- Hello, everyone, welcome to "Michigan Out of Doors," I am Jenny Ciolek and we've got a brand-new show headed your way.

On a recent trip to the UP, we stopped in to check out an ongoing research program targeting coaster brook trout, you won't wanna miss that story, lots of interesting information there, and we've got a lot of other great things headed your way this week.

- Well, that's right, Jenny, we do have a few more things on this week's episode, we're gonna do a little fishing out of the Port of Ludington on this week's episode with some folks that actually won a chance to be on that boat, you won't wanna miss that, and if you'd like to put a food plot in on your piece of property but you don't have a good clearing, we're gonna show you how to put a clearing in or even clear some shooting lanes, lots of stuff on this week's show, make sure you stay tuned, I'm Jimmy Gretzinger and it's time for "Michigan Out of Doors."

♪ From the first spring rains to the soft summer breeze ♪ ♪ 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" ♪ - [Person] What a beautiful day in the woods.

♪ Someday, our children all will see ♪ ♪ This is their finest legacy ♪ The wonder and the love of Michigan ♪ ♪ As the wind comes whispering through the trees ♪ ♪ The sweet smell of nature's in the air ♪ ♪ From the Great Lakes to the quiet stream ♪ ♪ Shining like a sportsman's dream ♪ ♪ It's a love of Michigan we all share ♪ (relaxed guitar music) - [Narrator] "Michigan Out of Doors" is presented by... - [Narrator] By Country Smoke House, a sportsman's destination since 1988, featuring varieties of homemade sausage, jerky, brats and gourmet entrees.

Holiday gift boxes can be assembled in store or online.

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- [Narrator] By Great Lakes Firearms & Ammunition, a family-owned-and-operated firearm manufacturer in Sparta, Michigan.

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

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- [Narrator] By Morgan Composting, a family business located in Michigan.

Morgan Composting offers a variety of products all powered by Dairy Doo Organic Compost for homeowners and farmers.

To learn more about all the product options available for your food plots, visit dairydoo.com.

(relaxed guitar music) (ethereal electronic music) (upbeat rock music) (relaxed guitar music) (relaxed guitar music continues) - [Jimmy] A week or so back found me in the town that I grew up in, Ludington, Michigan.

Today, we were hitting the water with the crew from Silver Addiction, which are some longtime friends, along with Kyle Jackson and his family, who were lucky enough to win this trip through a drawing we did with our friends at Greenstone.

We had high hopes and we were on fish well before daylight.

(fishing reel winding) (indistinct) (fishing reel winding) Our crew today was Bo Waite, who's only 19, along with Jillian Colby, who is 15, it's great to see kids learning how to do this big lake fishing.

- So that fish we just took was on the big white paddle from Deamweaver with a Pickled Sunshine fly on the back, and then, we got boards out, a lot of flashers and flies today.

- [Jimmy] Flashers and flies?

- Have been the predominant for bigger fish, so...

But then, we just brought in a little guy, so... - [Jimmy] The fishing had been pretty good and we were on fish right away.

- Well, Jimmy, we're just a little bit north of Big Sable, we're in about 152 foot of water, we've actually been fishing this water for the last, I don't know, month-and-a-half.

It's been pretty steady, a lot of nice fish in that 12-to-15 pound range, and basically just finding some temp, we got a lot of warm water, we got... Down 95 feet, it's still 54 degrees, so we're gonna be going out a little bit to find some colder water and find some bigger fish, had a little bit of a storm yesterday, kinda blew 'em around a little bit, so we'll find them, - [Jimmy] But fishing's been pretty steady?

- Yeah, been real good, nice, steady year, nice class of fish this year, Jay and the DNR have done a good job keeping this thing stocked, so we've got some nice coho around, we have seen some nice eight-to-12-pound coho, so hopefully, we can show you guys some of those today.

- [Jimmy] And who's our first mates today?

- Today in the back of the boat, of course, we've got Bo, the deck boss, as always, he's been with us since he was 12, so he's going on his seventh year, and then, I've got my niece, Jillian Colby, she's on her second season, getting ready to step up and help out as well, so hopefully, they can give these guys a good day.

- [Jimmy] And you kinda let them run the back of the boat, eh?

- Oh, they get the...

I'm just the ticket on board, I just push the buttons up here and get to pay the bills, you know?

You know how that is.

