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By the Department of Natural ResourcesCENTRAL U.P.Recent cold weather has brought a return of winter to the central Upper Peninsula. Ice on inland lakes and in shore areas of the Great Lakes has tightened up considerably. River ice is still hazardous and people are advised to stay off the rivers. A few geese have been seen flying around the area and also some songbirds. The sap ran well from the maple trees last week but has now stopped. It will probably be another couple of weeks before conditions again will permit the making of maple syrup.fishing. Spawn bags seem to wor Moderating weather should bring more fishinexceFishing Conditions and ActivitiesFair to good salmon fishing fishing in the Upper Harbor at Marquette. Fish are being taken on Mr. Twister, doll flies, or cutbait. Fish ae running 17-19” long. The ice in the Upper Harbor is ‘in and out’ depending upon the wind direction. Most anglers are using boats but opportunity also exists from shore and along the breakwater. Some 2-5 lb chinooks are being taken incidental to cohos.Fair brown trout fishing in the Upper Harbor at Marquette. Fish are running 12-15” long. Bait or lures are the same as mentioned for coho salmon.Fair lake trout fishing in Munising Bay, Alger County, off Powell Point and Sand Point. Fish are running small 2-5 lb. and are being taken on dead smelt.A few coho slamon 17-19” long showing up off the mouth of the AuTrain River.Some steelhead are found in the Tacoosh and Days River, Delta County, providing fairrk best, ng iinto the streams and improve fisning. Veryood yellow perch fishing in Lake Indepen-ence, Marquette County, and fair-to-good yellow perch fishing in AuTrain Lake, Alger CountyHunting Conditions and ActivitiesSnowshoe rabbit hunting fair to good in the Michigamme and Champion areas of Mar-quettte County. The film crust enables dogs and hunters to get around very well Quite a few snowshoe rabbits are available along the East Branch of the Whitefish River south of Trout Lake, Alger County, and north central Delta County.Master Angler Award CertificatesSeveral District 3 residents recently received Master Angler Award Certificates for large fish they caught in 1983.Larry Linaquist of Munising caught the second largest lake trout from Michigan waters while Dave Ralkko of Marquette landed the third largest. Lindquist’s trout weighted 25 lbs. 10 oz. and Ralkko’s 24 lbs. 10 oz. Both were caught in I^ke Superior.The first and third place northern pikes both came from the Greenwood Reservoir in Marquette County The largest entered in this statewide contest was caugnt by Jim Mantyla of Negaunee and weighed 30 lbs. 4 oz. It was 44 inches long. Ernest Jones of K I. Sawyer A F B. took third place with a 25 lb. 5 oz. 35.3 inch pike.James Procunier, Ishpeming, was fishing in Rice Lake, Houghton county, when he landed a 23 lb. 8 oz. Tiger musky which tiedfor fourth place.A somewhat unusual winner for the U P was a 2 lb 8 oz., 16.2 inch white bass taken from Little Bay de Noc by Jay Pepi» of Gladstone. It tied for fifth place.Little Bay de Noc usually produces winners the yellow perch category and 1983 was no eeption George Lofquist, Escanaba, caugnt a 2 lb. 5 oz. yellow’ perch in May which earned him fourth place.Marvin Szukalowski, Cornell, was fishing in the Bark River last spring when a 4 lb. 4 oz. white sucker swallowed his worm That was the third largest sucker entered last year.Application forms for the 1984 Master Angler Award Program are now available at most DNR officesEASTERN U.P.The district picked up a few more inches of snow; snowmobile trail groomers have resumed operations on a limited basis (pendin-the arrival of additional accumulations) an Canada Lakes Ski Trail is also being groomed. We received the first report of a bear sighted this spring. It was seen north of Newberry last week. A deer was also observed by a number of people as it cruised around the village of Newberry last week. We flushed a flock of large Canada geese when we were skiing around the bank of the Tohquamenon River on Sunday.Dee Parker of Newberry was huntin bobcat with his two blue tick dogs in nort Luce County on Sunday morning They were checking out some fresh bobcat tracks when the dogs caught a scent and he released them After about two minutes the dogs started barking and Parker hastened to the location of all tne uproar. One dog had dug into an animal den