The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is continuing a pilot program begun last winter to keep boating access sites plowed at more than two dozen popular Upper Peninsula ice fishing locations.

Various local partners have agreed to assist the DNR with the program to ensure access to ice fishing opportunities in the U.P. are available consistently during snow conditions.

The 25 locations – situated across 11 of the U.P.’s 15 counties – are DNR boating access sites managed for recreational boating. Read more

GW: Sure looks like a good alternative to coming up with fresh eggs during any outings to catch Steelhead or Salmon.

Tacoma, Washington – Gamakatsu takes their innovations into the saltwater soft bait market with the introduction of DuraScent baits. Whatever saltwater species anglers are chasing, there’s a DuraScent offering tailor-made for that purpose, with built-in features that outfish and outlast the competition.

DuraScent Salmon Eggs are so incredibly natural-looking that they’re as good as the real thing. In fact, because of their exceptional durability and versatility, they may be better than the real thing. Whether fish are feeding by sight or scent, and whether anglers thread one egg on a hook or tie them in a cluster, the shrimp-infused extreme scent of these replicas will fool a wide variety of species into striking. Buoyant material that floats creates a natural look and feel that’s deadly on steelhead, trout, salmon, panfish and just about any other species, versatile in both freshwater and saltwater. Anglers can tie several together using a series of overhand knots to adjust the amount of bait presented. Because of their incredible ability to stretch to over six times their length, anglers will spend less time rigging baits and more time reeling in fish.

DuraScent Salmon Egg Features:

• • Infused with all-natural blend of fish attracting shrimp scent
  • Extremely durable, lasts longer than traditional soft plastics
  • Super-soft elastomer stretches to over six times its length
  • Buoyant material floats providing life-like presentation
  • Non-toxic formula free of plastisol and phthalates
  • Scent can be “refreshed” by giving them a good stretch
  • Size: 7mm (diameter of each egg)
  • Scent: Shrimp
  • Colors: Red, Creamsicle, Cerise, Pearl Pink, Pink Sheen
  • Qty/Pkg: 5 strands per package, 10 individual eggs per strand

Read more

NEW GRETNA: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced today that they will hold a wind auction next month for more than 480,000 acres offshore New York and New Jersey, in the area known as the New York Bight. For perspective, this is an area 2/3 the size of Yosemite National Park or 5 times the size of the city of Philadelphia.

The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) is fundamentally opposed to the selloff of our oceanic resources. Not only do these proposed wind farms pose threats to navigation for mariners, but they also have untold effects on marine life and the people who make their living from the sea, as well as the 1.5 million saltwater anglers who fish New York and New Jersey. The recreational fishing community’s concerns have continually been pushed aside and today’s announcement is another example.

In 2018 (the last year we have data for*), NY & NJ recreational saltwater fishing generated over $3 billion in sales impacts, $1.7 billion in value-added, and supported 2.7 million jobs in the regional marine fishing sector and across the broader economy. Wind farms have the potential to disrupt the very fisheries that drive this industry and economic output. In addition to creating an unprecedented navigational hazard, the impacts to offshore wind will be felt not just within the lease area boundaries but along the beaches and bays of coastal states as migration patterns of important fish stocks are altered or disrupted. Those impacts will mean lost jobs for many who make their living from recreational fishing– from the guy who sells tackle to the boat builder to the charter boat captain.

RFA questions why BOEM would proceed with additional lease area auctions while we are still working to get a handle on how the current 15 leases areas will impact marine fisheries, fish habitat, ocean currents and safety at sea. The increased navigational risks to fish in or sail through the 480,000 acres with its exclusionary zones during construction and around the substations, many fishermen may opt to avoid the area altogether.

And there has been far too little scientific research on the potential of wind farms to degrade the marine environment and alter the migratory paths of crucial fisheries. Seabed disturbances from construction will impact many species’ food sources. Saltwater anglers can’t fish if there are no fish.

The government sees wind farms as a political win for “green energy”. The saltwater fishing community sees lost jobs, a lost way of life, and a looming environmental catastrophe. Read more

Michigan’s 2022 lake sturgeon fishing season on Black Lake in Cheboygan County will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 5. All anglers must register online by Feb. 4 to participate in the fishing season.

