- Hello, everyone.

Welcome to "Michigan Out of Doors."

I'm Jenny Ciolek, and we've got a great show headed your way.

Jordan was recently able to spend some time in the northwest part of the mitten, chasing after Burbot and Lake Trout through the ice.

Very unique fishery.

You will not wanna miss that story.

And Jimmy's got some hunting action in store for us this week.

- Well, that's right, Jenny.

We do have time for another winter time activity.

We're gonna do a little rabbit hunting on this week's show.

I was able to get out with a big group of guys, and I tell you what, we didn't set the world on fire, but we had a ton of fun.

We're also gonna have time for a bragging board as well, so you stay tuned.

I'm Jimmy Gretzinger.

It's time for "Michigan Out Of Doors."

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- One, two, three, four.

There we go.

(gentle music) Last week I was able to spend some time on the hard water in northern Michigan with a couple of anglers targeting burbot and lake trout.

With the wind chills well below zero, we were hoping we could find a way to stay warm and catch a few fish.

- Out here on Crystal Lake in Benzie County, grew up in Beulah here.

So this is a fishery I'm very familiar with out here.

Out here burbot fishing tonight.

The temperatures have just been brutal.

We've had just a week or two of sub-zero wind chills.

It's made the fishing tough, but we came out here last night and had some pretty good luck when we pre-fished it so we're gonna give it our best effort and see how it goes.

We have a jig and jaw jackers, standard jaw jackers and our whole covered tip ups that we have out today.

They also have some lights fixated on our tip ups that helps us see that indicator on that strike a lot sooner, especially in these dark conditions.

You know, you have a tip up 40, 50 yards away from the shanny, you can just peek your head out and see what's going on.

(gentle music) - We are targeting these fish in anywhere from a hundred to 40 foot of water.

Tonight, we are targeting them in 70 foot of water.

There's a little deep trough that runs through the middle of a little, couple shallow flats.

Kind of, they use it as a travel corridor for just getting up from the deep water and up onto those flats to feed in the evening time.

They are just so unique.

You don't hear too many people catching 'em.

You know, if they do, they're like ew, it's a burbot.

I don't think it's really an ew factor.

I think they are some of the tastiest fish there are.

If you boil them in Sprite, they taste just like crab or lobster and they're a little spunky.

If you fight 'em on like a, you know, medium rod or a medium light rod like walleye gear almost, I mean they put up a real good fight.

- So this is a dead stick setup we have for our jaw jackers.

They make a flag attachment that we really like.

With these burbot, they're kind of a slow moving creature.

They like to eat close to bottom and we don't mind letting them take a little bit.

Normally they're not gonna grab it and, you know, run a couple hundred yards off.

Normally they're just gonna grab it, kind of hold their meal down and put it in their belly.

So for now, what we have set, we have our flag attachment here.

We run our with our bale open.

Has a nice little hook here to put our line.

That way it doesn't blow off if the wind's blowing around, you know your spool should stay nice and tight.

Goes underneath that flag attachment there to when that fish pulls, that flag that'll come up.

Spool stays open.

We come outside the shanny and we see the flag up.

We close the bale reel down to it, set the hook and reel the fish up.

So this is a great setup for burbot if the temperatures will allow it.

- [Jimmy] Once we had everything set up outside, we moved inside the shanny to warm up and start jigging and it didn't take long to hook our first burbot.

- Leader.

Nice movement there.

- That is a dandy eating fish.

My wife is going to be very happy with this specimen right here.

This is about probably a 20 to 22 inch burbot.

This will taste fantastic.

This is the ideal eater.

- [Jimmy] Well, we were off to a good start.

As we continued fishing, I asked the guys how they got into chasing burbot.

- The first night I came out here, I think we hooked like eight or 10 and I just was hooked ever since.

Came back out and just started trying to actually put a bead on these fish and how they move and what they eat and their main travel corridors.

And I just missed one.

But yeah, they're just so much fun.

Hook a nice 26 incher, it'll put up a real big fight.

This lake is pretty prevalent with smelt, so a lot of these fish are eating, you know, just those big pods of smelt on the shallow island just to our right are up in the shallows.

And then they come off from eating those and drop back down into the basin.

And right now we're just trying to catch 'em kind of as they're getting done feeding off those big pods of smelt and seeing if they'll hone in on the single lure that we got down there.

Well, finally on the board here.

Sounds like we got another nice little burbot here.

Feels like another perfect eater size.

- Dandy there.

- I don't know how much better he could've ate it.

Right now I'm using, I think it is a half ounce moonshine minnow.

I think it has a little bit of a wonder bread slash purple and pink on.

It just glows really good.

It's mainly the name of the game with these burbot.

Just finding something that glows really, really bright and toss a piece of smelt on there and just pound it right on bottom.

You can use, you know, anything.

