the newly
exposed agriculture fields to feed on any residual grain from
the previous year. This natural congregation and behavior of
deer appeared the perfect opportunity to efficiently target
multitudes of deer with an oral vaccine delivery unit (VDU).
A VDU is a desired food product that can potentially hold a
vaccine and be distributed to feeding deer.
Designing a Vaccine Delivery Strategy
First, we experimented with four potential VDU formulations to
deliver an oral vaccine during the winter and springs of 2015
and 2016. We wanted to create a product that could be mass
produced and mimicked natural forage deer were already
seeking. Thus, we constructed VDUs that resembled the crop
residue of last seasons crops: a corn product, apple product,
alfalfa product, and an alfalfa/molasses product. We distrib-
uted VDUs to free-ranging deer to determine if they preferred
one over another.
Second, we timed the distribution of the VDUs to maximize
the number of deer exposed to the vaccine system. Vaccine
delivery units were distributed on agriculture fields during the
spring thaw in Alpena County, Michigan. The spring thaw
draws deer to the exposed agriculture fields. To assess the
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 63
 By spacing out the vaccine delivery units(VDUs) in grids,
researchers avoided unnaturally congregating deer at bait sites,
which can increase the chances of disease transmission.
number of deer visiting and possibly
consuming our VDUs we mounted trail
cameras on edges of these agriculture
fields.
Third, we explored how the distribu-
tion of VDUs on fields would result in
the highest consumption by deer. We
wanted to design a strategy that reflect-
ed deer feeding patterns on those fields;
slightly dispersed, moving and feeding
as a group through the field (Image 3).
Because congregating deer at feeding
sites can increase disease transmission,
we minimized unnatural congregations
of deer around the VDUs by distributing
them in grids of: 109 x 32 yards (yds),
54 x 32 yds, 54 x 21 yds and in lines
bordering field edges next to forests.
Each VDU was spaced 2 yds or 5 yds
apart depending on the grid size. The
size of each VDU was designed to be
approximately 0.6 ounces to maximize
full consumption by deer and limit any
residual material.
Lastly, we needed a way to estimate
how many deer consumed our VDUs,
allowing us to answer the all-important
question of how many deer can be
64 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
reached with this strategy. Were there
just two or three hungry deer that were
eating the majority of our tasty VDUs or
were groups of 10-20 scarfing down
these treats?
To evaluate this question, we used a
biomarker to monitor the deers feeding
activities. A biomarker is an additive we
incorporated into VDUs that allowed
us to determine whether or not a deer
consumed a VDU. We chose a biomark-
er called Rhodamine B (Rb) because it
is easily added to the VDUs and easily
detected after its consumed by deer.
Rhodamine B has been used exten-
sively as a biomarker for several oral
vaccination programs including rabies
in raccoons and plague in prairie dogs.
Rhodamine B is a green powder that we
placed inside gel capsules and then into
each of our individual VDUs. When deer
consumed the VDUs with Rb, two things
happened: (1) the deers digestive tract
was stained pink for 24-36 hours and/
or (2) their whiskers became marked
with a fluorescent band. By collecting
whiskers from harvested deer and plac-
ing them under a fluorescent micro-
scope, we could detect the fluorescent
band, giving us concrete evidence that
they consumed at least one VDU. The
biomarker allowed us to evaluate what
percentage of deer, from those that
were harvested, consumed our VDUs.
We Know What Deer Like
During our trial from May 1 June
18, 2015, the apple-based VDU was
consumed the most. Deer consumed
on average 47.6% of the apple VDUs
within 24 hours. The consumption rate
for the apple VDU was 31% higher than
the corn-based VDU and 47% higher
than the alfalfa-based VDU.
However, as we may have witnessed
in our own backyards, if you leave
anything sweet and tasty out raccoons
will find it! We distributed our VDUs on
17 agriculture fields from 5-19 consecu-
tive days on each field. Deer visited our
VDU grids 63.9% of the nights and to
nobodys surprise those pesky raccoons
accounted for 52.9% of the visitations
we photographed. This was troublesome
since raccoons surely were consuming
some VDUs.
The 2015 trial taught us the best and worst sides
of our potential vaccine delivery strategy and we
modified our plans for 2016. During our second
field season we started earlier in the year; March
6, giving us the opportunity to distribute our VDUs
during the crucial first thaw. Second, getting an
earlier start helped reduce the number of VDUs
consumed by raccoons as the heavy snow cover
reduced their activity. However, the largest
change we made was using a new customized
alfalfa/molasses-based VDU intended to appeal
to deer and to reduce consumption by non-target
species, such as raccoons and turkeys.

As hoped, raccoons did not readily consume or

even visit the alfalfa/molasses grids while deer
consumed on average 48.2% of the VDUs in 24
hours. Furthermore, deer accounted for 87.9% of
the visits to our VDU grids while raccoons only
visited 17.9% of the nights. These results were
in stark contrast to what we observed in 2015.
Considering we distributed 8,636 VDUs in 2016
and deer being the primary species visiting our
VDU grids, this has great implications for creating
a successful oral vaccine strategy for white-tailed
deer.

After deer were exposed to our VDU grids for

seven consecutive days, Wildlife Services collect-
ed deer on each VDU grid with the use of disease
control permits. Throughout the 2016 field season,
a total of 107 deer were collected on the alfalfa/
molasses VDU grids. I collected six whiskers from
each deer and using a fluorescent microscope, I
looked for the presence or absence of the tell-all
fluorescent band, indicating whether or not that
deer consumed one of our VDUs. can be bTB free. Livestock producers would no longer have to
live with the worry that their cattle may fall ill costing them and
Out of the 107 deer, 36.4% (39) had staining on their tongue the State millions of dollars. Or imagine the hunting communi-
and digestive tract. However, the most significant finding was ty no longer concerned about hunting in a diseased area. By
74 deer, or 69.1%, had whisker or internal staining. This was combining this potential vaccine delivery strategy with other
a significant finding showing 69.1% of the deer that were management strategies, perhaps one day a bTB free Michi-
presented our alfalfa/molasses VDUs during the Spring thaw gan can be a reality.
consumed them! Researchers have modeled that a vaccination
Acknowledgments: Special thanks to all landowners in Alpe-
rate above 50% would substantially increase the possibility
na County that supported our efforts on this project and to the
of reducing the prevalence of bTB in the deer of northeastern USDA-Wildlife Services for all their support and hard work. In
lower Michigan. addition, thank you to all funding sources including United States
Department of Agriculture National Wildlife Research Center and
The success of a potential bTB vaccine program for white- Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife.
tailed deer will be additive to the success of other manage- Lastly, we thank the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for
ment strategies already in place in the area; wildlife mitigation all their help and support alongside this project.
practices such as fences, liberal antlerless harvest, disease
control permits, and restrictions on baiting in the core TB area.
Imagine for a moment the possibility that one day Michigan