partially formed by a large uprooted cedar, and the other was dancing around barking.Parker heard an animal snarling and hissing, and peered into the den for tne dog was eyeball to eyeball with a big female bear As it happened, there were three bear in there; In addition to the old sow, there was a small yearling cub not much bigger than a raccoon and another bear, probably about two years old. The little bear was making the growling and hissing sounds, but it was the two-year-old that was raising cam with the dog After some effort, Parker extricated the dog, which was somewhat the worse for wear, and hastily departed the scene. The two younger bears were a bit frenzied, but the old she bear never even got out of bed.The week of March 1-17 has been desig nated “National'Surveyors Week ” In this way the U.S. Congress is recognizing the ’’valuable contributions of the surveying profession to history, development, and quality of life in the U S.A. “The surveying profession requires special education, train ing, experience, and knowledge of the principles ot mathematics, the related physical and applied sciences, and requirement of law foradequate evidence.Since the early days of our nation when many of our forefathers, including our first and third presidents, were surveyors, the profession of surveying has continued to be uniquely qualified to determine and describe land and water boundaries for the management of our natural resources and the pro tection of private property rights.”PERCH — Fishing is erratic in the Drum mond Island area, but the fish taken were good size, 8 12 inches. The action was in Scott’s Bay. Success spotty at Cedarville also, best areas were Moscoe Channel and Musky Bay Ice is still good Lots of people using three wheelers, more so than snowmobiles, say Conservation Officer John ( aroffino of Cedarville Fisherman are catching some pretty nice perch in Island Slough (also some crappies). Manistique River, and some in McDonald and Indian Iuikes Blind Sucker Flooding and Bass Lake have been producingperch, and fishermen are having mixed success on Big Manistique Lake. Some fair sized perch caught in Millecoquin Lake. The Tahquamenon River is open; tnere is still ice on Spider Bay, but all the shanties have been removed.WHITEFISH — Success falling off in Emerson (Whitefish) Bay - ice still good TROUT — A few steelhead are being caught in Manistique below US-2 bridge. Some also caught in the Big Two Hearted.BLUEGILLS — Biting in Twin Lake, around daylight and just befor darkWildlife Biologist Jack Cook says Michigan’s residents have a wildlife legacy not enjoyed by those inhabitants ot many other states. Because glaciers skimmed from Michigan most of the heavy soils found in states such as Ohio and Illinois, we have in the northern lower and in the Upper Peninsula glacial soils that becuse of drainage, climate and relatively low fertility, row woodlands that produce forest wildlife ut are not generally suitable for agriculture.These forests are constantly being reduced by cuttings, clearings and fire and are sometimes increased by allowing new forests to grow naturally or by plantingA forest of mixed age with young stands of hardwood mixed with lowlands comprised of conifers and hardwoods is a cornucopia that produces wildlife in great numbers.Animals produced such as deer or ruffed rouse are game animals. These animals ave so-called game qualities that meke them worth of hunt or nave so called trophy qualities. Other animals such as the beaver, otter and muskrat are desirable for the value of their fur. Trappers consider their pursuit of fur a sport and recreation, so taking furbearsees is both a recreation and a commercial venture. It is not uncommon for an eastern U.P. County to harvest 50 to 100 thousand dollars worth of beaver pelts. This is a commercial operation of significance when one considers the value of the fur and the money spent for equipment, food and travel by down state trappers in addition ot expenditures by local trappers.No one has to sell a deer season or a grouse season If there are geese, ducks, or showshoe hares in the forest or on the water there will automatically be hunters to pursue them. The more game tne more hunters.Hunting and trapping are big business. Both of these activities require wildlife, and to produce these game animals we need a forest that is managed in such a way that ouu wildlife, legacy is protected. Our public land