It doesn't have to just be like a minnow shaped profile.

I think Josh is using a Beaver's jigging spoon.

We use a lot of EJ Mission jigging spoons, just anything heavy that hits the bottom, stirs it up and glows really bright.

That's usually how it goes.

Just sitting here chatting about deer hunting, blind jigging and next thing you know.

- Oh yeah.

- Ah.

Comes a nice little fat burb.

Come here.

- So these burbot, interestingly enough, I was kind of ignorant to 'em earlier in life in my teenage years.

We used to come out here late trout fishing and my uncles and some other people like that.

And we'd set tip ups and we'd catch 'em and we'd throw 'em back thinking they were gross or thinking they were kind of a ucky creature.

And I mean they're, they're absolutely delicious in my opinion.

They're the best tasting fish that we have in the Great Lake system here.

Unless you like a perch or a walleye and you like that whiter flakier fish, this burbot doesn't have that same consistency.

But when I moved back home here, probably six, seven years ago now, I really jumped back into it and it's a bite that's not quite as competitive.

The meat tastes great.

It's a fun fight usually.

And so they can be difficult to stay on over a long period of time.

We have to try and put a lot of hours in.

You know, you try to find their patterns and find where they're feeding and where they're at during different times of the year, you know, off and off earlier in the year.

It'll be a lot deeper.

And then as they get closer to their spawning season, then you'll see 'em sneak up closer.

So they're just an incredibly fun fish to target.

They fight really, really well.

Looks like there's three or four really nice ones on the graph right now.

And you know, they'll give you a nice pull.

Like we've, last year we sat on the spot and pulled five master anglers out in one trip and you know, one of 'em was 32 inches.

So you hook a 32 inch burbot you'll get it all the way to the hole, run all the way right back down to bottom and 70 foot.

So you get a fish that fights that hard and tastes that good, it's hard to stay away from 'em.

- [Jimmy] Why don't you gimme a little update on that, how the fishing's been tonight?

- It's been okay.

I'd say it's about an average night so far.

We got what, four on the ice?

I think this is our fifth one.

- Yep.

- I'd say it's about an average night.

You know, a good night is probably 12 or 15.

Average night's between six and eight.

So I'd say we're doing all right.

- [Jimmy] Fishing inside the shanty was pretty good.

And throughout the night we did have a few flags outside, but most of them were false alarms.

- Come on puppy.

- However, as we were getting ready to pack up, we hooked into one last burbot on a tip up.

- Like we were talking about earlier, sometimes they won't trip the flags, they'll just sit there with it in their mouth.

We were just getting ready to head home for the evening, pulling some tip ups and- - There's a little size here.

- Happened to pull it up and there's a fish on the end of it.

- Gonna start reeling it up the spool so it doesn't- - Yep.

- Got a leader here.

So we probably got another 10, 15 feet or so.

(mellow music) Oh boy, we are, we're not getting the giant trophy, you know, master angler size burbot tonight.

But man, we are gonna keep every single one of these that we catch 'cause they taste absolutely amazing.

- [Jimmy] We ended up catching six burbot throughout the night and enjoyed lots of quality time inside the shanty.

Early the next morning we were back at it again, this time targeting Lake Trout on a beautiful but cold Michigan morning.

(upbeat music) - Yeah, out here on Crystal Lake again.

Lake trout fishing.

Just got out a little after first sight this morning.

It was absolutely frigid cold.

Decided to give it another half hour or so.

Get a little better camera light.

So we're set up in about 130 foot today.

Marked some fish as soon as we got down here.

So we got a couple different presentations out.

See if we can get some lake out trout to chase.

See if we can get some activity.

- Well we were sitting here playing with a couple fish and they've been real lethargic this morning.

So pulled that one up about 30 feet off bottom and he didn't want it.

So I opened my bale and dropped it past him and as soon as I closed my bale and started reeling, he was on it.

So.

- [Jimmy] How's it feel?

- I'd say a little smaller side.

Not one of the biggest, but they all put up a good fight for you.

Yeah.

- Nice small fish here, a little 16-inch lake trout.

- Yeah.

- Nice color on that thing.

Look at the pattern on it.

- Oh.

- Squirmy little guy, but yep.

Yeah, back you goes.

Try to catch him again when he is a little bigger.

Yep.

That's what he decided to eat.

Just a small little three inch paddle tail with a Mission Lure's EJ head on there and kind of presentation just like a smelt would look.

- [Jimmy] Despite our best efforts, the fishing on day two was really tough.

We marked plenty of fish but could only convince the one to bite.

I had to hit the road after we got off the ice, so I wasn't able to stick around to try some of the burbot from the night before.

But Josh was able to film the recipe and share it with all of us.

- We had a great time out on the ice with Jordan catching some burbot and we're gonna reap the benefits of some of that catch now.