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 65

 HOW DNR
PARTNERS
HELP WILD
TURKEY
HABITAT
by Darin Potter
Each year, the wild turkey draws millions of hunters throughout
the United States back to the woods to greet dawn for another
chance at a spring gobbler. Whether its their thunderous
gobble that echoes throughout the turkey woods or their
magnificent displays as they try to win over nearby hens,
this bird has continues to cast a spell over all of us turkey
hunting addicts. At nearly seven million strong, the wild
turkeys adaptability has caused it to expand past its original
native region, providing more hunters than ever before
with an opportunity to draw or buy a tag over the counter.
Unfortunately, this wasnt always the case.
At the turn of the century, wild turkeys almost completely
vanished from North America. In fact, during the 1920s,
Michigan was one of eighteen other states in the Midwest
where they had completely disappeared. Unregulated
hunting coupled with habitat loss was mostly to blame for their
demise. However, over the course of the last half-century, the
wild turkey started making a comeback due to the Federal
Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (also known as the Pittman-
Robertson Act of 1937). This Act places an 11% excise tax on
firearms and ammunition, along with bows and arrows, for
funding wildlife habitat projects, distributed to the states. This
set the stage for wild turkey habitat management along with
66 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
the release of these birds across the United States.
Today, federal and state wildlife agencies throughout the US
have formed partnerships with various organizations such
as National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), conservation
organizations and the many volunteers who continue to
help improve wild turkey habitat. The formation of these vital
partnerships have caused the wild turkey to be one of the most
widely recognizable conservation success stories in the history
of wildlife management in the United States.
With different conservation organizations working together
with the Department, we all can have such a greater
impact on the resources, the habitat, and the birds! The
reach is unlimited when we are working together, so many
more people can be engaged and effected by the work
completed, said Katie Keen, Outreach Technician for the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The DNR recognizes how important partnering is to the future
of the wild turkey in the State of Michigan. Since the 1980s,
the DNR Wildlife Division has worked together with numerous
partners to release trapped wild turkeys and improve habitat.
A great example of these partnerships exists between the
NWTF and the DNR.
According to NWTF District Biologist Ryan Boyer, whose area
covers both Michigan and Indiana, The NWTF was recently
awarded 2 separate DNR State Wildlife Grants totaling over
$267,000 of state grant funds to assist with projects estimated
at over $378,000. The projects consist of restoring oak forest
health and oak savanna habitat, enhancing wildlife openings
by planting mast-producing trees and shrubs, planting wildlife
openings to a mixture of cool season grasses and clover
mixes, clearing and planting two miles of hunter walking trails
to a clover mix, pruning remnant apple orchards and cutting
25 acres of aspen to regenerate new early successional
habitat.
This habitat project, which will occur on public land in
Newaygo, Montcalm, Barry, Oceana, Crawford, and
Oscoda Counties, was made possible with the partnerships
between the U.S. Forest Service, DNR, Ruffed Grouse Society,
Quality Deer Management Association, and the Michigan
Army National Guard. Boyer anticipates that these projects
will be completed in September of 2018 and will impact
1,000 acres.
On a national level, the NWTF is also responsible for the
highly successful 2012 initiative, Save the Habitat. Save the
Hunt. This initiative has many important goals, one of them
being the improvement of habitat. According to the 2016
NWTF annual report, nearly 1.7 million acres of land have
been conserved and enhanced four years into the initiative,
including 572,156 acres in 2016.
Boyer explains Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt is the
NWTFs 10-year national initiative to conserve or enhance 4
million acres of upland habitat, create 1.5 million new hunters,
and open access to 500,000 acres for hunting, shooting, and
outdoor recreation.
To complete these goals, the NWTF is committed to raising
$1.2 billion through fundraising and their devoted volunteers.
On the state level, the NWTFs initiative will positively affect
the wild turkeys in Michigan and create many improvements
in multiple areas. According to Boyer, As part of the 10-year
national initiative, the NWTF in Michigan is determined to
enhance or restore over 52,000 acres of upland habitat, help
create 200,000 new hunters, and increase public access to
10,000 acres.
Besides fundraising efforts, licenses purchased by hunters
will also help with these conservation efforts. Boyer states,
License fees help pay for conservation. Since the inception
of the license fee restructuring, hunters in Michigan who
purchase a hunting license are helping fund habitat projects
throughout the state through the State Wildlife Habitat Grant
Program (SWHG).
SPRING 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 25
 Sarah Topp, who works as the Wildlife Volunteer Coordinator
for Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), manages
their On-the-Ground (OTG) program. This program earned
the DNR Outdoor Lifes Open Country Award in 2014.
Since 2013, the year the program was launched, over 600
volunteers have engaged in dozens of wildlife habitat projects
on public lands throughout the state.
Support from volunteers with a variety of uses of public lands
makes these habitat projects possible.
"While many organizations may have a different approach
to wildlife conservation, common project goals can be
established to make partnerships like this successful. This
award -winning program has completed numerous wild turkey
habitat improvements projects since the beginning of the
program."
Topp continues, Volunteers with MUCCs Wildlife Habitat
Improvement Program have completed several projects since
its start in 2013. Several aspen regeneration projects have
been completed in the Allegan State Game Area (SGA),
where turkeys were re-introduced to Michigan for their historic
population restoration, as well as the Muskegon SGA. These
projects allow sunlight to reach new areas of undergrowth to
produce new aspen saplings and other vegetation shoots that
turkey will browse on. The same concept applies to the several
68 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
brush pile projects/shrub planting projects completed on
public land throughout the state.
These brush piles and shrubs provide essential nesting
locations for hens and food for their brood in the spring time,
who feed on protein-rich insects, an important food source,
which allows them to grow rapidly.
In 2015, MUCC created the Michigan Cooperatives
partnership with the MDNR, Pheasants Forever, and the
Quality Deer Management Association, which organizes
private land cooperatives to improve wildlife habitat.
Getting Involved
If you are passionate about turkey hunting and have a desire
to help improve wild turkey habitat, join a local NWTF
chapter or volunteer with OTG. I cant think of a better way to
spend ones time than improving habitat and helping ensure
that the future of the wild turkey will continue to flourish.
After all, decades ago individuals worked hard to increase
the population of wild turkeys throughout the United States,
which in turned created hunting seasons. Lets do our part in
Michigan by volunteering and creating partnerships for the
sake of the wild turkey and the future generation of hunters.
-DP

MUCC's OTG ("On the Ground") program is in its fifth year,
with multiple projects planned across the state this summer.
Projects allow volunteers of all ages and experience levels
to participate in "on the ground" public land wildlife habitat
projects, providing an opportunity to engage in hands-on
conservation while learning about wildlife habitat needs.
In early June 2017, OTG will partner with the Rocky Mountain
Elk Foundation for a project in the Pigeon River Country State
Forest, the fourth year of the partnership.
And on June 16, OTG will host a "rabbitat" project at the Gra-
tiot-Saginaw State Game Area to kick off the 2017 MUCC
Annual Convention. Gratiot-Saginaw SGA was the location
of the very first OTG project in 2013, which is appropriate
since this year's Annual Convention will be held in Owos-
so, with activities planned at the Shiawassee Conservation
Association, where Michigan United Conservation Clubs was
founded in 1937!
Sign up for these projects - and more which will be added
throughout the summer - at www.mucc.org/ontheground.
MUCC's On the Ground program is a partnership with the
Michgian Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division
funded in part by conservation revenue generated from the
sale of hunting and fishing license fees.
For more information, email Sarah Topp, Wildlife Volunteer
Coordinator, at stopp@mucc.org.
Former DNR Director Humphries Named
National Wild Turkey Federation CEO
EDGEFIELD, S.C. The National Wild Turkey Fed-
eration Board of Directors announced Becky Hum-
phries as its new chief executive officer, a role she
will assume effective April 10, 2017.
I am honored to be appointed CEO of the National
Wild Turkey Federation, said Humphries. I came to
this organization because I wanted to help save the
habitat and the hunt, and we are well on our way to
achieving all of our goals through the strength and
great work of our dedicated staff and volunteers.
Humphries previously served the NWTF as vice
president of conservation and also chief conservation
and operations officer. Under her leadership, conser-
vation staff identified habitats across the nation with
the most immediate conservation needs, now known
as Americas Big Six of Wildlife Conservation.
The department then developed partnerships for the
betterment of the most critical wildlife habitats and
worked with state chapters to launch management
plans that advance the Save the Habitat. Save the
Hunt. initiative.
With Becky as the new CEO, the NWTF is poised to
continue its conservation success well into the future,"
said Marvin Hartley, NWTF board president.
Outside of her work with the NWTF, Humphries
currently serves on the Steering Committee for the
Blue Ribbon Panel on Sustaining Americas Fish and
Wildlife Resources of the Association of Fish & Wild-
life Agencies and chairs the Wildlife Health sub-com-
mittee for the Boone and Crockett Club. Humphries
also serves on the Council to Advance Hunting and
Shooting Sports and the Wildlife Hunting Heritage
Conservation Council.
Humphries impressive rsum details more than 40
years of experience in wildlife management and con-
servation. Before coming to the NWTF, she served as
the director of operations in the Great Lakes/Atlantic
Region for Ducks Unlimited, focusing on conservation
delivery, policy and science. She also served the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources and
Environment for 32 years, including seven years
as department director.
Previous NWTF CEOs include George Thornton,
Rob Keck and founder Tom Rogers.
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 69
 by Jeff Lichon

Equipment
that enables
Several years ago, my dad and I were turkey
hunting on a tree farm near Glennie, MI, in Alcona
County, when I steered my battery-powered scooter
made by Bravo, a Spanish company that manufactures
them for use as a one-person golf cart, to the edge of
a field where it dropped down into a ravine. To my
surprise and excitement, I saw a lone turkey moseying
around pecking at the ground in search of some food
morsels. I backed up and went over to my dad, who was
setting up a good spot for me to park and hunt, and I
told him of my finding. Anyone who has ever hunted
wild turkey knows how weary of a bird they are so as my
dad crept up to the edge of the drop-off I was as equally
shocked to see he fire at it with his shotgun, a clear indi-
cator that it was still where I had left it a moment before.
Being as though this was not more than a cou-
ple years past when I sustained my spinal cord injury
in 1994 and I had not yet tested out much adaptive
equipment, it was evident that battery-powered equip-
ment was the way to go in that it not only could manage
through some relatively tough terrain, but it was also
quiet, an advantage that is not easily attained when you
have a disability and require the use of a wheelchair to
get through the woods.
I have had the opportunity to test many pieces
of adaptive equipment, both for hunting and fishing. In
some instances I havent had the luxury of having some-
thing that was adapted specifically for use by someone
with a disability, whether it was due to that I hadnt dis-
covered it on the market yet or it purely didnt exist, so I
would hop, drag and roll myself in whatever way neces-
sary to get to where I needed to be, whether in a fishing
boat, a duck boat or just a spot on the ground covered in
camo netting and leaves, pursuing the weary wild turkey.