(people laughing) But it's really neat to see the young people taking over like they are.

- [Jimmy] It was pretty cool to see a couple of teenagers that really know how to run a big lake boat.

How'd you get stuck with all these guys here today?

- Well, I'm related to one of them.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

(people laughing) How'd you get into this whole fishing thing?

- I just started coming up to visit my great aunt and uncle, and just started hanging out on the boat more, and I just...

I started with tournament fishing, and after that, I just fell in love with it, and here I am.

- [Jimmy] And what do you like about fishing so much?

- I love being outdoors.

I love being outside.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- It's not something that a ton of people my age, especially girls my age, do, so... - [Jimmy] Cool!

I have to say, between Bo and Jillian, they had this fishing dialed in.

Fishing like they do day in and day out, it's pretty impressive how they can stay on the fish.

I had Bo explain a little bit about what has been working lately here just north of Ludington.

- So today, we've been running a lot of paddles and flies, primarily white, but any sort of white with tape on it, seems to be Pickled Sunshine flies, and we have...

I think we got a couple bullfrogs out there too, so pretty much green flies.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

Now, does that change day to day or how do you kinda figure out what you're gonna run?

- We try to stay on top of the fish, so it's kind of varied throughout the week, oh.

(Jimmy laughing) I know if it's gonna go!

(people laughing) (indistinct) - [Jimmy] Well, of course, the fish would hit right in the middle of an interview, but hey, that's a good thing.

The action was steady all morning, and while we had a little bit of time, I asked Kyle about this kind of fishing and how he got here today.

Kyle, tell me how you ended up on this boat here today.

- Well, we went to the fishing show in Grand Rapids and I entered into a drawing for "Michigan Out of Doors" and I got called a couple weeks later, so nice little win, get out in the middle of the week to go fishing.

- [Jimmy] Yeah, have you done much of this kind of fishing before?

- Not much fishing like this, and it's been probably 25 years, out of South Haven a couple times, but that was it.

- [Jimmy] Nice, and what does everybody think today?

You guys having fun?

- This is the best time ever.

- [Jimmy] (laughs) Nice!

We got some sore arms...?

(indistinct) - Not yet.

- [Jimmy] Not too bad?

- Not too bad.

- [Jimmy] Oh, good!

- Yep, not bad.

- [Jimmy] You're getting a lot of salmon to eat.

- Oh, yeah.

- [Kyle] Yep.

- [Person] There'll some good cooking tonight.

(Jimmy laughing) - [Kyle] Go home, start the smoker, there you go.

- [Person] I'm making a move at mom speed here.

(fishing reel winding) - Well, actually, today's been really good, Bo and Jillian have kept the paddles and flies going, well, on the shoot-rigger, of course, paddle... White paddle, Pickled Sunshine, divers back 200 with small paddles, and then, small paddles and flies on the 300 and 350, and, you know, basically, it's been an angle of troll today, we keep a good angle of troll out here in this deeper water and the kings have been munching 'em, and they've been doing a good job of putting 'em in, run into some coho that bit the flies off, but, you know, that's the name of the game, so it's been a nice steady morning, just gotta get a couple more.

- [Jimmy] And are we...?

Is there a certain depth that you're targeting, or...?

- [Mark] Well, we started out this morning in 150, and we hit our first fish in 170, and then, we've just kinda been in an out-troll, got out to 300, we're out to 378 right now, and best depth's probably been around 250 just because, you know, we're fishing down...

Right now, the shoot-rigger's best action is around about 121, 110, so they're down there deep.

- [Jimmy] And how long will the fishing be good here over the next month or two?

- Well, it's probably gonna be all the way good through September, Jimmy, just because we're probably 30-to-35 days behind because of weather, you know, we had a good hard winter, and so, things are kinda normal, I mean, the big boys will go up the river, but, you know, the young guys will be staying around here and coho will be here, so I think September will be good if you don't get in the woods, you get out here.

(relaxed guitar music) - [Person] Nice.

(water splashing) (relaxed guitar music) - [Jimmy] Ooh, big one.

(indistinct) (relaxed guitar music) (water splashing) (person exclaiming in excitement) (relaxed guitar music) (indistinct) (relaxed guitar music) Way to go, young lady!

- Yay!

(relaxed guitar music) - [Jimmy] Charter boat fishing is quite an industry here in our great state.

