steeliebob

I know of a guy who uses parachute cord on tip ups for steelhead. Never actually seen it done but he claims when the trout hits the end of the line the fish hooks itself and can't get away due to the stretch in the cord.

The real reason the DNR does not plant more fish in the Eastern UP is because of the commercial fishing. The tribal fishermen catch very few steelhead because they target whitefish. Believe me the tribal fishermen do not want to catch steelhead in their nets and very few are ever caught in tribal nets.

Nice reply Mike, I do believe that the DNR at times can do a good job. I do however believe that the DNR should take a poll of hunters to see if license money should go to support the wolf program. If it is turned down then they should get their money from special interest groups or the federal government. I also believe that the DNR needs to spread their fish planting around a little bit. I cannot believe how many fish get planted in SW Michigan as compared to the rest of the state. Come on Mackinac County has 160 miles of shoreline and they act like they did us a favor when they plant 30,000 steelhead up here. I have been trying to get the DNR to plant more fish up here for the last 15 years. The DNR has Atlantic Salmon now and I can guess where they will be planted. It will not be in the UP.

I spent $45 on deer licenses this year, yes I shot and recovered a nice deer. I often wonder how much of that money actually goes to deer management. I quit duck hunting because you never know what to shoot and what not to shoot, what is in season and what is out of season. I do know that if I lived in one of many SW states I would not have to worry about anything just keep shooting. I buy a fishing license every year and the DNR plants 10000 fish in the river that I fish. When I check on the computer the rivers in SW Michigan get millions of fish planted. Why not spread the wealth and send some of the hatchery trucks to the UP. My river got 10000 fish last year bring 500000 this year and plant the 10000 in the St Joe river. I have been bugging the DNR for brown trout for years but they won't plant them up here. I know that a portion of license money goes to support and manage non game species. I assume cougars and wolves are on the non game species list. The DNR should collect money from the Audobon Society, Peta, the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and so on to support the non game species. Over the years I have been tempted to not buy licenses because like taxes you never get a say in how the money is spent. I recently read the Michigan DNR Wolf Management Plan that really ticked me off to know that my license money is going for that. If you deer hunt in the UP do yourself a favor and do not read this. I was however entertained by the part that said wolves are good for Michigan because they kill deer and the remains of the kill feed crows. Another clip said wolves are good for Michigan because tourists can photograph them. Need I say more. Is the DNR really that stupid, it is the deer that pay your wages not wolves and crows. I guess that I will keep buying licenses so that the DNR can keep wasting my money.

Wishing I had the 20K. Until then I will have to be happy with old starcraft, it still gets me there and back and boy does it catch fish.

It is making ice in the UP. I could not fish steelhead on the river today as my line kept getting caught on the ice floes. A good sign I guess. It is time to put the long poles away and get the ice fishing gear ready. There should be ice in a couple of weeks. I will give it until after christmas, too many parties before christmas that and honeydos. The day after I will have holes drilled and tip ups set.

The numbers are in and I wasn't too far off 48000 less deer licenses sold this year from last year and if I recall right last year was down too. Where have all the hunters gone DNR???? Make up your excuses don't blame it on wolves and poor resource management though.

That article was just too cool. Way better than CNN

Damn the wolves!!! That was pretty funny though

he probably does not have downriggers on his boat so who cares

Nice boat, Mine is a 1976 spent most of her life in a pole barn. Now I pull her up to the dock and get laughed at by the guys w the 50,000$ Trophy until they see whats in the cooler. It is whats in the cooler that counts not the boat that got you there

I am just waiting for a pack of wolves to start munching on the elk in pigeon river state forest. Then we will see just how federally protected the wolf really is as you see Michigan Conservation Officers shooting them. When that happens they won't be so protected in the UP anymore either. I would bet that the DNR has already told its officers to shoot wolves in the LP. Go to the news site and check out the story on Coy Wolves.

Another deer eating machine in the woods. How long before the PETAS have these federally protected?????

We have only one more year of Jen in Michigan. I can only hope that we can elect a Governor who will do somthing this time around. Jen sat in office for 8 years and watched the state fall apart around her.

The quality deer management thing in the UP started about 1990 with a small group of hunters who own private land near Cedarville. Hunters have voiced their opinion over the years but this small group of people kept crying to the DNR and finally it passed. A majority of hunters only buy the single tag now as a result and still shoot smaller bucks. A DNR biologist was at out sportsman club meeting last winter and said that there is no sound biological proof that this will ever work. You want quality bucks up here cut back on tribal hunting, shoot wolves, shorten the season, and don't issue doe permits. The wolves are federally protected so I guess that you can cut that one out. They will migrate across the ice in the winter. How many wolves do you think it will take to have an impact on the ELK???? My guess is 10 to 20 can wipe out the ELK hunting season. I have seen what they do in a deer yard up here and they do not descriminate. Even though they are federally protected do you think that the DNR is going to let them eat up all of the ELK. I think that the DNR will be out there shooting them. Nobody knows how many wolves are in the LP but we do know that they are there and we know that packs exist in Wilderness State Park and Dingmans Marsh only a few miles from prime Elk country. As the population of wolves grow in the UP the social pressure will force more and more of them to cross the ice. In deep snow an Elk is a pretty easy target for a pack of wolves. Let them shoot just one federally protected wolf in the LP and there will be a few less of them in the UP. I believe that the DNR is quietly trying to kill them off in the lower penninsula right now. In the last 10 years they have pretty much wiped out the deer in four prime hunting spots that I had in Mackinac County. These are spots where you would see 10 to 20 deer in a day. Now you can consider yourself lucky to see a single deer in these spots. So much for QDM!!!!!