70 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

Scooters
There are a number of battery-powered scooters
on the market that like in the above turkey hunting story
are very quiet, but also have decent ground clearance
and can go over small logs and other somewhat rough
terrain. With top speeds of 7-10 miles per hour, they
move quickly enough for what I used them for deer
hunting (both gun and bow), turkey hunting and pur-
suing other upland birds. A slight downfall is their size,
however in all honesty, if you absolutely require the use
of a scooter then its a good option. I have used Pride
Mobility (www.pridemobility.com/scooters/models.asp)
scooters once I wore out my original Bravo. They, unlike
the Bravo, had four wheels, which provided for greater
stability than the three-wheeled Bravo. Scooters can be
pretty expensive the more options you get on them so if
you have insurance that will cover some or all of them,
you will be better off in that department.
One consideration for having a scooter is how
to transport it to your hunting destination. I have used
hitch carriers that have an option where you can tilt and
pull out a ramp to drive it up and strap it down. Many
of these exist on the market, but I would recommend an
aluminum carrier as they are much lighter than steel and
are still durable enough to support a 200-lb. or more
scooter. An intranet search for aluminum hitch carrier
will yield many different results.
All-Terrain Wheelchairs
Over the past several years, I have been fortunate
enough to have hunted lands that had both dry and rela-
tively flat two-tracks on them, which enabled me to park
my truck and carry the gear I needed to get to a spot to
hunt. Sure it was a workout, particularly on those warm
October days during Michigans archery season when
breaking out in a sweat was inevitable. For those with
more limited mobility or land that is not flat enough to
safely get to your spot, there are options available today
that didnt exist even a few years ago.
Action Trackchairs (www.actiontrackchair.com)
were designed to get you and your gear to some of the
toughest spots right where you need to be to find the
most elusive buck. Trackchairs are joystick driven and
even have a gun rack and an option for camouflage
upholstery. It also features electric motors to help you
move quietly to your favorite hunting spot, but one of
the best features of Trackchairs are the tank-style treads
that can handle rougher terrain. If thats not enough ver-
satility for you, the company also offers Trackstanders,
which allows you to stand up should you prefer to shoot
your gun or bow from an elevated position.
All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)
Most, if not all, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are
now driven entirely by hand both the throttle and the
brake making them useful to someone with enough
upper mobility strength to get on them, as I did in my
younger days. Now there are side-by-sides (SXS) made
by nearly every manufacturer such as Yamaha, Polaris,
Arctic Cat and more, where the need to straddle a seat
in a traditional ATV is eliminated. While SXSs I have
seen are largely pedal-driven, an individual without the
use of their lower limbs could conceivably use a set of
portable hand controls available on the market, such as
the PHC-3, made by McSquared Design Corporation
(www.wheelability.com).
Another type of ATV on the market are the
six- and eight-wheeled amphibious ATVs made by Max
(U.S.A. www.maxatvs.com) and Argo (Canada www.
argoatv.com). These multipurpose machines not only go
over nearly any terrain, including in the water, but they
are hand-controlled in such a way that its passengers sit
inside of the vehicle, similar to that of the SXSs. Addi-
tional options include all-weather enclosures and heater,
tank-style treads and roll bars.
Mobile Hunting Blinds
It is difficult to go into a sporting goods store
without seeing a multitude of popup hunting blinds in
all sorts of shapes and sizes. Organized hunts for people
with disabilities, such as the one held annually at Shi-
awassee National Wildlife Area, use these blinds for their
hunters due to that they are lightweight and thus easy to
set up, and they fit not only someone using a manual or
even a power wheelchair as well as a hunting companion.
Clio, MI-based Ameristep (www.ameristep.com) offers
some of the most popular popup hunting blinds on the
market today.
An internet search for accessible hunting blinds
will give nearly countless results today as the collective
voices of hunters with disabilities is increasing and more
manufacturers are offering accessible options and fea-
tures. The key is to determine what options suit your
needs best and look online until you find the best one.
It may not be perfect, but dont hesitate to let the manu-
SUMMER2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 71
 facturer know what would make it even better, and just
maybe you will see it on their next model. If that fails,
lucky enough for hunters we are blessed with endless
creativity, which puts us at an advantage when it comes
to product development. Ask a friend or relative who
has a little bit of spare materials and tools to help mod-
ify your blind so it fits your needs better.
The list of adaptive hunting and fishing equip-
ment across the country is growing every day. Many MiOFO is a cooperative partnership between
of the designs began in a garage or barn, where some- the Michigan Department of Natural Resources,
one had a child with a disability and thought, Im Camp Liberty, Zero-Day, Eisenhower Center,
the Brain Injury Association of Michigan, Pass-
going to figure out how to get little Janie out hunting
ing Along The Heritage Foundation, Safari Club
again, and WHAM, an accessible hunting blind was International Foundation, Michigan Building
born. While this article covers mainly disabilities that and Construction Trades Council, Michigan
are mobility-oriented, adaptive equipment also exists United Conservation Clubs, Disabled American
for individuals who are blind or deaf/hard of hearing. Veterans, American Legion and more.
With the internet at our fingertips, your needs are
covered with just a few clicks of a mouse. While there The mission of MiOFO is to provide improved
are many advancements that can, and will, be made in outdoor recreation opportunities for wounded
the accessible hunting and fishing space, it is encour- veterans and individuals with health challeng-
aging to see the progress that has been made thus far es; and, to coordinate a support network that
to enable a growing population of men, women and facilitates their recovery through connecting with
nature.
children with disabilities discover, or rediscover, the
Great Outdoors. Visit www.miofo.org to learn more

