08-09-2018 Outdoors

Fishing The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fishing report for this week points out that the recent rains have helped with the low water levels. Walleye fishing has picked up on some of the inland lakes across the state. Pike and bass were caught by those trolling or casting. Panfish moved to deeper water and were hitting on small worms, minnows, leeches and red worms. Fishing for bass at night can be fun in the summer. Most fish can become lethargic in late summer, but for certain species, such as bass, you just might want to tweak the time of day you set out to target them. Some of the best bass fishing this time of year occurs during the first hour or so after dark. Dusk and dawn can still produce fish, but that first hour or two after dark can be exceptional. After dark, bass tend to move shallow in search of an easy meal. Target them near the same areas you would during other times of the day while also casting and targeting the shallows. You’ll want to change your technique though. Since after dark you can’t see the weed line or other underwater structures, fishing subsurface lures is not recommended. It is time for surface presentations. After the cast, work them aggressively with a jerking motion making sure they pop and gurgle across the surface of the water during your retrieve. Pay close attention during the retrieve, watching and listening for the strike which can be explosive. If you are feeling adventurous, get on the water at 10:00 p.m. and fish the shallows for bass until midnight or 1:00 a.m. The results can be spectacular! Ellinee Bait & Tackle on Paw Paw Lake by Coloma reports a lot of family fishing is going on in the local inland lakes. Panfish are biting well and anglers are happy with their catches. Captain Kenny Bard of Rampage Fishing out of South Haven reports that fishing on Lake Michigan has slowed down. Fishing at 80 to 130 feet, they are still getting lake trout off the bottom, but no steelhead or salmon the last few days. Perch fishing was slow with a few being caught in 40 to 50 feet of water. Pier fishing was slow also with a few freshwater drum and catfish taken. Catfish and a few walleye were being caught in the Kalamazoo, Black and St. Joseph rivers. Boat anglers going out of St. Joseph found perch fishing slow as the fish seem to be scattered in 25 to 50 feet of water. A few lake trout were caught in 100 feet but salmon fishing was on the slow side as it seems the fish had moved out to deeper water. Pier fishing at St. Joseph for steelhead was slow but lots of freshwater drum were caught.

If you love to fish then you might want to check out the DNR Roadmaps to Fishing Michigan’s Great Lakes. These online roadmaps provide information for fishing southeast Michigan’s Great Lakes areas (St. Clair system and Lake Erie), Lake Huron, Lake Michigan or Lake Superior. Highlighting places to go fishing at different times throughout the year and the fish species you might find. These maps are perfect for either the seasoned angler or someone new to the sport. Did you know that one of the most important pieces of equipment on your boat – your life jacket – has a life span? Life jackets actually have a finite life and can lose their buoyancy over time. How you treat, clean and store this lifesaving device can have a huge impact on how long it will last and provide effective flotation assistance. Still not convinced you need a life jacket? Consider the U.S. Coast Guard statistics indicating that 90 percent of people who drown in a boating or water accident would be alive today if they had been wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident. Brush up on Michigan’s Life Jacket Rules.

Hunting Reserved waterfowl hunt applications are available now through Tuesday, August 28. To apply for reserved hunts on certain managed waterfowl areas, visit a license agent or www.michigan.gov/waterfowl. Applications are $5.00 and hunters may only apply once. Drawing results will be posted online September 17. For more information about waterfowl hunting, visit www.michigan.gov/waterfowl. Don’t forget to apply for antlerless deer licenses by August 15, which is next Wednesday. Some areas of the state have a limited number of antlerless deer license applications available, making applying for that unit important for some. Private-land applications do require a landowner phone number, so have it ready. Private-land applications are not needed for chronic wasting disease (CWD) areas, such as DMU 033, 041, and 062. These licenses will be available without application beginning September 10 at 10 a.m. See antlerless deer license quotas for the complete list of CWD areas. Young hunters, 16 and under, can buy antlerless deer licenses over the counter through August 15. Any leftover licenses that remain will go on sale September 10 at 10 a.m. For more details about antlerless deer hunting and to buy an application online, visit www.michigan.gov/deer.

Take a trip to a Turkey Tract this fall. Turkey Tracts are demonstration areas, complete with trails, designed to show newcomers to turkey hunting – or other wild turkey aficionados – exactly what prime turkey habitat looks like. The tracts are similar to the DNR’s Grouse Enhanced Management Sites (GEMS), which highlight ruffed grouse and American woodcock habitat. However, the two programs differ in significant ways, including where you can find them in Michigan. To get more information on the DNR’s Turkey Tracts, visit www.michi- gan.gov/turkey.

Coloma Rod & Gun Club The Coloma Rod & Gun Club will hold their monthly CCW Class on Saturday, August 11, 2018. The class is taught by a certified NRA and RSO instructor and the cost of the class is $100. For more information or to be put on the list, please call (269) 621-3370. Watervliet Rod & Gun Club The Watervliet Rod and Gun Club will hold their monthly CCW classes on August 16 and 19, 2018. Registration is on August 14, between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. and cost of the class is $100.00. They will have a lawyer explaining the law pertaining to concealed carry during class. Please call (269) 468-3837 or (269) 470-9191 for more information.

Community Golf Mixer registration is 8 a.m. Friday at Paw Paw Lake Golf Course On Friday, August 10 at 9:00 a.m. North Berrien Community Development & Coloma-Watervliet Area Chamber of Commerce are hosting the 15th Annual Community Golf Mixer at the Paw Paw Lake Golf Club located at 4548 Forest Beach Road in Watervliet. Registration and breakfast is at 8:00 a.m. The cost to participate is $60.00 per person which includes continental breakfast, lunch, cart, and green fees. This event is a 4-person scramble format with mulligans, raffle prizes, string and prize money! There is a $10,000 Hole in One Contest sponsored by Combined Insurance Agency. Major corporate sponsor is Lakeland Health.

Nature’s summer concert series now features the songs of the cicadas. Everyone is familiar with the incessant buzzing that, at times, can drown out conversations. In the natural world, it seems that the boys make the majority of the noise and so it is with cicadas. The male vibrates a membrane over hollow segments in his thorax to produce the sound, which then echoes in his mostly empty abdomen. A number of singing males will group together to better their chances of attracting a female. After the female has mated, she will create a slit in a twig to lay her eggs. The newly hatched nymphs drop to the ground, burrow in and settle for a long winter snack of plant root juices. Early next summer the nymph digs its way out of the ground and climbs onto a tree. The exoskeleton splits open and the new adult cicada crawls out and moves up into the foliage where it feeds on twig sap. The empty exoskeleton remains clinging to the tree… a treasure for an observant hiker. Join us Saturday, August 18 for a paddle down the St. Joseph River from Berrien Springs to Jasper Dairy Road beginning at the Nature Center at 10:00 a.m. Cost is $20 per person and includes transportation, equipment and naturalist guides.