- Well, hey everybody, welcome to "Michigan Out-Of-Doors", thank you so much for joining us this week, We've got a really good show lined up for you.

We're gonna kick things off in one of my favorite parts of the State and that is the northwest part of the Lower Peninsula, doing a little lake trout and cisco fishing there and we're gonna head to mid-Michigan to introduce you to the American Pointing Lab Association, some really cool folks there and some really good dog work and we're gonna have time for a recipe, as well.

Lots of good stuff, you stay tuned, I'm Jimmy Gretzinger and it's time for "Michigan Out-Of-Doors".

("Michigan Man" music) ♪ From the first spring rains ♪ (turkeys gobbling) ♪ To the soft summer breeze ♪ (waves murmuring) ♪ Dancing on the pine forest floor ♪ ♪ The autumn colors catch your eyes ♪ ♪ Here come the crystal winter skies ♪ ♪ It's Michigan ♪ ♪ "Michigan Out-Of-Doors" ♪ - [Hunter] What a beautiful day in the woods.

♪ Some day our children all will see ♪ ♪ This is their finest legacy ♪ (waterfall rushing) ♪ The wonder and the love of Michigan ♪ ♪ As the wind comes whispering through the trees ♪ (duck call quacking) ♪ The sweet smell of Nature's in the air ♪ (friends murmuring) ♪ From the Great Lakes to the quiet stream ♪ ♪ Shining like a sportsman's dream ♪ ♪ It's a love of Michigan we all share ♪ - [Announcer] "Michigan Out-Of-Doors" is presented by (upbeat music) Country Smokehouse, a sportsman's meat processor and Michigan destination since 1988, offers a variety of homemade smoked meats and Michigan made products in store and online.

The Country Smokehouse features an outdoor barbecue and bar, details at countrysmokehouse.com.

The Michigan Charter Boat Association has provided education of the Great Lakes fishery for over 52 years.

Information about Great Lakes fishing opportunities as well as captain advocacy can be found at Michigancharterboats.com, by Network Outdoors, connecting members to share experiences, help grow businesses and to give back to the outdoor community.

Learn more at one of 10 monthly meetups or online at networkoutdoors.com.

(downbeat rock music) (boat engine rumbling) (upbeat guitar music) - [Jordan] A few weeks back I was able to spend a day on the water with a couple of anglers targeting cisco and lake trout in one of the more beautiful areas in the entire state, Grand Traverse Bay.

- First cast.

(chuckling) - Here we are on Grand Traverse Bay, we're on East Bay currently where we're gonna go out and fish shallow water targeting lake trout and cisco.

It's a short run each year, it's about a month each year you can go out in shallow water and target these fish between about, you know, 30' and 60' deep.

It's been great lately, you know, this late May early June is very productive every year, it's a pretty consistent bite.

(upbeat guitar music continues) (waves murmuring) (water splashing) - We fished 20' to 30' of water yesterday where we caught probably 20 to 30 fish, lost maybe about the same amount.

A lot of lakers, a lot of cisco, about 50/50 mix of each.

Covered a lot of water and we ended up finding a bunch of fish on kind of a shallow reef.

So, we're fishing 1/2 ounce heavy hitters, they're a tungsten jigging spoon which allows us to downsize their presentation and cisco's have really small mouths and so it's advantageous to have a smaller spoon and these tungsten spoons really give us an advantage for those.

When you're fighting 'em you gotta be really, really careful because they've got soft mouths so you just kinda baby 'em in.

(wind rustling) - [Tyler] Like another cisco.

- It's a nice fish here, oh, not ready yet.

(laughing) They fight pretty good for their size.

(water splashing) There we go.

- [Jordan] We started catching fish almost immediately and the action was pretty steady throughout the morning.

Although early summer is the best time of year to target these fish in shallow water, you can catch them throughout the summer and even into the fall.

(water gurgling) - Here on Grand Traverse Bay this time of year, it's a really great time to be out here.

It's one of the few times of the year that you can actually fish shallow, you know, the shoreline water temperature will warm up first and because of that it'll draw in cisco and lake trout and even small mouth, you know, I've caught a white fish out here and it's one of the few times of the year you can catch all these fish within the same, you know, water column basically, though they'll leave the bay, you know, July and August, but you know, usually around Labor Day, a little bit after Labor Day, they'll kinda start working their way into the bay and it sets up for a great fishery in the fall and lake trout season closes here October 1st- - [Michael] Oh, a little lake there.