From the southern basin of Lake Michigan all the way up the Gold Coast, there are tons of charter fishing options.

From Sheboygan down the Sunrise side to the great Saginaw Bay, the tip of the thumb in Port Austin down to the St. Clair River, from the St. Clair out to the Detroit River, right down to Lake Erie, and of course, our pristine options above the Bridge.

There are boats waiting for you anywhere you want to go, so get out and enjoy this water wonderland here in Michigan's out-of-doors.

(relaxed guitar music) Well, special thanks to everybody that made that trip possible, that was a lot of fun.

What we're gonna do right now is head above the Bridge where Jordan Brown is gonna introduce us to some research studies that are being done on the coaster brook trout, some really interesting stuff up there in the Upper Peninsula.

(relaxed guitar music) - [Chris] Small-y, I think.

(relaxed guitar music) - [Jimmy] For this week's show, I was in the Keweenaw Peninsula to learn more about the status of the coaster brook trout population, some of the research being done and the challenges they face.

(relaxed guitar music) - Nice one.

(relaxed guitar music) Yeah, so this trout steam where we just walked by obviously provides a little food source for some of these predator fish, so they like to hang out right where the creek hits the portage there and just wait.

(relaxed guitar music) So I brought you out to one of the streams that enters into the Portage Canal here, there are several of these smaller streams that come into the canal that support trout populations and are some of the focus of some of our coaster work because they can potentially support coaster brook trout, but yeah, I brought you to this spot 'cause it's kinda interesting to see the interface of the stream and the lake habitat, and as we just caught that smallmouth, you kinda see what some of those trout species are up against as far as predators, so when they're out migrating from these smaller streams, they might have a little bit different species assemblage to deal with than streams that go directly into Lake Superior, where it's, you know, colder and deeper, so we're trying to understand how their migration timing in some of these smaller streams might compare to some of the other rivers around Lake Superior that might empty into a little bit different types of habitat, so it can affect the timing on when the fish enter and leave the streams because the water temperatures and some of the other predator species that are present in some of these smaller streams that come into the canal and some other areas of... Like Torch Lake and the Portage waterway compared to Lake Superior or some of the bays.

Yeah, this one's got some shoulders on it.

(fishing reel winding) - [Jimmy] In addition to trying to better understand some of the predator species that coaster brook trout may encounter, Chris and his team have been focusing on identifying locations where these trouts still live, using underwater cameras to help better understand how many coaster brook trout are still around.

(water splashing) - This is a good spot 'cause I like to, you know, come and have plenty of room to fly-cast, and use my big, long 13-foot rod and catch some bigger predator species, but after this, we're gonna go up into one of these streams and set up one of my video cameras that we've been operating to monitor some of the fish populations, specifically in some of the areas we're hoping to do some habitat restoration work.

Some of these streams have been affected by a flood that we had several years ago, a lot of sedimentation, some invasive grasses that are making the stream bed or stream banks unstable, so we're gonna do some work to hopefully remediate some of that and get some of the deep holding pool habitat back, so we're gonna go set up, yeah, a camera that we've been operating in some of these locations in the Lower River, kind of experimental at this point, to kinda get an idea of how they work and protocols for... To have students and helpers, volunteers even, operate these cameras so we can get some information on the fish populations with not a whole lot of effort putting in the cameras, and then, we'll try to catch some trout because, you know, that's kind of, for me, what a lot of it's all about is being able to get out there and enjoy fishing for these fish too.

(relaxed guitar music) (relaxed guitar music continues) So what I put together here is a kind of mobile camera unit that we can kinda carry around and move from place to place without breaking your back too bad, the batteries are the heaviest part here, but the way that we have this set up is it runs on a 12-volt battery and a power converter so that I can run this DVR that has a hard drive in it that can store lots of footage, you know, several days without filling it up, and a monitor to see what you're looking at, and the camera itself is housed in this stainless steel housing, but it's pretty cool 'cause at nighttime, it goes into infrared mode, so you get footage throughout the nighttime too, it's black and white, but that's when a lot of the fish action is, the dusk and the dawn periods, but then, I mounted 'em in these half cinder blocks so they were pretty robust to stick in the river and you can kinda point them around, you can even see on the screen here, it's got the image, so I'll take this out in the river and get it in a spot that I think is good, a little bit deeper with a little bit of cover, and get it pointed in a good angle, so we'll let this run for a few days to see what kind of fish assemblage we have hanging out here, and it's really fun, the labor-intensive part is, you know, watching all the footage, so I have a few students at Michigan Tech helping review some of the footage, it's fun, but you watch a lot of water go by, but you get to see some really cool fish interactions 'cause, you know, you're setting this camera out there and leaving, so they're no longer, you know, spooked by having a person standing on the bank and they kinda go back to do their normal things.