72 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

 Hunting Across the Border
by Jeff Helsdon
Huge bears, large bucks and moose tipping the scales at
1,000 pounds are the draw for hunters planning a trip to
Ontario, or other Canadian provinces.
But the one obstacle is crossing the international border, both
ways.
Firearms regulations in Canada are administered by the
federal government, so this means the same rules apply across
the country and dont vary province to province. However,
there are some fundamental differences in gun control legisla-
tion between Canada and the United States.
First, its imperative to understand handguns are not legal for
hunting in any Canadian province. Handguns cannot be used
for hunting, are more restricted and concealed carry permits
are virtually non-existent. The short outtake: leave your
handgun at home. Serious criminal charges could result from
violating this legislation.
Another aspect of Canadian firearms law restricts magazine
capacity on centrefire semi-automatic rifles to five cartridges.
This does not apply to other actions or rimfire rifles, so there
are no restrictions on magazine size for pump, bolt and lever
actions. Silencers are not legal and there are idiosyncrasies
regarding individual firearms in the case of modern sporting
semi-automatic rifles so its best to check with the Canadian
Canadian border crossinng at Ste. Sault Marie
(Photo by CBSA
Firearms Centre (1-800-731-4000) before leaving home if
shooting this type of gun.
The one recent exception to no limitations on rimfire rifle
magazine size is with the Ruger 10/.22 rifles. Stick to your
factory magazines if taking one of these guns for grouse
hunting.
Before you cross the border, stop at U.S. Customs and fill out
a Certificate of Registration For Personal Effects Taken
Abroad. This comes into play upon returning home.
To bring a gun into Canada, a Non-Resident Firearms
Declaration Form (www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/form-for-
mulaire/pdfs/5589-eng.pdf) must be filled out. It is advised
to fill out the form before arriving at the border, but do not
sign it as a Canadian Border Services Agency (Customs)
officer must witness the signature. This form is good for up to
three firearms, and more if a continuation sheet is added, and
costs a flat fee of $25, no matter how many guns it is for. The
form acts as a license for 60 days and is only valid for the
person who signs it.
For those wishing to borrow a gun, a Non-resident Temporary
Borrowing License for Non-restricted firearms must be filled
out before leaving home. The cost of this is $30. However,
borrowing a firearm is possible without a license if the
SUMMER2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 73
 firearms user remains under the direct
and immediate supervision of a licensed
adult. Although this is open to interpre-
tation by a law enforcement officer, a
similar restriction is in place for
Canadian minors and it means an adult
must be immediately beside the youth
and able to take control of the firearm
and direct its usage.
A third option could appeal to frequent
cross-border hunters. By
taking the Canadian
firearms safety course from
an approved instructor (cost
varies, but is generally $125
and up), non-residents can
obtain a Canadian
Possession and Acquisition
License. With this there is no
need to fill out a non-resi-
dent declaration, but all
firearms must still be
declared when crossing the
border. The cost for a license
is $60, and the license is
good for five years.
More information is avail-
able on the Canadian
Firearms Program web site at
www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/
cfp-pcaf/fs-fd/visit-vis-
ite-eng.htm.
Ammunition
With any of the three
aforementioned licenses, an
American citizen can purchase or bring
ammunition into Canada. There is no
need to declare the manufacturer and
quantities as Canadians must do on an
ATF Form 6 NIA when entering the U.S.
Ammunition quantities for hunting are
acceptable, but if bringing in excessive
amounts, it would be wise to double
check with Canada Customs.
While bear hunting at Olive Lake last
year, I met a Pennsylvania bear hunter
who told me he had his muzzle-loading
bullets seized at the border because
they were hollow points. The officer told
74 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
him hollow point bullets arent allowed
in Canada. This is not accurate.
Although hollow point bullets are
restricted for handguns, they are legal
for rifles and shotguns. In fact, I was
using Barnes TSX on that hunt, which has
a hollow point.
Asking CBSA what a hunter entering
Canada should do if they suspect an
officer is telling them incorrect informa-
tion, Senior Media Spokesperson Esme
Bailey answered, Should a traveller
feel dissatisfied with the level of client
service they are receiving for any
reason, they should seek assistance from
the superintendent on duty.
CRIMINAL HISTORY
If you have a criminal record there could
be restrictions on entering Canada.
These are general restrictions, not for
hunters only.
The trip home
Leaving Canada is not an issue when
crossing one of the many bridges with
firearms, but ensure you stop at U.S.
Customs. This is when the Certificate of
Registration For Personal Effects Taken
Abroad must be presented.
Customs officers will want to know what
guns a hunter is bringing back into the
country. Asked about this part
of the re-entry process, Ken
Hammond, public affairs for
US Customs and Border Patrol
Field Operations, replied, We
have not had issues with long
arms not being properly
registered. If they werent, we
would seize the weapon and
issue a penalty.
Hammond had one other piece
of advice for hunters heading
to Canada: Its in their interest
to phone the port of entry they
plan on leaving from.
The other consideration when
returning home is permits and
restrictions for the harvested
game. An Ontario non-resident
export permit is needed to take
a moose, deer or bear across
the border.
According to the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service,
hunters returning with game, need to:
Comply with the Canadian provincial
hunting regulations with regard to bag
limits, export permits, etc. and be in
possession of their original hunting
license
Comply with the CITES regulations
and obtain a CITES export permit for
those species that require one
U.S. hunters must also comply with
50 CFR part 14 by declaring the wildlife
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on
a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Declaration form the Importation or
Exportation of Fish or Wildlife form
Bear hunters have special consider-
ations. Dependent on the hunters
intention on how the bear will be
transported home, a CITES permit may
or may not be required. As a generality,
if the hunter has the meat, a permit is not
required. A permit is required if the claws
or paws have been removed from the
hide or the hide has been processed by
a taxidermist. Its best to talk to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service involved.
Duck hunters should remember to keep a
wing attached to each and every bird so
it can be identified.
Access
Although Port Huron and Detroit cross-
ings are better known to southern
Michigan residents, Sault Ste. Marie
might be closer to many hunting areas in
northern Ontario, plus with the four lanes
of I-75 all the way, travelling is quick.
When headed for northwestern Ontario,
consider either the Pigeon River or Rainy
River crossings from Minnesota.
Conclusion
Although the process seems cumber-
some, it usually is pretty seamless when
you have been through it once, and is
definitely worth the effort.
Opportunities abound
From big game to bird hunting, many
opportunities are there for hunters ven-
turing to Ontario.
Moose
There have been drastic cuts to moose
tags across Ontario, but non-resident
hunters who can find an outfitter with an
outfitter tag should have good success.
Beyond the tag cuts, there are areas
holding their own in regards to moose
population. Results of last winters
surveys werent available at press time,
but five of 25 wildlife management units
in northeastern Ontario are at the 2030
population objectives while the rest are
down. Numbers are down in northwest-
ern Ontario.
Deer
For Michigan hunters, the Rainy River
area is accessible through the Upper
Peninsula, and then Minnesota. Deer
limits are liberal in northwestern On-
tario, compared to one animal as a
generality in the northeast. Non-resident
deer hunters do need a guide.
Although numbers have been down in
the northwest, a rebound is hoped for in
the wake of mild winters.
Winter 2015-2016 was classified as
being mild to moderate in the western
portion of northwest region deer range
and deer numbers were expected to
begin to increase through 2016 in that
area, said Ministry of Natural Resourc-
es biologist Brad Allison.
Something similar was seen in the
northeast.
Generally, deer populations across
most of the core deer range were stable
to decreasing over the past couple of
years but came through the milder win-
ter of 2015-16 in relatively good shape,
and are expected to come through this
past winter reasonably well, said MNR
biologist Peter Davis.
Bear
Last year was the first for a pilot spring
bear hunt across Ontario. Numerous
outfitters provide bear hunts across the
province, with varying levels of guiding.
Fall seasons start in either mid-August
or early September, dependent on the
area.
Birds
Guides are generally not needed when
hunting birds.
In northern Ontario, grouse popula-
tions are generally healthy, but do go
through up and down cycles that can
translate into boom or bust for the hunt-
er. The most common way of hunting
these birds in the north is by driving
roads and trails, but that doesnt mean
a hunter cant bring their dog and wear
out some boot leather. This is big country
so ensure you have a compass or GPS.
If choosing to hunt from the road, talk
to your outfitter in regards to firearms
discharge laws from a road.
In the extreme south, Pelee Island, which
is in Lake Erie about 45 minutes from
the border, has long been a favored
destination for pheasant hunters. These
are release birds, but the quantities
make this a great workout for dog and
handler. The limit in the regular season is
10 birds.
Duck hunters will find many possibilities,
and dependent on the spot, less hunting
pressure than at home. Public hunting
areas at Rondeau and Long Point can
provide some great shooting when fresh
birds have arrived, and a good hunt at
any time. Walpole Island and the Lake
St. Clair area also present great hunt-
ing opportunities. In fact, many of the
private clubs around Lake St. Clair were
once owned by wealthy industrialists
such as Henry Ford II and the owners of
Kelsey-Hayes. Most hunting in the Lake
St. Clair area is through guided hunts
(some are reasonably priced), but there
are some public hunting options.

Summer Practice
FALL RESULTS
The summer months are a great opportunity for
us bow benders to spend time in the backyard or
on a 3-D archery range. This is essential in keeping
our arrows heading in the right direction for archery
season, which is just around the corner. These
summer practice sessions can mean the difference
between walking out of the fall woods dragging a
deer or shaking our heads in frustration of a missed
shot.
During my practice sessions I like shooting at a
3-D deer target from an elevated position, which
replicates the height that I will be at while in a
treestand hunting deer during bow season. To
achieve this I walk out onto my deck with bow in
hand and begin flinging some arrows at a whitetail
3-D target. I also use a foam block target, which I set
up at a different distance than the 3-D target. Before
coming to full draw I will use my range finder to
determine the distance to both targets. This creates
a scenario similar to what could happen in the woods.
A deer has a mind of its own and could come into
your setup at a variety of distances. That is why I
like to occasionally use these two different targets
76 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
BY DARIN POTTER
so that I can adjust to varying distances. Generally, I
will take a couple shots at the closest target first and
then shoot at the target that is the furthest out. This
is a great training tool that has helped me to adjust to
shooting at different distances.
Shooting arrows with a friend is a lot of fun and
provides some friendly competition that can create
some pressure and will help to make you a more
accurate shooter. While shooting with a buddy have
them video tape you while shooting your bow. This
will allow you to play the tape back and view any
mistakes that you are making such as; punching the
trigger on your release to soon, improper shooting
form, and not drawing to the same anchor point
consistently. Afterwards, you can review the tape and
make any necessary corrections on the range.
Joining a summer 3-D archery league is another
great way to help improve your shooting. These
3-D courses provide archers with numerous animal
targets to fling arrows at, which are set up at varying
distances. Many courses have elevated wooden
platforms and ground blinds that simulate shooting
from a treestand or on the ground.
 Whether you hunt from a treestand, ground blind,
or still-hunt, a 3-D range will allow you to practice
while also judging distances and choosing shot
placement, which is essential when heading to the
woods with bow in hand.
This summer take your bow and check out the
following 3-D courses located in central and northern
Michigan. I had the opportunity to shoot at all three
of these courses and was impressed at what they had
to offer the bow bender.
Rifle River Recreation Area 3-D Course
The course, which lies inside of the 4,449 acre
Rifle River Recreation Area near Rose City in Ogemaw
County opened to the public on September 3, 2010
and provides the archer with ten 3-D Targets placed
at various distances in a wooded setting. DNR Park
Officer Dominic Goulette states; The 3-D archery
course offers a great opportunity for hunters to
experience the challenge of shooting a variety of
species that represent many of the most popular
game animals harvested within our great State. This
course is a hidden treasure for the archery enthusiast
looking for an outdoor recreation setting in which
to hone in their archery skills. The varying distances
and kill zone sizes of the 3-D targets offer fun and
excitement to novice shooters as well as a challenge
to more experienced archers. The kill zone offered
on each target also teaches new and inexperienced
hunters correct arrow placement on various game
they may encounter on their future hunts. I feel this
course has helped me hone my archery skills and
provided me with a fun experience I can share with
my family as well.
The 3-D targets, which are manufactured by
McKenzie include; whitetail deer, black bear, wild
boar, strutting turkey, coyote, elk, woodchuck,
raccoon, rabbit, and squirrel. Each of the 3-D targets
is placed along a winding path made of peastone
at eight different shooting stations with two having
doubled up targets. These eight stations have a post
with enough hooks to hang four bows from while
you or your buddies retrieve the arrows from each
target. The cost to shoot the course is two dollars
per trip around, which is to be placed inside of a fee
pipe located at the entrance to the range. This fee
will help cover the cost of replacement targets and
maintenance of the course. The course is located