- [Tyler] So starting October 1st, I'll pretty much only be doing cisco charters, you know, as long as the weather permits.

In the fall it's more of a trolling bite.

It's a great bite, I mean, you know, about 20, (upbeat music) 20 to 40 fish is your average catch, so if you wanna, you know, fill the cooler up and, you know, get a good mess of fish in your freezer for the winter, it's a great time to come out here.

- [Jordan] Although the fish were biting, the wind was making it difficult to cast very far from the boat, which led us to reposition the boat several different times in order to cast more effectively.

(upbeat music continues) - It's a little windy, obviously we're rocking and rolling a little bit, but we're catching fish, you gotta kinda cast downstream or upstream of the boat or upwind or downwind of the boat due to obviously lack of feel.

If you cast sideways you get a big bow in your line so it'll be advantageous to fish directly downwind or upwind for sensitivity, feeling your bites (reel humming) and there we go, there's one on.

(laughing) (reel humming) - [Tyler] Oh man, that's probably on that laker right there, huh?

- Yeah, that might be a laker.

(Tyler laughing) - [Michael] A little angry.

(Tyler laughing) (upbeat music continues) (reel clicking) (waves murmuring) - [Michael] Yeah, we're just kind of ripping it up about 2', working the jigs back to the boat.

You can vertical jig these, but I find I actually catch a lot more fish when I pitch 'em out from the boat and really control your fall rate.

So, you wanna select the right weight, if you're fishing like 20' and less, you fish 1/2 ounce, you're fishing, let's say 20' to 40 foot', 3/4 and then 40' plus, I usually fish one ounce and you can change that depending on line diameter and whatnot, but it gives you kind of a hard and fast rule.

- [Tyler] Yep.

- Starting point for ya.

(water splashing) - [Tyler] There we go.

- [Jordan] Although the tackle needed for this style of fishing is very basic, there are a few tips and tricks that these guys shared to help you put more fish in the net.

(water gurgling) - For the main line I like to run, you know, a braided line, you know, where a lot of the water we're fishing, you know, 20' to, you know, sometimes 60' deep doing this and then you need a braided line, so you have like a tight connection to your bait, you can feel what's going on (water gurgling) and if you're using a monofilament backing, there's just too much stretch in that line to get the correct action that you need out of that bait and plus, you'll miss a lot of your hits if you run a monofilament.

So, if you're coming out here, definitely use braided line and then I use around about 20 pound test, then I'll run it down to fluorocarbon leader, which is usually 10, 10 to 14 pound, you know.

You want something a little bit stronger, you know, because we do have like zebra muscles out here, you know, so if you're running your line along that, you want something that's gonna withstand the, you know, the markings of, you know, running your line across that and then for the terminal tackle, you know, I like to use a small snap swivel.

- The main thing is why we use a snap on these, they're such a hard material that if you tie direct to this, when this comes down on a rock, it pinches between your line and the rock or between the lure and the rock and it cuts your line.

So, always use a snap swivel on these and as you can see, I just run a snap, I don't run the swivel on there.

You do get some line twists, what you can do is troll really slowly with your line out behind the boat and that line twist will come out automatically if you get too much line twist from fighting fish, but yeah, having that free movement, too, I don't like the kind that pinches that has like a angled part, I like the rounded one because it allows that front of the spoon to wobble more and these spoons actually act, with a swivel on there, they act more like a blade bait than they do a spoon, they've got a really erratic action on the lift and so just retaining that action with the snap is absolutely key and then you'll see I've got a leader, if it was any calmer, I might even run a longer leader, but I run about a 5' leader and you'll notice here I've got a braid to fluorocarbon knot and I like an Alberto knot but whatever knot you're comfortable tying that you know is gonna hold is all you really need.

I don't like swivels 'cause they tear up your guides and we run long enough leaders to where we'd have to reel the swivel in through our guides, so we don't want a swivel on there.

Lighting 'em up, he's got the hot hand.

- (laughing) Got the hot hand right now.

- [Michael] Yeah.

(Tyler laughing) (waves murmuring) - Grand Traverse Bay at its finest except we got a, get a good glimpse of it yet.

- [Michael] It's so much fun coming up here and just tearing up fish.

(Tyler laughing) Looks like a cisco.

- Yep, another cisco here.

(waves murmuring) - [Michael] Come here, little fella.

- [Tyler] There we go.

- There we go.

(laughing) - Nice, there we go.

