Whether you are fishing from a rowboat in a farm pond or on an offshore cruiser in the middle of a Great Lake, one of the most welcome phrases an angler can say is, “Get the net.”
In most cases there’s no better tool than a net to complete the assignment. So, “get the net” – and get the right net. What’s right?
Mike Schoonveld: Get the net! But which one? Here’s what to consider Read More »
Have you ever heard of “long-chain perfluorochemicals?” Probably not, but I bet you’ve used them. Often abbreviated PFCs, they were used in manufacturing thousands of everyday products like carpets, upholstery, non-stick cookware and outdoor gear – particularly items like raingear, backpacks, tents and other items that needed to be waterproof.
Unless you are one of the few avid outdoors-people still relying on rubberized or vinyl rainwear, chances are there are long-chain PFCs in your gear if it’s more than a few years old.
Mike Schoonveld: Replacing regulated water repellents Read More »
Catching a pink salmon in northern Lake Huron or in the St. Marys River isn’t an uncommon occurrence. I don’t fish that area often, but I did catch one in the St. Marys on a brisk fall day just below the lock and dam at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Like most who caught them back them, I was underwhelmed. Our target was king salmon – hopefully a 20-pounder – not a tiny fish that weighed less than two pounds. This was just before the king salmon crash in Lake Huron so most anglers viewed the small pinks dangling at the end of their lines as a nuisance more than an opportunity.
Mike Schoonveld: Are pink salmon making a comeback in Lake Michigan? Read More »
Trolling used to be simple. Each person in the boat would select a lure, drop it into the lake and let out some line.
Once the right amount of line was uncoiled off the spool, each angler would simply hold onto the rod until something bit the lure. Then salmon were stocked in the Great Lakes, and nearly extinct walleyes came back in Lake Erie. Innovative anglers started festooning their boats with rod holders, downriggers, planer board masts and other paraphernalia to up the number of rods that could be trolled and to keep the lines and lures separated.
Mike Schoonveld: Four steps to get out of messes that come with trolling Read More »
Ask an angler the question, “Who pays for fisheries programs?” and he’s likely to say, “I do.” If you follow-up this question, asking “How do you pay?” The answer will be, “I buy a fishing license.”
He would be right, to a degree. The Michigan DNR sells well over a million fishing licenses each year, collecting almost $30 million this year. That’s a lot of money dedicated to fish management, surveys, stocking, and plenty of other “fishy” things.
Mike Schoonveld: Some foreign fishing companies dodging excise taxes Read More »
The rod set on my deepest downrigger popped straight and then a second or two later, the rod doubled over again as the fish felt the pull of the line arching through the water and the strain of the lure pinned in its mouth. Then the fish went crazy.
First, it headed for the top of the lake. “Perhaps it’s a steelhead,” I thought as my fishing partner grabbed the rod.
Mike Schoonveld: Are anglers catching drug-crazed salmon? Read More »
If you are a boat trailer owner, you’ve probably already made up your mind about the question posed in the title of this essay. Some say yes, some say no. What do the experts say? Even they give mixed answers.
For the record, no tires – whether it’s on a boat trailer, a camper, go-cart or an 18-wheeler – have to be balanced to work. Put an unbalanced tire on a car, truck or trailer, tighten the lug nuts and hit the road. The wheel and tire will go around and around and around for a long time and without much issue. The question then becomes: “How long and at what expense.”
Mike Schoonveld: Should you balance your boat trailer tires? Read More »
There have been invasive species in the Great Lakes for more than a century.
Early on, few people were concerned with invasives and the efforts to curtail the early arrivals or prevent additional ones from becoming established. Fingers pointed to man-made canals when sea lampreys and alewives got into the “upper” lakes – the Great Lakes above Niagara Falls, specifically, the Erie Canal that connected the upper lakes to the Hudson River which flowed freely into the Atlantic at New York, and the Welland Canal connecting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, bypassing Niagara Falls.
I am a frequent boater and have been most of my life. I don’t think of boating as a particularly unsafe activity (it’s not) but I also don’t think of it as more or less safe now than when I started boating decades ago.
Recent statistics released by the U.S. Coast Guard changed that mindset. According to the USCG, in the past 50 years or so boating safety has increased dramatically.
Mike Schoonveld: Boating fatality numbers at all-time low Read More »
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