"a 3-D
range will
allow you
to practice
while also
judging
distances
and choosing
shot
placement"

An archer takes aim during the Rinehart 100 at Saginaw Field & Stream Conservation Club

SPRING 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 41

 near the Recreation Areas day use area just after
Ridge Road.
This 3-D course is an excellent opportunity to
maintain your shooting skills before heading into the
woods with bow in hand this fall. Fortunately, the
Recreation Area is open to bowhunting so you dont
have to travel very far.
Ortonville 3-D Course
The course, which lies on three acres of hardwoods beyond the practice range begins the 3-D course,
inside of the Ortonville Recreation Area opened to the which consists of fifteen Mckenzie 3-D targets of
public on October 1, 2009. This ADA compliant course varying animals to fling arrows at. Bear, deer, coyote,
consists of a pea stone trail system forming a large
loop offering the archer with nine different shooting
stations with nine McKenzie 3-D targets set up at
various distances. These targets consist of a variety
of animals, which include elk, deer, bear, turkey, and
coyote targets. At each shooting station you will
find a numbered post, bow hooks, an arrow holder,
and a yellow chain. The yellow chain is the position
from where you shoot your arrows. After taking a
shot at the target you remove the chain and retrieve
your arrow(s). A chain on the ground indicates that
a shooter is down range and it is unsafe to shoot.
The cost of shooting the course is just four dollars,
which allows you to shoot as many times as you want. twelve wooded acres with a very neatly groomed trail
Crossbows with field points are also allowed on the
course.
Mary Benson, Department of Natural Resources
Shooting Range Specialist states, As in any sport,
practice is the key to being successful in the field, so
having a place to shoot on a regular basis will help
bowhunters. The 3-D course helps bowhunters by
giving them an opportunity to learn the best place
to locate their shot while archery hunting. Locating
the shot in the proper area ensures a clean kill and
less wounding of the animal. Archers use the course
to sight-in their bow, and they must shoot enough
arrows to consistently hit their target in the same
spot. A 3-D course puts the shooter in different
terrain at each station, so it gives the bowhunter a
feel of what they can encounter in the field. It also
helps the bowhunter judge the distance to their
target while afield.
Mary also states, The most popular months for
the 3-D course are August, September, and October,
when bowhunters are getting ready for archery deer
78 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
season.
The course is located at 5380 Sawmill Lake Road
in Ortonville, MI. For hours of operation call (248)
627-5569.
Eds Archery 3-D Course
Before venturing out onto the 3-D course archers
can take practice shots in an area behind the pro-
shop where some square targets are located. Just
alligator, and wild boar are just a few of the 3-D
targets that you will find throughout the course.
Numbers at each shooting station allow you to easily
follow the groomed trail to the next 3-D target. The
course consists of seven elevated platforms and
grounds blinds to shoot from. These platforms range
from four to twelve feet in height and have staircases,
which allow for easy access. A hook at each shooting
station allows you to easily hang your bow while
retrieving arrows from the target. Crossbows with
field points are also welcome on the course. The
cost to shoot the course is eight dollars. Owner
Steven Gilkes states, Our 3-D course is located on
accessible to anyone. We change the course every
two weeks. Shots range from ten to thirty five yards,
but Ive been known to stretch one a bit farther for
a grin. We try to make our course very realistic to
actual hunting, so dont be surprised if you have to
lean around a tree or two. Our store is very family
oriented and is a great place for the whole family as
well as a group of hunting buddies looking for a great
time shooting or just hanging out. Eds Archery and
Sporting Goods is located at 4483 Vienna Road in Clio,
MI. For hours of operation call (810) 686-6494.
Eds Archery and Sporting Goods offers 3-D outdoor
leagues starting in July and ending mid-September.
They also offer 3-D indoor leagues starting in January.
What to bring
Besides bringing your bow and arrows there are a
few other important items to consider when stepping
foot onto a 3-D course. A hip quiver is an essential
piece of equipment, which will safely store all of
your practice arrows as you walk the course and will
make it easier to access them when it comes time to

A competitor takes shoots with friends at a 2016 Train To Hunt Challenge
nock an arrow. Use a rangefinder to determine these
distances and make any necessary adjustments while
aiming. Another item to bring along with you is an
arrow puller, which will allow you to pull your arrows
out of the targets with ease. Other items include sun
block, bug spray, water and a pair of hiking boots or
rubber boots depending on the weather conditions
and time of year you decide to shoot the course.
The moment of truth
When on stand we want to make that first shot
count on a deer so what we should try to do is
occasionally release a single arrow during a practice
session. Imagine that a deer is standing in front of
you and that youre only going to get one shot. This
technique works great as you approach archery deer
season. It really helps you to focus on everything that
"Shooting
arrows with
a friend is
a lot of fun
and provides
some friendly
competition"
you have worked on the entire summer. At this point
coming to full draw should be as natural as blinking
your eyes. This mental rehearsal is key to keeping
your composure together when a mature whitetail
presents you with a shot opportunity this fall.
If youre still struggling with your shooting form
visit a local archery shop and speak with their pro
staff. They will be able to offer advice on shooting
form by watching you take shots on their range. It
may only be one small mistake that youre making
when coming to full draw, however, this small mistake
could cause your deer tags to go unfilled.
Whether its in the backyard or on a 3-D course
make the most of your practice sessions count this
summer with your bow in hand.
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 79
 Are some bucks
Unkillable?
by Tom Nelson
Thats him I said to myself as I hurriedly tried to focus in on
the whitetail buck with my compact binoculars. There was no
doubt in my mind that I was looking at the buck I had nick
named Big Nine. I had just jumped this buck from his bed and
now as he hesitated for a distant look back at what or who
had spooked him. It was the first of December and I was walk-
ing back to my truck after a morning hunt trying to fill a doe
tag. A light wintery mix at dawn had turned into a steady cold
rain that made me abandon my hunt early. Normally I would
have walked the farm lane back to my vehicle but I was wet
and cold and decided to cut cross country and save some
time. This short cut had me walking through a grassy area I
normally avoided but with the recent ending of gun season,
I surmised nothing would bed in this exposed area. I was
wrong. Then as I finally focused in on him, he slipped into the
thick cover of a cattail swamp.
I had a bit of history with this buck, but not as much as I
would have wished. I had laid binoculars on him in the late
summer over a year ago. He was all by himself feeding in a
hay field far from the road. He was a dandy buck, albeit
in velvet I could tell he was going to be well worth putting a
concentrated effort towards bagging him come bow season.
I saw him only a couple times again as fall neared, then he
disappeared. I did not see any sign of him again until the
middle of bow season when I captured a single photo of him
on one of my trail cameras. That one photo was in the middle
of the night. After that I never saw and heard of him again the
remainder of the year. I assumed that he had been shot during
80 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
bow or gun season or perhaps had been unlucky and met his
fate in a vehicle collision.
It was nine months later when I saw him again in late summer.
Although he was a mile and a half from where I saw him the
previous summer, there was no doubt it was him. He had the
same nine-point antler configuration albeit he had put some
mass on that he lacked the year before. I was delighted to
see that he had survived and told myself that I would once
again put all my effort into hunting him. Incredibly, that was
the last time I saw him until that cold and wet December morn-
ing. Walking back to my truck I wondered to myself if this buck
was unkillable.
On numerous occasions the topic of whether certain bucks
are unkillable has come up in deer camps across whitetail
country. Monikers such as Ghost Buck, Houdini Buck, etc.
have been given to whitetail bucks that seem to have a knack
for evading hunters and surviving, hunting season after
season. Wanting to find out if I was dealing with a so called
unkillable whitetail, I thought I would seek the opinions of a
couple of whitetail experts.
John Eberhart is perhaps one of the most accomplished bow-
hunters in Michigan. Just scan through the pages of Commem-
orative Bucks of Michigan and you will find plenty of proof.
John has punched his tag on many big bucks in high pressured
areas across the Thumb state and although John believes that
some whitetail bucks have an uncanny ability to survive even
in hard hunted areas, all bucks are killable. Sure, some bucks
have sanctuary areas where no hunting is allowed that savvy
whitetails migrate to when pressure mounts. Areas such as
parks, industrial areas, even back yards that offer the slightest
of cover. Still other whitetails make these havens their core
area that they spend much of their time in, making even hunt-
ing them impossible.
Eberhart states that oftentimes only the rut will compel these
hunter wise bucks to venture into areas that grant hunters the
opportunity to hunt and if fortunate, harvest them. Eberhart
also believes that all bucks no matter how old and sage they
may be, participate in the whitetail rut thus making them vul-
nerable. This is the Achilles heel of older class, hunter wise
whitetail bucks.
Renowned wildlife biologist, author and whitetail expert Dr.
David Samuels takes the idea of certain whitetail bucks being
unkillable a step farther. Some older class whitetail bucks just
do contribute to the whitetail rut, Samuels explains. Studies
have been conducted that utilized radio collared whitetail
bucks showed that certain mature whitetail bucks just did not
seek out receptive does during the peak of the rut. Instead
they maintained a solitary lifestyle thus avoiding hunters.
Taking it a step farther, with the advent of genetic testing,
biologist have discovered that when testing new born fawns,
genetics from some of the test areas older class bucks was
absent from the test pool fawns. This lead many to believe
that some bucks, just do not take part in the rut.
Two season ago I was bowhunting during the peak of the rut
in Iowa. The evening hunt had been eventful as I had watched
several bucks in hot pursuit of estrous does. One doe with
two respectful bucks behind her walked under us as daylight
began to fade. Although tempting, I gave the two bucks a free
pass. They had only been out of sight mere moments when I
spied an arrow worthy buck approaching. As he neared I an-
ticipated that he would veer off and follow the doe and bucks
out into the field. Turning to ready myself for what I thought
would be the place I would take my shot, I was surprised
when the buck stepped over the trail the others had went
down and continued towards me. Rearranging my position, I
drew and shot the trophy buck at 15 yards.
The landowner an avid deer hunter who utilizes several game
cameras on his farm had only captured this buck once on
camera and that was the year before. The 160-class buck was
aged at 6 and his antlers were more impressive the year
before. This area sees more than its share of both gun and
bow hunters, how the buck had managed to survive to a ripe
old age seems mind boggling. I tell my hunting buddies that
I was only able to tag the buck because he was becoming
senile.
It is my belief that whitetail bucks are like humans and each
has his own personality, although not as complex as a human
being, it still exists. On more than one occasion I have wit-
nessed a younger buck through aggressive posturing, make
an older and what should have been a more dominate buck
back down. Like some humans, some bucks are more ag-
gressive than others. This is clearly observed when calling
and rattling whitetail bucks. Some charge right in looking for
a fight while others pay no attention or sneak off in the other
direction.
Mature bucks that ignore grunts and rattling antlers are with-
out question, harder to put an arrow in. Bucks that do not want
to engage other more assertive bucks, will keep a low profile
during the prerut and the rut, again making them a more diffi-
cult quarry. Not impossible to hunt and place your tag on, but
for sure, much tougher.
It amazes me each year when I hear a success story from a
novice hunter of how he or she bagged a trophy whitetail
buck in an area that no veteran hunter would even think of
placing a stand and hunting. I am under the believe that these
hunters unknowingly stumble onto these spots that so called
expert hunters overlooked. Spots that mature bucks seek out
as hiding places. More and more whitetails are learning that
minimal cover and proximity to houses, stores, factories, etc.,
makes for a safe and hunter free haven.
I personally do not believe that there are any unkillable bucks,
but, there are unhuntable bucks. Bucks and does alike that
make their homes in inaccessible areas. As I stated earlier, I
believe that not all bucks are as active during the rut and sel-
dom expose themselves during this time. Factor in the inbred
instinct to survive that develops to a higher degree as a buck
matures and you have one hardened adversary.
The keys to placing your tag on one of these hard to kill bucks
is spending as much time afield as you can. Hunt areas that
may be overlooked by other hunters. Hunt funnels and trails
leading to and from safe havens. Lastly, do not ignore the late
season. After the last of the orange army vacate Michigans
forests and fields, whitetails start to reveal themselves more
as their need to feed increases at the approach of winter.
Even reclusive bucks are forced to put on some fat reserves to
survive.
Lastly, practice diligently with your equipment not only prior to
season but throughout it. Mature bucks make few mistakes, so
when one offers you the opportunity, you had better be able
to make the best of it. Second chances are a rare occurrence
in the whitetail woods.
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 81
Full Draw
Summer
Scouting
by Tom Nelson