- [Jordan] These guys both work in the fishing industry, one as a charter captain and one on the tackle side of things and although it can be challenging, both of them enjoy what they do.

- Yeah, it's been an absolute riot, I wouldn't change a thing about it, I absolutely love working in the fishing industry.

I used to work in like the hardware industry and everyone comes in with something broken and they're not happy, right, and in the fishing industry they're always happy, they're always headed out to do something they're passionate about, so it's a whole different mindset and I'm very fortunate to be able to work in it for as long as long as I have.

(peaceful guitar music) I ran a shop for six years and then I started getting into making tackle five years ago actually and so, yeah, (water splashing) I've got a lot of background in it and I've been fishing since I was three years old or so (laughing) so it's definitely something I'm passionate about, wouldn't change a thing for the world.

Kinda feeling a little bit like a laker.

(waves murmuring) (peaceful music continues) (reel humming) Staying down.

Come say hi, little fella.

(Tyler laughing) - [Tyler] Not yet, I guess, huh?

- (laughing) Nope.

He's like, "Nope, I don't like that boat.

I don't want nothing to do with those guys, they're no good."

(both laughing) - [Tyler] I see.

- I really like it 'cause you see a lot of boats around, it's kind of secluded, you've got most of the water to yourself, it doesn't get overfished.

You can come out here, even if you're not a super knowledgeable fisherman, and usually put some fish in the boat.

It's relatively easy fishing and it's gorgeous scenery and you know, (peaceful music continues) you drop the wife off at the wineries and come out here on the water and have a great time.

So, it's a great destination to come fish.

- [Jordan] What a great day on the water.

The fishing was so good that before it was all said and done, I was able to land a few myself, (water splashing) which doesn't happen very often.

Special thanks to Michael and Tyler for letting me tag along on a fun day of fishing here on Grand Traverse Bay.

- [Tyler] That might be, (water splashing) that might be the biggest fish of the day right there.

- There you go.

- [Tyler] There you go, don't lose him.

(chuckling) - As long as you get one.

(both laughing) - [Tyler] That's the one, that' makes up for everything.

- Well, it looks like those guys had a lot of fun up there on the water.

We're gonna shift gears now and head inland a little bit, the central part of the State, where just a few weeks ago I was introduced to the American Pointing Lab Association, some really good folks, some really good dog work.

(upbeat guitar music) - We have an APLA test, an American Pointing Labrador Association test.

We do retrieving series on land and water and then we also do upland field where the dogs go out and point birds and then we shoot 'em and retrieve 'em.

- [Jimmy] Nice, and is there a lot of people that are here today?

- [Linda] We have about 30 camp dog handlers.

- [Jimmy] Nice- - Yeah.

- [Jimmy] And are they from, where are they, just from all over or just- - [Linda] From all over, we have people mostly from Michigan, but we have someone from North Carolina, we have someone from Virginia, we have a couple people from Colorado, so- - [Jimmy] Okay, and what's the attraction of the pointing lab?

- It's just a great all around dog, so they're really great as water fowl hunters and they're awesome with families and you can take 'em and do upland hunting, as well, just like the German shorthairs and the norm, the what people could refer to as norm, you know, pointing dogs.

- Okay.

(hunter laughing) I have to say it is hard to beat watching a good dog work and I was excited to see just what these pointing labs could do, both in the upland woods (duck call quacking) and on the water.

(duck thumping) (duck call quacking) (shot blasting) (water splashing) (grass rustling) (water splashing) There were three basic parts to today.

There were water retrieves, land retrieves and then the upland fields.

Troy Benson filled me in on the club.

- Well, our membership is right around, I wanna say 300 to 400.

Our main goal is to identify, certify and promote our pointing labs.

So, our Labradors are just the same as every other Labrador except for they will point birds in the upland.

So, we test the retrieving ability of them and we also test their ability in the upland as far as pointing birds, searching, desire, all of those things.

We have different categories that we use for scoring, but our main goal is to identify the best dogs and then promote 'em all over the country.

- [Jimmy] Nice, and how long have you been doing this?

- How long have I been doing this?

- [Jimmy] Yeah.

- Since 2003 it says on my shirt, so 20 years.

(Jimmy laughing) - [Jimmy] Good thing you got that shirt on, otherwise- - Yeah, I would've forgot for sure, but right around 20 years or so.

- [Jimmy] And home for you is where?

- I live in Cottonwood, Minnesota, which is in the southwest corner of the State, I'm about an hour from South Dakota and an hour from Iowa, so- - Okay, nice.

