Monday, December 14, 2009

Jeepers (Ice) Creepers! Fishing School Returns to Saginaw Bay Feb. 7-10





By Bill Semion
Get those ice creepers and snowmobile tracks ready. Pro walleye angler Mark Martin’s 8th annual Ice Fishing Vacation School is again headed to Saginaw Bay.
Kickoff will be a free fishing seminar at 3 p.m. on Feb. 7, at Frank’s Great Outdoors along M-13 north of Linwood.
Along with Martin, of Twin Lake, north of Muskegon and a perennial top contender in North America’s biggest and most prestigious walleye tournament series, presented by AIM (Angler’s Insight Marketing), your other “professors” will be fellow AIM anglers Mark Brumbaugh of Ohio, and Mike Gofron of Wisconsin. Together with about 15 teaching assistants, they will school you in the art of icing walleyes.
They’re all ready to show their students not only a good time on the ice, but how to land those Saginaw Bay toothy giants safely while avoiding the pitfalls, literal and otherwise, that being out on the bay can bring to the inexperienced.
Students will launch from Linwood Beach Marina, where they can park snowmobiles and four-wheelers in an enclosed, secure area each night for easy retrieval each morning of the school.
Headquarters for all meals will be Linwood Corners Restaurant in Linwood, where students can choose on their own at discount prices from an extensive menu, for breakfast and dinner, and pick up sack lunches for their day on the bay. Evenings, students return to discuss what they did throughout the day and learn from each other about how to improve their techniques.
“We can have good conversation and school time right after fishing ends each day,” Martin said. “We’ll have a room all to ourselves so everyone can ask questions and hear how everyone else on did. We’ve found that’s one of the best learning tools there is, those roundtable discussions each night.”
“Most of the students say they improve their techniques each day because of this. If they all had gone by themselves, they’d be twiddling their fingers and second-guessing themselves. But with everyone fishing, everyone learns from everyone else, about who really got them that day.”
And, when the fishing’s great, the pros keep in contact and help steer students to either the right technique, or the right spot.
In addition to the instructors, there will be more help from about 15 assistants to help students in need of rides out or back, or even ice shacks.
For $475 per person, you’ll not only get hand-on lessons from three of North America’s best walleye anglers. You’ll also get a free tackle package, and free live bait with special rates on lodging at the Bay City AmericInn, and discounts on food.
There will be a maximum of 25 students this year, Martin said.
“We want to give people a good small group experience so you get more time with each pro every day. It makes a big difference. You’ll learn a lot more and be more mobile.”
The school bell rings at 7 a.m. and school is out at 5:30 p.m. students will fish in groups each guided by a pro, who will take you to an area that’s already been pre-fished by the pros. After the first day’s seminar, pros also will help you pick the tackle and lures that will produce.
“That way we’ll know when we leave shore Monday morning what direction and how far we’re going to be on fish, because we’ve caught them there the previous day. We’ll be all off the ice just before dark each day, because safety is the utmost importance,” Martin said.
To register, contact Linwood Beach Marina at 989-697-4415 and ask for Darla or Scott. If ice conditions are unsafe, your money will be refunded, or go to www.linwoodbeachmarina.com.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Aboard the Lake Express




Travel Blogs

Old Meets New On Cross-Lake Michigan Ferry

By Bill Semion

The ghostly gray/white Milwaukee Clipper lies aft of me in the September sun as the Lake Express, the 21st century face of cross-lake passenger travel, eases out of its berth on Muskegon Lake’s south shore.
We slowly slip by the Clipper, once one of the proud fleet of ships that made daily crossings between Michigan and Wisconsin. Originally a 1905 wooden steamer, and state-of-the-art when a steel superstructure was added and she was rechristened as the Clipper in 1941, it’s now permanently moored in Muskegon Lake, a national landmark undergoing seemingly permanent restoration by a local group to open it again for tours.
The Clipper may be a relic of the past, but the Lake Express, only one of two ferries that now operate cross Lake Michigan, is the new face of cross-lake travel. This catamaran-style ship is a far cry from the narrow Clipper we’re now passing on our trip to Milwaukee. Rather than a four-plus hour journey, the Express makes the trip in only 2 ½ hours, saving me and thousands of others who’ve climbed aboard her since she went into service in 2004 to save both time and the aggravation that a five-hour-plus battle through the never-ending road construction in and around Chicago brings.
Capable of transporting up to 46 vehicles and trailers and 250 passengers, we idle out of the Muskegon channel past the fleet of salmon fishermen who are always present this time of year. Once clear of the outer pier heads and the dunes of Muskegon State Park, the Lake Express powered up its surprisingly quiet four 3,000-horsepower Detroit Diesels hooked to twin Rolls Royce jet-drives, pushed its two hulls on plane and skimmed across the lake at nearly 40 mph as the Michigan coast faded into the late summer haze.
Only a few minutes before, I had driven my car into the lower deck and locked the doors, while the crew secured it and the other vehicles for the crossing. We then climbed the short flight of stairs to the main passenger deck to sit back and enjoy what would be a very smooth and utterly effortless journey. This, indeed, is the way to go.
Built in Mobile, Ala., the Express is the first high-speed car/passenger ferry to operate on the Great Lakes and within the Continental United States. It’s more like an airplane than a ship. Regular passengers make the journey in aircraft-style seating in a large area amidships.
“Premier-class” passengers have their own cabin, with larger, more comfortable seats and tables, convenient outlets for laptops and free movies. Premier service also includes complimentary steward service and non-alcoholic beverages. Breakfast on our crossing (extra charge) included a breakfast Panini, cereal, or yogurt. Regular passengers can opt for similar items at the cafe. If you’re crossing at lunchtime, menu choices include gilled cheese, Wisconsin bratwurst, turkey or reuben, or burgers. There are kids choices, too. Drinks include coffee, soft drinks and beer.
There’s an upper deck viewing area, which can get windy due to the speed of the crossing, as well as limited open seating at the stern as well.
Flat-screen televisions offer movies, or just lean back, relax and think about all the other travelers rounding Lake Michigan’s horn to face that Chicago traffic. In normal weather, the ship is as stable as the larger Badger, which crosses farther north between Ludington and Manitowoc, gently rocking in the light lake swells. And because of its design, there is very little wake.
The Express also prides itself on keeping the lake it plies clean. It’s earned the Travel Green Wisconsin certification. All waste is taken off the ship once it reaches port. Meals are served on eco-friendly plates, cups and cutlery made from sugarcane and plant starch. And, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Great Lakes Water Institute, the ship samples air and water quality during each crossing. The company boasts that it takes more than 25,000 vehicles, including trucks, off the road at least for a few hours, each year.
One of the best things you can say about any crossing like this is that it was uneventful, and about 2 1/2 hours into the trip, the Wisconsin shoreline appeared out of the haze, about 90 minutes faster than the Badger up north. An uneventful, and absolutely great, way to cross.