resource base is precious for as a rule land use practices on private land are carried out with profit for the individual in mind There is nothing wrong with profit but if an en-terpeneur decides on a one crop objective other forest products such as wildlife are precluded.It is only on state lands such as national and state forest that true multiple use can be guaranteed. It is only on public lands that management for the production of wildlife, both game and non game can be insured. We can have wood, wild life and recreation onthese lands. Any comprehensive study vet made by responsible agencies has founo that these multiple use pnxiucts show profits wayahead of any single venture made on a largescale on public landsFishing pressure was up this past week, but success was slow on most lakes.The only Iron County lakes reporting any good success are Sunset Lake for oluegill in 7 to 15 feet of water near or over weeds, Chicagon Lake for perch in all depths in all depths and lake trout in 50 to 70 feet of water, and Brule Lake for 10 to 15 inch crappies during early morning and late evening hours Dickinson County reports nice perch are still being caught out of the Bergen Backwaters and crappies out of New York Farm Lake Pan Fisning is expected to improve as the season progresses and fish move into more shallow water.Some local fishermen report good catches of coho both through the ice and by boat at Marquette’s Upper Harbor and nice 5 to 8 pound lake trout off Second Sand Beach Park north of L’Anse.The Lake Mary cross-country ski trail is still usable and should improve after the recent and expected snow cover.Snowmobile trails in Iron County are considered good Trails are mostly ice-covered making corners a little tricky to negotiate. The Felch Grade trail has not been groomed, and as a result of machinery problems, is not expected to be maintained the remainder of the season. It usuable, but be on the lookout for some bare spotsTrappers report trapping conditions poor for beaver due to ice, and coyote and fox due to poor snow- conditions. Our overnight snowfall could help the latter problem.Turkey hunters — a turkey workshop is scheduled for April 14 at the Stephenson High School at 12 noon Further information will be available in the near future.bNORTHERN U.P.Up to 8” of snow fell in most parts of the District this past Sunday and Monday DNR snow depth gauge reading vary from a low of 7 feet to 2.0 feet in the Bergland area.SNOWMOBILE TRIALS — Excellent con ditions exist in the Twin Lakes area where there is a 16” base with 4” of new snow and heavy trail usage.Heavy use was noted in the Bergland and Porcupine Mountain area where the groomed trails were reported to be in fair condition In the Calumet area the snow base varies from 8-30”. The trails are groomed, in fair to poor condition, and the traffic found to be medium,SKIING — The Porcupine Mountaias Wilderness Park area received 6” of new snow and the ski hill has a 15-27 base with an average base of 19”. The slopes are powderedand in good condition. The usage of both the ski hill and the cross country ski trails picked up over the past weekend FISHING — Strong northeast winds blew in drift ice along the snores or broke up ice in bays to limit nig lake fishing. Ice conditions on inland lakes are ideal and no slush problems were notedThe walleye season came to a close on Feb 28 with a 12 pounder reported taken on l,ake Gogebic. Brook trout in the 10-12” class were being taken from Dawn Lake in the Wakefield area on minnows in 8 10’ of water Elsewhere in this area some crappies and perch were caught from Moosehead and Image Lakes. The pan fishing has been spotty in the Watersmeetarea DEER AND RABBITS — Deer are moving freely and away from yards in the south part of tne district and can be seen along roadways. Motorists are urged to use caution when driving in these areas. Rabbit hunters continue to report little success LIC ENSES - The 1984 fishing licenses and digests are in the hands of license agents and DNR district offices. Trout stamps will not be available for at least four weeks
Newspaper Details
Escanaba Daily Press
Escanaba, Michigan, US
Fri, Mar 09, 1984
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Jean H.
IL, USA 20 Apr 2019
Other Publications Near Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba Upper Peninsula Sunday Times
Escanaba Morning Press
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