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Mike Schoonveld

Mike Schoonveld: Descending devices — the best way to release fish showing signs of barotrauma

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, National Fishing /

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is. That is a catchy jingle Alka-Seltzer used decades ago to help double its sales. I think of it at this time of year – and at times during the ice-fishing season – when deepwater anglers on the Great Lakes and inland lakes catch fish from the depths.
When a perch, walleye, lake trout or other fish is pulled from deep water, its swim bladder expands until it inflates like a balloon, squeezing the bejeezus out of the fish’s internal organs.

Mike Schoonveld: Descending devices — the best way to release fish showing signs of barotrauma Read More »

Mike Schoonveld: Saltwater instincts, freshwater salmon make for a great combo

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, National Fishing /

Great Lakes salmon may spend their entire lives in fresh water, but they’re still programmed for the Pacific Ocean. Evolution doesn’t rewrite instincts in a few decades. Those fish still behave as though they’re waiting for the tides – and anglers who understand that have a decided advantage.

Mike Schoonveld: Saltwater instincts, freshwater salmon make for a great combo Read More »

Mike Schoonveld: Ankle flies by any other name are still angler enemy

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, National Fishing /

I’m not an entomologist, but I did earn a passing grade in Entomology 101 in college. With more than 5 million insect species in the world, the course didn’t spend much time on any one species.
So most of what I know about insects came the same way I learned fishing, hunting, mowing grass, and grilling hamburgers: on-the-job training. My insect education was mostly practical. If a bug was bothering me, I figured out why, how to avoid it, how to kill it, or how to repel it.

Mike Schoonveld: Ankle flies by any other name are still angler enemy Read More »

Mike Schoonveld: Diver modifications that make a difference for Lake Erie walleyes

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, National Fishing /

By the time I started fishing for walleyes on Lake Erie, my boat was already rigged for salmon fishing on Lake Michigan. I had downriggers, planer boards, and Dipsy Divers, and all three presentations regularly produced salmon, trout, and steelhead. Often, all presentations worked equally well on the same day.
That’s why my early attempts at using all three on Lake Erie left me scratching my head.

Mike Schoonveld: Diver modifications that make a difference for Lake Erie walleyes Read More »

Mike Schoonveld: New sun protection product legalized that anglers should know about

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, National Fishing /

It’s summer, the time of year most outdoor people think about and religiously use sunscreen, mostly because they want keep from being sunburned. More important is each exposure to the sun’s UV rays ups your chances of contracting skin cancer sometime in the future.
As a “skin cancer” survivor, I know. I also know that even though I visit a dermatologist at least every six months, the doctor always spots troubling “pre-cancerous” spots on my face and occasionally on other areas.

Mike Schoonveld: New sun protection product legalized that anglers should know about Read More »

Mike Schoonveld: Can anglers aid in a solution for plastic pollution?

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, National Fishing, Nature Page & Night Sky, Opinion /

Twenty-two million pounds of plastic waste enter the Great Lakes each year. About half sinks to the lake bottoms, where some of it will likely remain until a future glacier reshapes the lakebeds during the next ice age. The floating plastic won’t last as long, especially varieties that aren’t UV-resistant.
A small portion will be collected by environmentally conscious people and eventually end up in landfills, but most will slowly break down over the next hundred years or so into smaller and smaller fragments known as microplastics.

Mike Schoonveld: Can anglers aid in a solution for plastic pollution? Read More »

Mike Schoonveld: Here are clear options for coping with murky fishing waters

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, National Fishing /

Few places where walleyes are caught regularly are as susceptible to rapidly changing water clarity as the western basin of Lake Erie. A stretch of calm weather can leave the water relatively clear, but strong winds can turn it muddy in a matter of hours.
That muddy water can develop in two different ways.

Mike Schoonveld: Here are clear options for coping with murky fishing waters Read More »

Mike Schoonveld: BoatUS membership comes in handy when needed

Featured, Features, Fishing, Michigan, National Fishing, Nature Page & Night Sky /

I backed my boat down the launch ramp one predawn morning, guided by the lights on my trailer, the ambient lights in the area, and a pale sliver of moon overhead. I’d done it hundreds of other times so my thoughts were more on fishing than the job at hand.
I was launching alone, so the boat’s long bow rope was cinched to the trailer’s winch support. Once the boat floated off the trailer bunks, I would pull ahead enough to be able to reach the bow rope then move to a cleat on the pier next to the ramp. Easy enough – until it wasn’t.

Mike Schoonveld: BoatUS membership comes in handy when needed Read More »

Mike Schoonveld: Are you respooling your fishing reels often enough?

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, National Fishing /

As an angler who spends a lot of time on the Great Lakes, I have more fishing reels than most. Accordingly, I spend a lot of time removing old line and respooling with new.
Why? Because since ancient times – when lines were made from silk, linen, animal sinew and other natural materials – fishermen have known that success or failure often depends on the condition of their line.

Mike Schoonveld: Are you respooling your fishing reels often enough? Read More »

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