Grabbing the bill of my camo ball cap, I

shifted it down and to the right to block the
glare of the setting sun. Now I could focus
the lens of my Cabelas spotting scope in
on the group of deer I had spotted. The
bean field was less than a foot tall and
offered the whitetails no concealment but
they seemed to not care. It was early July
and for this bachelor band of bucks, it was
a time of leisure. Sunset was still over an
hour away yet these bucks seemed far more
interested in feeding on the tender bean
shoots than my truck parked some 150
yards away on the county road.
There were five bucks total in the field and all appeared
to be youngsters. Their tails constantly flicked back and
forth as did their ears in an attempt to chase away the
biting flies hovering about them. I watched them for some
time and was just starting up the truck to continue my
evening scouting trip when I spied another deer I had
somehow missed further back in the field and closer to
the woods. Even without the spotting scope I could see
it was a buck and a darn good one. Not wasting time
to remount my spotting scope I grabbed my 10 power
binoculars to have a look.
s horned, they tend to roam more and increase their home
He was a dandy, far better than any of the bachelor
group. His antlers were already impressive and I knew
he was a mature buck. The sight of this deer actually
made my heart rate increase and I smiled at the fact,
bow season was still a few months away. The benefit
of summer scouting is that bucks
that normally would be reclusive
throughout the majority of the year, " As summer
will expose themselves during the
summer months. There are many
begins to wane,
reasons for this. First and foremost in
my opinion is that there is little to no
savvy whitetails
human intrusion. Michigans deer seem to have a
season is now a distant memory
and turkey season is long over with. sixth sense..."
With the woods and bush filled with
biting insects, even the most hard core of whitetail hunt-
ers avoid spending time in the deer woods.
Whitetails are an astute critter and seem to know that
there is little danger during the heat of the summer. Velvet
racked bucks that would normally never show themselves
in daylight think little of appearing well before sunset
during mid-summer months. This is why I spend a great
deal of time monitoring trail cameras and driving the
back roads during the summer. Scouting from a vehicle
is far less intrusive to the local deer herd than tromp-
ing around the woods and fields of your hunting area.
Vehicles seem to have far less of an impact on whitetails
and there is something to be said for an air conditioned
scouting rig when the temperatures are on the rise.
As summer begins to wane, savvy whitetails seem to
have a sixth sense and begin to show up in food plots
and fields, later and later. I believe part of the reason is
that hunters are starting to scout more, intruding into the
whitetails living area. Add in the addition of squirrel and
other small game hunting and its not rocket science why
the local deer become more and more nocturnal as bow
season approaches.
When whitetail buck sightings in crop fields begin to
decline as fall nears, many hunters believe that the bucks
they have been watching all summer has left the area.
Bucks that have been habitually showing up every eve-
ning, now have seemed to have vanished. In reality they
have not quite vanished but they have changed up their
routine. When bucks lose their velvet and become hard-
range. Oftentimes double or tripling the size of their
core area. They are still around but perhaps not where
you have been routinely seeing them during the summer
months.
Some bucks that live in your area
may never be known to you if you
rely on only your pre-fall and fall
scouting excursions. Mature bucks
seem to transform into a whole dif-
ferent species. They become almost
like a recluse. They stay within their
core area and limit the vast major-
ity of their movement to nocturnal
activity. When the rut kicks in, buck
movement increases as does your
chance of putting your tag on one of these wily white-
tails. However, you have to know hes in the area to hunt
him. This is where the benefit of summer scouting pays
off.
More than once I have filled my Michigan bow tag with
a mature buck that I had watched over the summer only
to see him fade away come September. This year is a
perfect example. I had watched a nice buck during the
summer months and then he quit showing up around ear-
ly September. Knowing he was in the area, I still hunted
hard for him. Finally, on November 4, while hunting over
an active scrape, he showed up at a little after 10 in the
morning. Later that morning he was in the back of my
truck.
When this summers heat begs you to seek out an air
conditioned venue, make it your vehicle and spend some
time out driving around your hunting area watching and
scouting. Bowhunting is a year around activity if you
want it to be.
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 83
 A New Era in
Taxidermy
Its the only bill that I hope to receive at
the end of each season and no matter
how much it is, I always find a way to
squeeze it into the budget: my taxidermy
bill.
Some say the history of taxidermy dates
as far back to when man first inhabited
the earth and started to hunt, fish, and
trap for food. Success meant that not
only were they able to provide food for
themselves, their family, and even their
community, but it was also recognized
as a great accomplishment. To show off
these accomplishments, Neanderthals
donned themselves with jewelry made
from bone and teeth from their harvests.
Native Americans wore elaborate
headdresses from fur and feathers to
show hierarchal ranking of leadership
within their village. Egyptians sought out
precious ivory from elephants and hip-
popotamus to be used for carvings and
artwork. Pharaohs would also mummify
and preserve deceased pets such as
dogs, cats, and birds. All of these exam-
84 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
ples are proof that throughout the history
of man, we have found different ways to
preserve animals remains and display
them as a form of artwork.
Todays taxidermists are no different.
In fact, one could argue that the work
being produced by some of the elite
taxidermists of this generation are the
most impressive pieces that this planet
has ever seen. Taking the remains of an
animal and recreating life is incredibly
hard to do. The fact that the talent level
has evolved to a point where you can
walk up on a full fight scene of a pack
of lions taking down a zebra at your lo-
cal Cabelas - and it feels like someone
dropped you into the grassy plains of
Africa and hit a pause button - speaks
to how far this art-form has come. And
make no mistake, taxidermy is pure art.
Taxidermy by definition is the art of
preparing, stuffing, and mounting the
skins of animals with lifelike effect. The
root word taxi comes from the Greek
by Rob Harrell
word taxis meaning arrangement and
derma is also Greek meaning skin. So
how did we as modern hunters decide
to start mounting our trophies and hang-
ing them for display in our homes and
man caves?
Displaying taxidermy in homes really
took flight in the Victorian era. Wealthy
individuals began preserving their
trophies and requesting taxidermists
to create mounts that they could show
off. This was before the age of colored
cameras and up to this point modern
taxidermy was mainly being used in
museums as a form of wildlife education
and preservation.
Throughout the 19th century, more and
more taxidermists were popping up
as the demand grew in America and
Europe. There was a period of decline
when increased technology came on the
scene and different ways of preserving
memories and adventures were invent-
ed. However, in the later part of the
1900s taxidermy began its climb back into
the homes of modern society as the methods,
equipment, and talent all improved.