So, are these pointing labs becoming more and more popular?

- Yeah, our membership has grown exponentially in the last 10 years, they're becoming more and more popular all over the country and that's based on everything improving from starting that with the breeders doing the best job that they can to produce a high quality dog.

- [Jimmy] There were definitely some high quality dogs here today and some that were just getting started.

Troy ran me through the different stages of the trials here today.

- In the APLA we have three different levels of testing.

We have Certified, (hunters murmuring) which is pretty much an entry level test where the dog has to hunt the upland field, point each bird for five seconds, they do not have to be steady when the bird goes up, they have to retrieve it to within a reasonable step and as long as they perform in the upland, they get to do two water retrieves and the water retrieves are typically 50 yards or less in open water, so that's our Certified field.

If they complete all of that, they get a pass.

In order to get a title for that level, you have to pass the test twice.

Advanced is a little bit tougher, so it's a double, which means there's two birds, one comes out and another comes out and they have, (hunters murmuring) we do that on land and we use ducks for that and then we do that, the same thing on water.

In Advanced they have to run a blind, which is a taught retrieve, basically.

So, the dog will be sent from the handler's side, typically, and somewhere between, (whistle tweeting) I wanna say 40 and 50 yards is the typical APR blind and the dog has to sit on a whistle or at least stop and be casted to the bird so that they can pick up that duck.

In the upland field, for an Advanced dog, they have to search the field, they have to point for 10 seconds and then they also don't have to be steady through the flush.

So, if they hold their point for 10 seconds, that's a good point, we count that, we plant four birds for the Advanced field and the Certified gets three and then as long as they complete all of that within a reasonable manner, they get a pass and it takes two passes for them to title in Advanced, unless they have a Certified title, then they only have to have one pass.

In Masters, our highest level of testing, so they have a double, which is two ducks coming out with a blind retrieve mixed in and they do that on land and water.

On one of those series we have a diversion bird, meaning when the dog's coming back with a retrieve, we'll throw another bird off the side so that the dog can, we can test the dog's level of cooperation and steadiness, as well.

In the upland for the Master is probably where the rubber meets the road the most, it's the hardest part.

The dog has to hunt the field, (shot blasting) it's typically anywhere from three to 10 acres, it kinda just depends what you have for cover.

In the upland, for a Master dog, (whistle tweeting) they have to point for 10 seconds, but then they have to be steady through wing and shot.

(hunters murmuring) So, the bird gets kicked, the bird flies, they shoot the bird, bird goes down.

Bird goes down, we say, "Dog", as judges and then the dog can be sent on the retrieve.

So, when we do anything (grass rustling) in these fields for upland, if the bird is not being able to be produced because of conditions or because of a safety reason, where we can't shoot into a certain space, then we will do a simulated retrieve in the upland.

- [Jimmy] So, there you have it, quite a program their running here today.

It was impressive for sure.

The water retrieves were really fun to watch and to see so many quality dog handlers, well, it was pretty cool.

(bird singing) (water splashing) (whistle loudly tweeting) (whistle tweeting) (whistle loudly tweeting) (whistle tweeting) (whistle loudly tweeting) (wind rustling) (whistle tweeting) - Good dog.

(whistle tweeting) (whistle tweeting) (hands clapping) (upbeat guitar music) - [Jimmy] The American Pointing Lab Association was pretty impressive for sure.

As an upland hunter myself, the ongoing conversation of what is the best kind of dog to hunt behind, well that still rages on.

Many will say you need a pointer, Some prefer the flushing breeds and some, like the labs running today, are almost a hybrid with the skills to do both pointing and retrieving.

If you're looking for a place to learn more about dog handling, this group might be a good fit for you.

If you're looking for a new breed, maybe a pointing lab is for you.

One thing is for sure, (whistle tweeting) hitting the upland woods or the water with a well-trained dog is pretty special.

Thanks to all for showing me around today and good luck this fall here in Michigan's out-of-doors.

(upbeat guitar music) Well, we're here once again in Mount Pleasant Wood Shop Social, Jim Wood, chef extraordinaire, and I believe we have some trout filets here.

- We do.

- What is the plan of attack?

What are we doing here, Jim?

- So, we're gonna saute the trout and we're gonna serve it with a roasted potato salad, so where we roast the potatoes beforehand.

- Okay.

- And then we chill 'em out so it gives 'em a just a different flavor profile- - Hmm.

- And then instead of using just your standard mayonnaise mix, we're actually using remoulade, which is a sauce we make here in house.