We wanted to share with you one of our favorite burbot recipes that we use commonly here.

Couple simple ingredients.

First one is Sprite.

I get a lot of odd looks when I tell people that we're gonna be boiling our fish in Sprite, but this is something with this lemon lime taste just really seems to cut that quote unquote fishy taste out of the meat.

We just had a little simple salt, pepper, Old Bay seasoning and some butter.

The only components that we use here to cook this.

So what we're doing now, you can see our Sprite here is coming to a boil, just getting to the point where it's warm enough.

We're gonna add that fish.

So we have just kind of bite-sized chunks here.

You know, just take some shears or you know, kitchen knife and go ahead and cut up some small pieces.

We're gonna go ahead and just add these a few at a time here and get this stuff rolling.

(gentle music) We have a pretty good rolling boil going now.

The fish has been in here probably three or four minutes.

It may depend on what your heat is.

I just have mine on high here boiling.

The main indicator we're gonna look for to see if this fish is done is that we're gonna want it to kind of float near the top.

You don't want it to be stuck on the bottom of the pan.

Use our little metal fry ladle to just make sure that nothing is sticking too bad.

And then we scoop out our pieces of burbot.

Doing it this way, one thing you'll recognize pretty quickly is it tastes just like crab or lobster.

You can tell it's not either one, but it tastes exactly the same.

We just take our little bit of butter here, wait till that burbot falls to the top.

That a very, very, very good piece of meat.

- Thanks to Josh and Darren for letting me tag along on a fun couple of days on the hard water here in northern Michigan.

(gentle music) Well, in our next story we're gonna do a little rabbit hunting, which is I think something a lot of us wish we could do more of.

And I tell you what, once you get a group of guys out there, whether you're jumping brush piles or got some good beagles, it is a great way to spend a winter day.

(upbeat music) A few weeks back I was able to hit the rabbit woods with a great group of guys, some old friends and some new ones.

We were all happy to be out today.

So Tom, you're giving it a go with the old stick and string.

- Yeah.

You know, it's add a little more challenge to it and believe me, if I get one with it or even get a shot, it'll be a successful day.

So we'll give it a a shot, but yeah, I, I thought I'd add a little extra element of hardship to the deal today.

- Nice.

- So- - [Jimmy] How'd you get into this yahoo group here?

- Well, of course I know Adam who's hosting it and Tom Huggler and Dave Jolly.

And so a lot of the, Father Jim that's here today and Grand Ledge.

So just a lot of the, they're all, a lot of 'em are bow hunters, you know, so I know him through that.

But just fellow outdoorsman.

- Nice.

- This is my youngest dog out of a big beagler, Jeff Brown, who unfortunately passed away from a heart attack was one of my best friends.

But out of that same branco line, he's four and a half.

- We didn't do one last year and it was so fun two years ago when we did it that it's great.

I think we got 10 shooters today.

That's a big group.

Probably a couple hundred years of hunting experience between the group here.

- Rabbits better come out with their hands up.

- Sounds good.

Sounds good.

Oh, we're getting the dogs out and Dave, you know this property better than anybody.

- Yep.

- You think kind of post up around it and let the dogs work in the middle.

- Yeah.

Like we did a couple years ago.

Just we get into that big bedding and just kind of spread out on the, the edges of it and- - [Adam] Find a place you can see 20 yards.

- Yep.

Yep, 'cause it's pretty thick in there.

And let the dogs, let the dogs work and stand there and have a blast.

- [Jimmy] Well as soon as the dogs hit the woods, we had some going.

I was just hoping to be in the right spot.

- There he is.

- Right there.

- [Hunter] There he is, here he comes, here he comes.

(beagle barking) (gunfire popping) (beagle barking) - [Jimmy] Well we did have some shooting, we just didn't have a lot of hitting, but really that didn't even matter today.

- Oh well yeah, Adam invited me.

We did this two years ago.

It was so much fun and I thought, well I'm not gonna miss this chance again.

- There you go.

- This always takes us back to when we were kids, you know?

- [Jimmy] That's right.

- Somebody had a beagle in the neighborhood and you'd go kick the brush piles and get 'em started and it's just fun to be able to come back and do this again.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

Yeah.

What happened here?

- First one of the day, I think lots of shooting.

- Got one?

- Yeah.

Yep.

Came running through, dogs barking and one shot and somehow I got lucky and got him.

- Perfect.

- Yeah.

Yep.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

Today we were running behind Scott Keller's dogs and they did an awesome job.

We were here to hunt rabbits for sure, but really it was much more than that.

This hunt was really about some old friends just getting together.

Most of the guys here are not avid rabbit hunters anymore, but did a fair amount of that growing up.

And today, well it just brings back some fond memories of hunts gone by.

Adam got a group together a few years back and everybody had so much fun, it's become more of an annual event.