What makes a good taxidermist and how can

you tell a quality mount from a lesser quality
mount? As more and more people gain the
desire to preserve their trophies and capture
those memories with mounts, I feel we need to
start educating ourselves with answers to these
questions. In order to get as much information
as I possibly could, I sat down with an expert
taxidermist: Mr. Tom Stombaugh, Owner of
Anything That Moves Taxidermy out of Brigh-
ton, MI.

Tom has been doing taxidermy for more than

15 years and has grown from an amateur to
one of the states best artists. He serves on the
Board of Directors for the Michigan Taxider-
mists Association (MTA) and also is a 2017
Judges Assistant for the Taxidermy World
Competition. Starting off in the construction
industry and then driving asphalt trucks for a
living, Tom needed to find some work during
the winter months. His very first mount was a
small buck he had shot on his property, which
he still has hanging in his house today. I
knew I had to feel comfortable enough to do
my own shoulder mounts before I started on
customers, he says.

Most taxidermists start off with their own

animals, then friends animals, and if they
are any good, their business will continue to
grow through word-of-mouth. Pretty soon Tom
found himself with so much work that he didnt
have time for his summer jobs and jumped in
with both feet as a full-time taxidermist. He
became officially licensed in the State of
Michigan and, with each mount he did, he
kept getting better through experience.

One day John Crabb noticed the quality

of Toms work and advised him to join the
Michigan Taxidermists Association. At first, he
had no clue what this organization was and
was a little skeptical about joining. I thought I
was really getting good, but when I joined the
MTA I was introduced to a whole other world
of taxidermy, Tom recalls.

The MTA was founded in 1982 and has grown

to 260 members. Its purpose is to promote the

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 85

 art of taxidermy, educate the public on
the high standards of taxidermy, assist
members and the general public with the
latest laws and regulations, contribute
to conservation and routinely engage in
community activities. One of the other
main purposes of the MTA is to educate
our youth in the taxidermy arts. Before
the MTA was formed, each taxidermist
would have their secrets and tricks they
would keep to themselves in fear of los-
ing customers to competition. With over
30 years of collaboration and network-
ing amongst fellow taxidermists, that
old mentality has been squashed and
the entire state is benefiting from it with
improved quality of all different species
of animals.
The MTA puts its members to the test
with an annual state competition that is
highly regarded as one of the best in the
nation. This competition is so accredit-
ed that taxidermists across the country
bring their works of art to the MTA to be
judged and scored against the best. You
86 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
do not need to be a resident in the state
to be a part of the competition, but you
do need to be a member of the MTA.
Tom has been recognized throughout
the years with several different awards
that include a 2014 Second Place in
Professional Division, 2015 First Place
Professional Division Best in Category,
2016 First Place Masters Division, and
the 2016 Mounted in Alaska Award.
Tom emphasizes that what the public re-
ally needs to know is that there is a huge
difference between an MTA Member
Taxidermist and a non-MTA Member
Taxidermist. I have been both, so trust
me when I say there is a big difference,
he explains.
When Tom decided to attend his first
MTA state competition, he was im-
pressed by the entries and the quality of
work that was on display. A taxidermist
who is a member has access to unlim-
ited knowledge from the industrys best
that add true value and increases the
quality of their mounts. We all probably
know a town local who does taxidermy
out of a corner in his basement, can usu-
ally turn around your whitetail shoulder
mount in a couple months, and will only
charge about $250. If you really want
your trophy to be preserved for decades
to come, you might think twice about
taking your animal there. An experi-
enced quality taxidermist who takes the
time to properly tan the hide, sculpt the
foam of the mold, and correctly position
the body features of that animal is worth
the extra money.
I am just like many of you in that after
I drop off my trophy to be mounted,
I want him on my wall as quickly as
possible. However, all great things in life
are worth the wait and I have learned
that I would rather have my mount stay
on the wall longer, than sacrifice quality
just to get it back sooner. I have also
learned the hard way; in my younger
days, I had less money and had to go to
a taxidermist that fell within my budget.
One of my deer shoulder mounts
from those days has visible dete-
rioration where the hide is starting
to shrink and pull away from the
mouth and eye sockets. Its an albi-
no fallow buck that I shot over 10
years ago. The taxidermist turned it
around within three months, in-
cluding bleaching the white fur to
preserve the color. Let this serve
as an example from one hunter to
another that I wish I would have
done my research, taken my deer
to an experienced MTA taxidermist,
and forked over a few more dollars
to get better quality. I ended up
having to spend more money down
the road anyways when I had it
touched up and repaired this year.
I definitely took this one on the chin
and quickly realized that its better
to pay for the quality up front than
for repairs years later.
Im not even sure if that taxidermist
was licensed. This is something
that the State of Michigan and
DNR have really started to focus
on in recent years. Authorities
are cracking down on unlicensed
taxidermists and if caught, serious
citations with hefty fines are being
issued. Even the licensed taxi-
dermist can expect to be audited
annually. Authorities will show up
unannounced to inspect all of the
animals on the premises to make
sure each has legal tags attached
with legible identification of each
customer. Anything That Moves
Taxidermy was audited earlier this
year and each animal was inspect-
ed to ensure a valid hunting license
was properly attached. Several of
the tags had notches of the dates
that were borderline acceptable.
If the hunter does not properly notch
out the information on the hunting
license and the taxidermists accepts
that animal, the taxidermist is then
subjectable to a $400 fine per tag.
This could quickly put a taxidermist
out of business, so dont be sur-
prised if you see your local taxider-
my shop thoroughly inspect your
tag upon dropping off your animal.
Even though the work of a taxider-
mist is sometimes tedious and often
requires sacrificing personal hunting
time, there are some nice benefits.
One of the best parts of my job
is to get to hear the stories from
all the hunters when they come to
drop off and pick up their animals,
says Tom. I hear more stories in my
taxidermy shop than I ever would if
I was at a deer camp somewhere. I
would love to write a book one day
with all of the great tales shared
with me throughout the years.
Even though the stories are great,
the best part of his job seeing the
looks on their faces of his customers
when they pick up their mounts.
You know you really nailed it when
the customer is taken back to the
day they shot that animal when see-
ing their finished mount for the first
time. Its one of the best feelings
and its why I love to do what I do.
When you shoot that buck of a
lifetime or when your child catches
their first fish, remember that there
is more behind the scenes of this
historic art-form. When it comes to
taxidermy, you get what you pay
for, for so do some research. Take
a trip out to their shop and have
them show you around. Look at
some of their finished work hanging
in their showroom. Ask if they are
a member of the MTA. Ask about
their turn-around time and rates.
If it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is. Taxidermy is a way to
preserve a memory. Memories last
a lifetime and your trophy can, too,
if its handled by an experienced
and reputable taxidermist.
If youd like more information about
the MTA and their list of registered
taxidermists you can contact them
at www.michigantaxidermist.com.
 Conservation Through Education
by Shaun McKeon, MUCC Education Director
It has been a busy spring and with the transition to summer,
I do not see it slowing down anytime soon. Since my last
column in the winter introducing the expanded direction of
the education department, we have been busy making things
happen.
We spent the end of February and March at the last of the
big sport shows. We were at Outdoorama in Novi and the
Ultimate Sport show in Grand Rapids. Both of these events
were a great way to promote camp and TRACKS magazine.
They were also a good opportunity to interact with the public
and teach people about wildlife identification. We set up the
88 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
booth with a table of animal pelts and skulls as well as a few
mounts of waterfowl that are native to Michigan. As people
would pass by, we would quiz them. It was great way to help
expand the knowledge of people who enjoy the outdoors in
Michigan. One comment we heard quite often is that, I only
hunt deer or turkeys, I dont know ducks. This provided us an
opportunity to help educate people on other game species in
Michigan and encourage them to look into other avenues of
hunting and to increase overall conservation awareness.
Speaking of opportunities to learn more about hunting. In
March, Sarah Topp (MUCC Volunteer Coordinator) and I
collaborated with the Michigan Learn to Hunt program and
hosted an adult hunters safety course at the Rose Lake shoot-
ing range outside Lansing. This program helped nine people
who were new to hunting get their hunter safety certification
and become familiar with archery and shotguns in a safe
and supportive environment. Later in April, Sarah and I also
assisted in a hunter safety course and field day designed to
coincide with a learn to hunt turkey program. This program
takes new hunters on a turkey hunt on public lands and is a
partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation. It is
a three-day long course where participants become cer-
tified in hunter safety, and then spend three days working
with mentors to learn the ins and outs of turkey hunting. They
learn everything from being an ethical hunter, sighting in their
shotguns, scouting and calling, and if they are lucky enough
to harvest a bird, the program shows them how to clean it and
provides recipes for cooking the bird. This is the second year
of the program and it is held on state land in the southwest
corner of the state.
As many of you know, April is also the month of Earth Day.
This year during the week leading up to earth day, I partici-
pated in 10 events in eight cities covering all four corners of
the Lower Peninsula. We launched our OTG Jr. Program this
month and had events in with the Reese OutofDoors Club
cleaning wood duck boxes in the Fish Point State Game Area.
After spending time in the thumb I then shot up to Traverse City
with Sarah and we helped 5th graders from Grand Traverse
Academy plant mast producing trees in a grouse enhance-
ment site near Thompsonville. The next day I came back down
to Lansing and Tyler (MUCC Camp Director) and I participat-
ed in the Michigan DNR/DEQ/DARD Earth Day event at Constitution Hall. This event had over 2,500 K-6th graders come
through to learn about the importance of natural resources and protecting our environment. On Friday, it was over to Oakland
County to present a wetlands program to a local nature center. Saturday, I headed to Cheboygan to take part in an earth day
education event and then on Sunday I was down in Middleville helping with a range day for another hunter safety class.