It's mayonnaise, horseradish, stone ground mustard, green onions, Worcestershire, there's I think, 12 things in it.

- Wow.

- So, it really takes the salad to a different level- - Okay.

- And then we're gonna make a quick dill citrus sauce to go over top of it.

- Okay, well let's get started.

What are we gonna do to these trout filets here?

- [Jim] Take our fish skin side down, put it in away from us, (pan sizzling) oil doesn't hit you.

People have a tendency to really overcook fish, some fish is forgiving, you can do it, other fish, not so much, but I'd say for a a filet this big one 1 1/2 minutes on each side tops.

(pan sizzling) - [Jimmy] You really didn't season that really much at all, just a little bit of salt.

- [Jim] Just a little bit of salt, yeah, you don't need to, especially if you're cooking on high heat, you don't wanna put pepper on here 'cause pepper has a lot of oil in it and it burns- - Mm.

- [Jim] And it burns fast and that that'll make your fish bitter.

(pan sizzling) All right, so that's good to go, I'm gonna take that right off.

So, now we're gonna add fresh orange juice, fresh lemon juice, touch of salt and we're gonna add some butter- - Hmm.

- And we're just gonna let that do its thing, add some dill, fresh dill.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

- Which goes really good with potato salad.

So, now you've got those potatoes, add 1/2 cup of cooked egg, (dishes clinking) 1/2 cup raw celery, 1/4 cup raw onion, (dishes clinking) of red onion and a 1/4 cup of green onion (upbeat guitar music) and then you're gonna go in with your remoulade.

- [Jimmy] So, the butter citrus sauce is just for on top of the fish and then this is along side?

- Yeah, I don't know how much (spoon tapping) we'll actually put on the fish, we'll probably put a lot of, the majority of it around the plate, actually.

- Okay.

- [Jim] You've done all that work to make your skin as crispy as you can make it, you start putting sauce on top of it, a lotta times it's gonna- - Okay.

- This is gonna be skin on sauteed rainbow trout with citrus butter dill sauce and a roasted potato salad.

- [Jimmy] Oh, my.

(upbeat guitar music continues) (Jimmy chuckling) - [Jim] Is it good?

- [Jimmy] That is really good.

Holy cow, that citrus sauce.

- [Jim] Well, it's simple, it's got four ingredients, no reason to get crazy with it.

(upbeat guitar music continues) - Well, hey everybody, thank you so much for watching "Michigan Out-Of-Doors" this week, we sure do appreciate it.

If you miss part of this week's show or maybe last week's show, you can always catch us anytime online, you can do that through our social media platforms, website or YouTube, you can actually subscribe to our channel there on YouTube and get an email every time we post something new.

There should be lots of new stuff coming because there is a lot of great stuff happening around the State right now.

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

- [Announcer] "Michigan Out-Of-Doors" is presented by... (upbeat music) - [2nd Announcer] Do you dream (water rushing) of somewhere bigger than your backyard?

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- [Announcer] By Network Outdoors, connecting members to share experiences, help grow businesses and to give back to the outdoor community.

Learn more at one of 10 monthly meetups or online at networkoutdoors.com.

(upbeat music continues) By Alta Equipment Company, providing sales, rental, service and parts because uptime matters.

From earth moving to landscaping and light construction, Alta offers over 50 brands across seven Michigan locations to serve you.

More information online or 844-GO-2-ALTA, by GreenMark Equipment, GreenMark Equipment is a John Deere dealership network in southwest Michigan and northern Indiana.

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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.

("Michigan Man" music) ♪ When I wander 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 scene ♪ ♪ Like rainbow trout in a hidden stream ♪ ♪ The whitetail deer in the tall pine trees ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ ♪ I am, I am a Michigan man ♪ ♪ Ask where I'm from ♪ ♪ And I'll show you my hands ♪ ♪ Lord above, I love this land ♪ ♪ I'm a Michigan man ♪ ♪ From the Keewenaw down to St. Joe ♪ ♪ Kalamazoo east to Monroe ♪ ♪ Sault Ste.

Marie and back again ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ ♪ I am, I am a Michigan man ♪ ♪ Ask where I'm from ♪ ♪ And I'll show you my hands ♪ ♪ Lord above, I love this land ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ ♪ Ah, Mitch-i-ga-mee ♪ ♪ Win a-wen nsustung ♪ ♪ wah-sey-wah mib-zey-wen ♪ (upbeat music)