- [Jimmy] Coaster brook trout have a long history here in Michigan, and in recent years, more and more people have become interested in why their numbers continue to decline and what can be done about it.

- So coasters have been a really important fish in the Great Lakes area for centuries, more recently, their numbers have declined substantially to the point where there's not a whole lot of known populations around, especially on the south side in Michigan here, so over the last few years, there's been kind of an increase in interest in restoring some of the populations and getting an idea of the status of some of these populations and these streams, so we've really come kind of a long way in the last few years as far as getting some information using more recent data analytical tools, so using micro-chemistry, genetics, so we're partnering with Michigan State and North Carolina State University to do some genetic work to understand whether these different streams could be supporting coaster brook trout, we have some efforts partnering with local anglers to get fin clips to bolster some of our genetic sampling to get a better idea of the population kind of structure that we have, and whether we have different populations in these different streams and if coasters tend to be of a different stock than some of the native brook trout, the stream-resident brook trout.

Another little rainbow.

- [Person] They're hungry.

- But this is part of the challenge with the coaster rehabilitation, they have a lot of competitors to deal with, like rainbow trout, juvenile steelhead, so they're all competing for the same resources in here, so some of the work we're doing is trying to understand how these both species are able to coexist and if they're potentially limiting brook trout production and coaster production.

Still a pretty fish, though.

It's been really cool to get some information on some of these streams that we haven't really looked at scientifically for a long time, or maybe even ever.

Every time we go out, we learn something more about these fish and their ecosystem that they live in, but ideally, I think we need to put a lot more effort into, you know, the habitat, and a lot of the stocking that takes place is great in the short-term, but to get something more sustainable that doesn't require inputting fish all the time is to provide the habitat that the fish needs to do it on their own, providing an ecosystem where the fish can live 'cause it's more about the coaster itself, but getting out to places like this and having a healthy stream is important for a lot of reasons besides fish, but fish are my favorite reason.

(laughs) - There's still a lot we don't know about the coaster brook trout population here in Michigan, but hopefully, that will change in the coming years.

Thanks to Chris for taking us out and for teaching us all a little more about the coaster brook trout.

It was a fun day here in the Keweenaw Peninsula.

(relaxed guitar music) Well, we are here today with Doug Boggs, and Doug, tell me a little bit about... We're standing in the middle of a food plot that you guys are clearing, talk to me a little bit about your business and what do you guys do.

- Okay, well, we are in the forestry mulching business, and now, with some of the contacts that we made and stuff, we're learning how to clear areas and to provide an opportunity so these guys can put food plots in, and I know most of us know if we've ever tried to clear an area with a chainsaw and pull stuff around, it takes forever, so we cleared out probably a few hundred yards here in the last 45 minutes.

- Okay, and how long have you guys been doing this business?

- We actually... My son and I talked last Christmas, and I said, "I don't know, do you wanna do it?

Let's go do it," so we bought what we think to be the best, okay?

Caterpillar is a great machine, there's a lot of 'em out there, though, Kubota, John Deere, all of them, but Cat was the best and the best distribution system, so no matter where you're at, you're not too far away from a Cat service and dealer.

- Okay, and so, what kind of clients have you been...?

Is it mostly food plots or people wanting to put shooting lanes in?

Kinda what all sort...?

Kinda stuff do you guys offer?

- So right now, the shooting lanes has been the one that seems to be interested for most people, especially maybe this time of year, they're going, "You know, I gotta get off there and clear this, but man, I don't know if I can," so we've gotten quite a few calls and we've done a few jobs, and now, we've got a few more lined up, we do try to fill in with additional services like fence rows for farmers, you know, they start out being four foot wide, and then, in 20 years, they're 30 feet wide, so we offer the fact to reclaim that, and then, lastly, there's some pretty nice areas over in...

Horse areas over in Meadow Moore in Michigan, and we've talked a little bit with those people about a forest restoration where we actually go in and take out evasive species, and then, allow these folks who like to watch the animals, to view 'em, an opportunity to do the same thing that we do, only differently as well.

