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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
Skeet Reese with Escanaba BassESCANABA, Mich. - Mention Lake Michigan's Bays de Noc to most anglers and they'll immediately start talking about fishing for walleye.
But in the wake of September's high-profile Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship - which brought 50 of America's top anglers to Escanaba to ply the waters of Big and Little Bays de Noc - what was once seemingly relegated to "also-ran" status is now national news: The Bays are loaded with trophy bass, too.
"The fishery has always been kind of walleye-centric," said DNR fisheries biologist Darren Kramer. "Bass is kind of an up-and-coming, emerging fishery. Every year we see more and more bass boats, and more out of state anglers, taking advantage of the fishery. There's a lot of traffic out on Big Bay de Noc after the bass opener. That fishery's really taken off in the last five or six years."
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The public again this year is invited to purchase surplus salmon that has been harvested at Michigan DNR weirs around the state.
Seasonal salmon runs include large numbers of fish returning to their native streams to spawn and die. The DNR maintains multiple sites (weirs) where fisheries biologists and technicians collect eggs and milt (sperm) from Chinook and coho salmon for use in state fish hatcheries. Once egg-take needs are met, fish in prime physical condition are made available to the public by American-Canadian Fisheries, a private vendor that assists the DNR with the salmon harvest.
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The Michigan DNR will offer free tours to the public and school groups this fall at the Boardman River Weir (in downtown Traverse City), the Little Manistee River Weir (in Manistee County) and the Platte River Weir (in Benzie County). Tours are available throughout September and October.
Weirs are dam-like structures that block upstream fish passage on a river. A weir is used on the Boardman River each fall by the DNR to harvest Chinook and coho salmon that would otherwise create significant river congestion between Union and Sabin dams. One is used on the Little Manistee River at the same time to harvest Chinook salmon to support the DNRís fish production efforts.
Tours are being offered this fall at the Boardman River, Little Manistee River and Platte River weirs by staff from the DNRís Fisheries Division, Carl T. Johnson Hunt and Fish Center and Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery. Students and visitors will learn all about salmon, how weirs and fish ladders work, invasive species, state fish hatcheries, and the DNRís annual egg-collection efforts and their impact on Michiganís fisheries. The programs tie in components of history, ecology, biology and stewardship.
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Young hunters, ages 16 and under, will once again have the opportunity to get a free junior deer hunting license at all Meijer stores in Michigan on Sept. 12 and 13.
Youths must be accompanied by an adult, and should print out and bring the free junior hunting license coupon or mPerks digital coupon to the store's sporting goods department.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR now has a third official Michigan online hunter education course available at www.hunteredcourse.com/state/michigan.
A Michigan-based company, Hunter Ed Course offers its online hunter education course for $17.99. The course features lessons on safe, legal and responsible hunting practices and uses narration, closed captioning, interactive exercises and photos that replicate what a hunter will see in the field.