It's hard to beat great friends, good dogs and old shotguns.

- [Brooks] This is actually a first time I've ever taken this out.

This is a 16 gauge I inherited.

- Nice.

- My step, this is my stepdad's collection and he's not doing very well.

Got him moved into assisted living and he can't really get around very well anymore.

So I inherited all of his guns this past year.

So I figured this would be a good time to- - Nice.

- Try out the old 16 gauge.

- Perfect.

Well Brooks was about ready to see if this old gun could still find its mark.

(gunfire popping) There he is.

Well good shooting.

I could see 'em coming through.

I don't know if I had the camera up in time or not, but good shot.

- Awesome.

Thank you.

- [Jimmy] The 16 gauge did did its job.

- It did its job.

- Well you're stacking 'em up like cordwood over here.

- Oh yeah.

I actually, the ATV should be coming so we load 'em all in the back there, so.

- But the dogs are doing good, you know, conditions are pretty fair.

They're holding up, but it's starting to get tracked up a little bit like it always does.

So we'll see if we can't get another jump and they sort it out.

- They're running good though.

- They are, nice dogs, lining up.

Nobody's cheating.

That's good.

We got a few on the ground.

- [Jimmy] This property holds a lot of rabbits.

It's pretty thick to walk through in spots, which is part of the reason it's so good.

Having a camera with the right gun, well that is rather challenging.

- I don't know.

We got a lot of miles.

- [Jimmy] Thought it was coming right to us.

- Yeah, I think so.

Yeah.

- Come give us a summary.

How did today go?

- You know, I thought today was a fantastic day.

We had a big group of guys.

We had good weather, everybody got some shooting in.

We probably ought to have twice as many rabbits as what we do, but it's all about having fun and fellowship.

This was just a great day, Jimmy.

- Well thanks for having us all out.

- My pleasure.

Let's do it again sometime soon.

- [Jimmy] Alright.

You gotta get to cleaning those rabbits.

- Yeah, that's my next job.

- [Jimmy] Today was a good reminder for me.

Sometimes I judge on how many did we get?

Were the shots on camera thinking, oh, I should be with this hunter.

No, maybe that hunter.

So was I with the right gun today?

Very little.

Did I have fun with a great group of guys?

Yes.

And really at the end of the day, even though these guys don't all hunt rabbits that much, I can tell you for sure they all had a great time and will want to try it again next year.

Partly to watch some good dogs work, but mostly to remember old hunts, tell some stories and make some new ones, right here in Michigan's out of doors.

(upbeat music) - Thank you so much for joining us this week for "Michigan Out of Doors".

Make sure you stay tuned in upcoming weeks.

Now, next week on the show, we'll be sharing with you the footage that Jimmy and I got this past weekend on Black Lake during the sturgeon spearing season.

It was another quick one this week, but lots of excitement out there on the ice.

Speaking next week, on Thursday night, we will be in Novi at Outdoorama for Big Buck Night East.

If you're in the area, make sure you swing by on Thursday evening next week to check that out.

And as always, you can check us out online for more details about the show.

- Well, that's right, Jenny.

Online is a good way to see what we're up to.

Our social media outlets are probably the best way to do that.

And if you wanna check out our website, you can see old shows there, old recipes as well as some of our cool new merchandise.

Lots of good stuff there.

Make sure you get out and enjoy everything our state has to offer.

And if we don't see you in the woods or on the water, hopefully we'll see you right back here next week on your PBS station.

- [Narrator] Michigan Out of Doors is presented by.

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With GreenStone's Recreational Land Loans, we'll help you finance acreage of any size so you can own your own place in the Great Outdoors.

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Offering a wide variety of calibers and colors backed by a lifetime warranty.

More information available at glfallc.com By Saab, providing defense and civil security products and services for over 85 years.

And now part of the GH Grayling community with our new advanced munitions facility.

Career opportunities are available.

More information as saabinc.com By Show Span, producing consumer shows including Outdoorama at Novi Suburban Collection Show place.

The show features tackle, trips, boats, outfitters, the trout pond, and of course, Big Buck Night.

That's Outdoorama in Novi.

Closed captioning brought to you by Double D Ranch Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)3 foundation working to make hunting and fishing accessible for those with disabilities.

(upbeat music) ♪ When I've gone far away ♪ A dream stays with me night and day ♪ ♪ It's the road that leads to my home state ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ Changing seasons paint the sea ♪ ♪ Like a rainbow trout in a hidden stream ♪ ♪ The white tail deer in the tall pine trees ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ I'm a Michigan man ♪ That's where I'm from and I'll show you my hands ♪ ♪ Lord above I love this land ♪ I am Michigan man (upbeat music) ♪ From the Keweenaw down to St.

Joe ♪ ♪ Kalamazoo east to Monroe ♪ Sault Ste.

Marie and back again ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man (bright music)