The harvest limit for the 2022 season on Black Lake is six lake sturgeon. To prevent overfishing, Department of Natural Resources officials will close the season when one of two scenarios occurs:

1. The sixth fish is harvested.
2. Five fish have been harvested at the end of any fishing day.

Fishing hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day of the season. The season will end either at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, or when one of the above scenarios is met, at which point anglers will be notified via text message and on the ice by DNR personnel that they must immediately stop fishing for lake sturgeon. Read more

The growing popularity of fishing has been well documented in the last two years and one of the fastest growing segments, even before the pandemic, was kayak fishing. There are many reasons for the increased interest, including the lower cost versus purchasing a boat and motor as well as the chance to fish smaller waters and access areas that boats cannot get to.

Two kayak fanatics are the host of The Kayak Fishing Show with Jim Sammons, a show beginning its 13th season on television, and a YouTube personality with nearly 430,000 subscribers, Gene “Flukemaster” Jensen. Both have spent thousands of hours fishing from a kayak and have learned how to stay efficient on the water.

Jim Sammons Host of The Kayak Fishing Show

Accessible, But Out of the Way

Sammons has a long-running show dedicated to kayak fishing, but his love for fishing from a kayak spans decades. When he started his journey, the lifelong surfer began taking longboards off the coast of San Diego to fish for calico bass before adapting to the kayaks that were available in the early 1990s.

He’s seen the popularity of kayak fishing grow and the availability of accessories tailor made for the style advance—a significant improvement over the days when he and other kayak anglers had to custom make their own rod holders, mounts, and tackle storage. Even with the advances in gear and kayaks, Sammons has kept the same mantra for fishing gear storage.

“I want things to be accessible but out of the way and that’s something I preached when I was guiding kayak trips and still live it to this day,” he says. “The truth of the matter is kayak anglers are gear junkies and we tend to bring way too much stuff with us, and I’m no different. The key is to have everything organized and out of the way when you are casting, fighting fish, and landing them.”

Sammons has a place for everything on his kayak and has boxes made up for the target species he’s after, whether it is freshwater bass, inshore species like redfish, calico and spotted bay bass, or tuna further offshore. That includes line selection and ensuring he has everything he needs for a day on the water. Read more

>
Nashville, Tenn. – Gov. Bill Lee and fishing icon Bill Dance today announced a new initiative to improve and enhance Tennessee lakes, increase visitation and honor Dance’s legacy with the creation of Bill Dance Signature Lakes. TWRA and the State of Tennessee will invest $15 million in improvements both above and below the water at 18 lakes which bear fishing legend Dance’s stamp of approval. Tennesseans will benefit from increased stocking, habitat and fisheries management, as well as improved access for fishing and boating. The collaborative effort between Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee State Parks and Tennessee Department of Tourist Development seeks to solidify Tennessee as the heart of fishing in the southeast and drive economic activity across the state.

Tennessee is home to half-a-million acres of lakes and 1.7 million people who fish according to the American Sportfishing Association. Bill Dance Signature Lakes touches 39 counties including 22 at-risk or economically distressed counties, and is an important step in helping those communities create new revenue streams through increased visitation. Fishing generates $1.2 billion in economic impact annually and supports 7,480 jobs across the state.

This initiative to improve public facilities and habitat at lakes across Tennessee comes at an important time as many of the state’s lakeside communities were devastated by severe weather over the weekend.

“Bill Dance is a tremendous advocate for our Tennessee rural communities and we are thrilled to partner with him,” said Gov. Lee. “The Bill Dance Signature Lakes highlights the importance of lakeside tourism with premier fishing opportunities and we believe this project is especially important as communities recover from the recent storms.” Read more

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources-owned Little Mud Dam on Backus Creek and Denton Creek Dam on Denton Creek, both in Roscommon County, are scheduled for removal this winter and next spring.

A recent inspection of both dams found their water-control structures are in need of extensive upgrades. After evaluating the structures’ deficiencies and age, their future maintenance needs, the estimated cost of dam replacement and the surrounding wildlife habitat, the DNR has decided to remove the two dam structures and restore the waterways’ natural water flow.

“The Wildlife Division is responsible for many water-control structures similar to these dams. They can be very expensive to repair, replace and maintain over time,” said Keith Fisher, DNR wildlife biologist. “When we have an opportunity to restore habitat to its natural setting in addition to saving maintenance dollars for other projects, it is a win-win for all involved.”

Historically, both Backus Creek and Denton Creek were active waterways for beavers and were frequently obstructed by beaver dams. These natural dams created small floodings in the areas currently known as the Little Mud Lake Flooding and the Denton Creek Flooding. They provided excellent habitat for a variety of wetland wildlife species. However, as local beaver populations declined in the 1940s and 1950s, so did the wetland habitat and biodiversity.