When was the last time an employee of the DNR has ever asked a sportsmen about their opinion on anything???? It is like you are the idiot and they know everything. In the UP the wolves are like God to them. They will not plant fish in the UP because of gill nets or they tell you nobody fishes up here. This year they sold 48000 less deer licenses than they did last year. Mabey when they count their money that will send them the message. The damn wolves do not bring hunters to the UP. Now that there are about 1000 wolves in the UP and a few in the lower what is the DNR going to do when they populate and start eating the elk in the lower???? You guys at the DNR should open season on the wolves and plant a few more fish in the UP. Your deer management ideas are really stupid too. You buy a combo tag and you have to shoot 4 points on one side in the UP. The wolves get them up here before they get that big. In the lower you can't use bait....have you guys ever looked under an apple tree???? What difference does it make if I throw 20 apples in front of my blind or 200 apples fall off of a tree??? Absolutely none!!!!! You just want an excuse to fly your airplane over top of my treestand and write tickets. Do you know that most of the guys on private land in the lower are using bait anyway.

Next time you guys throw some fish in the smoker put a couple ( I usually smoke up about 4) cornish game hens at the same time. I don't brine them I just pull them out of the package and put them in the smoker. Smoked up the game hens go great with a smoked trout or salmon. Wash em down with your favorite barley malt and you really have a good combination.

Good fish Dan. I hope the thick water comes soon as I am ready to go

You just have to come up to the UP where we have 6 months of ice and 3 months of in between then three months of boat fishing. Last spring you guys down south were catching salmon and we still had 2 feet of ice in St Ignace. Hang in there diesel, I used to have 1 teenage daughter and 9 of her friends all of the time. I don't expect ice for awhile so keep the long poles out. Steelhead fishing is super right now

We hunted off from Lake Ogemaw there is deer but the property needs some improvement. I had two doe permits and filled one of them saw an 8 pointer and a spike. There is lots of deer but it was way too warm and they would not move. Most of the deer were laying around in the cottage yards. I guess you have to hand it to them they know where it is safe. I used to hunt off of Greenwood Road on a private camp that was too good, I wish that land was back in the family. I have all of the federal land that I want to hunt up here just all of my good spots are dried up or wolves are in them. I will do some bow hunting next year, I am sure that I will find deer again. I do still plan to hunt in W Branch for gun season if I don't go to Canada

I usually hunt pretty close to water, so it makes it easy to throw a line out and continue hunting. We have snow and cold in the forcast so ice fishing should be good in a couple of weeks. I can't wait because it sure is fun catching those big steelhead through the ice. I am going out on the river this weekend just fishing I already have one deer in the freezer. It will probably be the last opportunity to use the long poles before freeze up

You are soooo right Adam. I live in Mackinac County and I fight with the DNR every year over hunting and fishing issues. They want wolves and moose to dominate the UP. They want lots of Elk in the northern lower penninsula and few deer. All of the hatchery trucks go straight to South Haven. We have 156 miles of shoreline in Mackinac County alone and we only have about 20000 trout planted annually. I believe that I might just as well burn my money rather than buy a license from the DNR. I do catch some fish though at times I am rather spoiled only because the natural reproduction up here is great. I got a deer this year on private land in West Branch but for the money I invest in hunting it is not worth it. Most of the good deer hunters that I know are hunting in Canada now. The group just keeps getting bigger and bigger every year and these guys won't ever buy another Michigan deer license.

New Count as of 7:30 am 11/30/09 the count was 3893 a far cry from the numbers we have had a few years ago. It is down 37% from last year which is down from the year before and so on. I hunted for four days in an area that used to be real hot and did not see a single deer. The guy I work with has 7 guys that hunt out of his camp, in 9 days they saw a total of 6 deer. The DNR will have to think of some good excuses now but these guys are going to Canada next year. I have a few months to decide wether I will go to Canada, Illinois, or the lower penninsula.

I guess that by now you are back to fishing, how are you doing???? The steelhead are starting to cooperate in the UP finally. I got two nice chromers Saturday right behind the deer blind in the UP. Have not even seen a deer yet up here good thing that I hunt in the lower, I got a nice size doe, missed an opportunity on an eight and let a small spike go for seed.

Took a break from deer hunting Saturday 11/28 and threw a line out by my deer blind. After a few casts I got a nice 10 pound steelhead and followed that up with a nice 7 pound steelhead. I guess a good day of fishing beats a bad day of hunting. So much for muzzelloader season, I think that I will get one more weekend of fishing in before the snow and cold brings on ice fishing.