- [Jimmy] Well, this is pretty brushy in here and there's a quite a few... How big of a tree can you take down and...?

Yeah, so if somebody wanted to clear a spot, do they need to get the big trees out first, or how does that work?

- Yeah, if you... Basically, it will take... We recommend about eight-inch diameter tree, you know, right in that area, now, it depends a lot on the type of tree, you know, I mean, if it's a pine tree, we can take a lot more, if people wanna take down large trees, maybe, you know, two-foot in diameter, that kinda thing, they need a logging company to do that.

Some of the interests that we've seen from some folks has been, if you log it, they... Their business is the logs, so they only go up high enough and once they reach branches, they're done, they leave the rest.

- [Jimmy] And then, how...?

What kinda shape is the ground in once you guys come in and do this?

Is it lots of limbs and stuff, or does that get mulched up, or how does that work?

- Yeah, it kinda depends on the area, if an area is really rocky, you know, we try to be careful about how... We can go about four-or-five inches below the surface, so we actually can make it a nice plot area.

- [Jimmy] Okay, and what...?

Is the clientele mostly east side of the state so far?

I know you guys are kinda over this way, but kind of you could go anywhere, really, in the state of Michigan.

- Yeah, and in fact, we're kind of looking at Ohio and maybe a little bit further south this winter, that might make some sense to those folks, but we love Michigan, that's where we... That's where our passion is, we have a log cabin in Northern Michigan over by Republic on a private lake up there, which is way cool, this happens to be seven hours away, right?

But it's beautiful, though, so... - [Jimmy] Well, it's probably fun working with your son too, and kind of a new venture for the two of you.

- He says to me the other day, we're down in the Capac area and we're back in the woods, and he says, "Dad, this is it, man."

You know, "We're in the woods, where else would you wanna be besides be out here and work?"

- [Jimmy] Yeah, getting ready for the hunting season.

When Doug reached out to us, I was interested to see how easy or hard it is to clear an opening for a food plot or shooting lanes.

When you have the right gear, well, it can be much easier.

Once it's all done and mulched up, it's pretty impressive, and good luck to all you deer hunters that'll be getting ready to hit the woods in just a few short weeks.

- Thank you so much for joining us this week for "Michigan Out of Doors," make sure you stay tuned in upcoming weeks, lots of great things still headed your way as we transition from summer into fall.

We'll be heading to Frankfurt to try to head out on Lake Michigan with Bob Garner for our annual trip there, that's always a fun time, and we'll try to chase after some muskies down on Lake St. Clair and a lot of things in-between.

If you'd like to see where we are and what we're up to, you can always check us out online.

- Well, that's right, Jenny, online's a good way to kinda keep track of us, you can do that through Instagram, Facebook, our website, lots of places you can be checking us out and you can check out our new merchandise on our website as well, some good stuff there, and make sure you are getting out and enjoying everything our state has to offer, the hunting seasons are kicking off, it's hard to believe that they're just around the corner, and for those of you that are wondering, we've been getting quite a few folks contacting us here, asking, can they take an antler deer during the youth season?

Yes, you can this year, make sure you know that, and 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... - [Narrator] Get away from it all to your own place.

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(upbeat guitar music) - [Narrator] By GreenMark Equipment.

GreenMark Equipment is a John Deere dealership network in Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana.

GreenMark provides sales and services to farmers, commercial businesses, large property-owners and homeowners.

Information about pricing and products available can be found online at greenmarkequipment.com.

(upbeat guitar music) - [Narrator] Closed captioning brought to you by Double D Ranch Foundation, a non-profit 501c3 foundation working to make hunting and fishing accessible for those with disabilities.

(upbeat guitar music) (upbeat guitar music) (upbeat guitar music continues) ♪ When I wanna fire away ♪ A dream stays with me night and day ♪ ♪ It's the road that leads to my home state ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man (upbeat guitar music) ♪ 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 (upbeat guitar music) ♪ I am, I am a Michigan man ♪ That's where I'm from and I'll show you my hands ♪ ♪ Lord above, I love this land ♪ I am a Michigan man (upbeat guitar music) ♪ From the Keweenaw down to St. George ♪ ♪ Kalamazoo leads to Monroe ♪ To St. Marie and back again (ethereal piano music)