If you are reading this and you are in the Upper Peninsula thinking, why were we left out of all the excitement? You dont have
to worry: I was in Sault Sainte Marie for a quick overnight presenting to college students about current challenges to conserva-
tion in Michigan and how they are the future of hunting, fishing, and trapping.

With lots of miles on my Escape and a successful spring season behind us, I am looking forward to my first summer in five years
not at camp. You can rest assured even though I am not at Cedar Lake it is in good hands and only getting better with Tyler at
the helm.

I will be spending my summer continuing to educate youth and adults about the importance of conservation in Michigan and
the great recreational opportunities we have here in our state. Heck, I may even see many of you at MUCCs annual conven-
tion this year. Remember to get your kids outside this summer, no one frames pictures of their kids playing video games!

Sponsor TRACKS Magazine to your

local school or subscribe by contacting
Sue Pride at spride@mucc.org

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 89

The CAMPFIRe
Do you wonder what a day in the life of a camper at Cedar
Lake might be like?
As the sun rises at Cedar Lake, so do the campers. Morning
swim begins at 6:30 a.m. and is open to anyone who really
wants to get a jump-start on his or her day! By 8 a.m.,
the entire camp has followed the savory scents of Jose pre-
paring a morning meal in the kitchen. Once seated in the
lodge, pancakes and sausage are delivered to each table
for breakfast. Flagpole begins shortly after where we will
recite both the Pledge of Allegiance and the Conservation
Pledge, two counselors then lead all 80 campers in song
until morning announcements.
By 9 a.m., the camp is fully immersed in programming for
the day.
A typical morning, for a camper, may include a study in
water ecology and macro-invertebrates at the beach, a
wild edible hike in the forest and an orienteering lesson in
the field.
To re-fuel, a lunch of chicken quesadillas is served at noon
followed by an hour resting period.
We start up our Hunter Education courses at 1:30 p.m.,
by Tyler Butler,
Michigan Out-of-Doors
Youth Camp Director
which leads into the second session of programming for
the day. Two hours on the rifle range and then a shift into
fire starting strategies will lead the campers into the lodge
once more for the final meal of the day, burgers and mixed
vegetables.
Following, the campers settle in for another hour of Hunter
Education and await free recreation time. Free recreation
is 60 minutes of choosing from a variety of activities, such
as joining the games in the field to shore fishing in Cedar
Lake. As 8 p.m. rolls around the campers head back to their
sleeping cabins for the final program of the night.
This final run of programs is new to the 2017 camp season.
For these 45-minute lessons, the education department
at MUCC has collaborated with a group of students taking
classes in Community Engagement and Sustainability at
the Michigan State University. These students have spent
their spring semester developing and implementing a list
of twelve programs designed to introduce campers to
careers pertaining to their natural recourses. A few of the
lessons provide information and activities in the fields of
wildlife ecology, ornithology, dendrology, herpetology and
astronomy.
To conclude each evening everyone will congregate at the
pavilion for campfire. During this time, we encourage the
camp to get a little silly as we enjoy skits, songs, stories or
jokes from our enthusiastic counselors and prepare to do it
all over again the next day!
Registration is still open for most weeks of camp, but are
filling up quickly! This year we are running our program out
the Cedar Lake Outdoors Center for 5 weeks, from the end
of June to the beginning of August. If you plan to register a
camper for this summer, please do not hesitate.
This summer our themes are centered on day camp for 5-8
year olds. Conservation connection, fishing, wetland won-
ders and fantastic forests for 9-11 year olds. Fur harvesting,
hunting heritage and primitive skills for 12-14 year olds. As
well, as stewards in training for 13-15 year olds and coun-
selors in training for 15-16 year olds.
We were able to welcome back many of our outstanding
2016 staff, while diversifying our team with plenty of first
year counselors from across the state. Each member of
our staff has expressed their excitement to start up our
staff-training week in mid-June and readiness to begin
sharing their passion for the outdoors with campers once
camp begins.
The facilities committee and I would like to offer our grati-
tude to all of the sponsoring clubs, donors and volunteers
who selflessly provide their time, effort and resources to
the Cedar Lake Outdoors Center and the Michigan Out-of-
Doors Youth Camp. Forming the bond between the young-
est generations and their natural resources is one of the
most important relationships we can promote for a healthy
and prosperous future. If not for our supporters, we could
not pull off the amazing program that is camp and carry on
the tradition of conservation through education at MUCC.
As the new director of our youth camp, I would like to rec-
ognize the hospitality shown to me by the members and
organizations we have the pleasure of representing at the
Michigan United Conservation Clubs.
Many clubs have invited me to speak on camp at their
membership meetings and I am always excited and willing
to do so.
With any questions or concerns regarding camp, I can be
reached at (517)346-6462 or tbutler@mucc.org.

To check what camps still have spots available and to

print off the registration materials visit: http://www.
mucccamp.org/register_for_camp

Deerhunters Bow or Gun hunt- private land

excellent success meals lodging and guide three
day hunt $600 231-266-5102

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 91

 The wild life
by Drew YoungeDyke
In December of 2012, I began working at Michigan United
Conservation Clubs. It has been an amazing four-plus years
of advocating for conservation causes in a variety of roles.
What has made it special is the terrific staff I've worked with
and the 50,000-plus dedicated conservationists who form
its membership. A few weeks ago, I began a new job at the
National Wildlife Federation, but I want to say "Thank You," to
everyone I've worked with during my time at MUCC.
We've done a lot together, from building rabbitat and
collecting signatures to passing bills to deter poaching and
stopping bills attacking public land. You'll continue to do great
things because you have a great team at MUCC continuing
that work. I couldn't be prouder to have worked with them and
with you.
My new role doesn't take me far: I'm coordinating
communications for the Great Lakes Regional Center of
the National Wildlife Federation in Ann Arbor. From a
professional perspective, I'll be working on many of the same
issues that NWF and MUCC work on together, especially
on the effort to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. On a
personal level, this move will mean working closer to home -
1.7 miles rather than 70 - which, more than anything, means
92 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
L-R Judy VanRhee, Drew YoungeDyke, Jack Van Rhee
more time at home and being more engaged in the community
I call home.
And yet, it was a very difficult decision. I couldn't have made
it if I didn't have complete confidence in the MUCC team
continuing the work of defending the rights to hunt, fish and
trap in Michigan. And I do have that confidence. Editing your
magazine for the past year has been an honor, and I couldn't
have given up that amazing opportunity if I wasn't going to a
great organization with those same conservation values.
Since 1936, the National Wildlife Federation has united
sportsmen and non-sportsmen alike for the common cause of
conserving our nation's wildlife and natural resources. And
since 1938, Michigan United Conservation Clubs has been
its affiliate in Michigan. It's a partnership that NWF - and I
personally - greatly value and respect.
I'm excited about this new opportunity and I'm proud of the
work we've already accomplished together, and the work we
will accomplish together. Thank you to everyone at Michigan
United Conservation Clubs for the opportunity you gave me to
represent you in conserving the natural resources of our state.
Hunt your hunt. - Drew YoungeDyke, Editor
 Subscribe, become a member, and
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