When You Go
The Lake Express runs May through Nov. 1 and takes passengers with and without cars (car rental is available at both Wisconsin and Michigan terminals). Crossing times vary by season. Unlike the coal-fired Badger car ferry, which shuttles between Ludington and Manitowoc to the north, weather can affect the smaller Express’s crossings. For fare information and schedule updates, go to lake-express.com, or call 866-914-1010.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Cherries Jubilee



Concerts, Air Shows, Cherry Desserts, Wine Tasting, and More Highlight Festival Fun in Traverse City July 4-11

By Bill Semion

Cherry red is the color of fun this time of year as Traverse City and environs celebrate the region’s tart cherry crop--largest in the country--with the annual National Cherry Festival, and this year’s 83rd edition promises to be better than ever, with a hint of green thrown in.

Festival events are centered along Grand Traverse Bay downtown in Festival Open Space Park. Here’s a look at just some of the shows and activities taking place over the course of the event, many of which are free.

Cherries Jubilee—In The Air

Big air shows have been a mainstay of recent cherry fests, and this one’s no different.

On July 4th and 5th at approximately 12:30 p.m., gather at the beach of West Grand Traverse Bay to watch several acts. The T-28 Warbird Formation Demonstration Team, the Trojan horseman, perform a stirring patriotic tribune to the armed forces complete with music and narration. These six propeller-driven planes used as trainers for years will thrill the crowds with their aerobatics and smoke. Also taking to the skies is female aerobatic pilot Christine “CC” Gerner in an Extra 300L, and Billy Werth of Grayout Aerosports in a craft aptly named for the festival, a Pitts S2C.

Also making an appearance of a Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Other military craft are expected to also participate in the July4th show over the bay, and the Coast Guard will perform a Search and Rescue demo just yards offshore from the Festival Open Space.

Cherries Jubilee—Parades

When the DTE Energy Cherry Royale Parade steps off at 11:15 a.m. on July 11, going green will be the theme. A new award presented to the most environmentally conscious float, best use of recycled materials, natural building materials and promotion of a “green” message.

Cherries Jubilee—Music

There are eight days to the festival and music will be filling each. Kicking off the fun on Saturday, July 4, will be blues guitarist and vocalist Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

On July 5, the fun’s provided by northern Michigan’s own Twisted Finster, belting out rock ‘n roll standards of the last three decades. Monday, the Northwestern Michigan College Community Band takes the stage in a patriotic pops concert.

Tuesday, July 7, 80s rocker Billy Squier shows up. On Wednesday, July 8, back by popular demand is 1964 The Tribute, plays Beatles favorites. Country star Sammy Kershaw takes the stage on Friday, July 10, and the grand finale on Saturday, July 11, is presented by THINK Floyd USA, a tribute to Pink Floyd, featuring classic material from the band’s beginnings to the present, topped off by the Festival Fireworks Finale.

A $15 V-Pass will get you in to all eight evenings and will get you in for first access to the seating at Bay Side Music Stage. Single night tickets may also be available, but this is a cheap way to guarantee your seat.

Cherries Jubilee--Food

Cherries are everywhere, and in everything, of course, over the run of the show, and this year two official products of the Cherry Festival, Simply Cherries,” combining tart and sheet varieties, into a topping for pancakes, cherry pie, smoothies, or desserts.

The other product, Cherry Sauce, pairs sweet apples with tart cherries to make another topping. They’ll be available both through stores and at the Cherry Farm Market Tent in the Festival.

Foodies also will relish the return of two food festivals mixed with plenty of cherries.

The fourth annual Cherries D’Vine event showcases cherries and grapes blended with the best of local agriculture. Cherry Barbecue creations prepared by apprentice chefs at the Great lakes Culinary Institute will be plated on Sunday, July 5, starting at noon, in time for the Festival Air Show over West Grand Traverse Bay (see below). The $15 cost includes three food tickets, one wine tasting and another wine glass for the first 750 attendees.

Then, line up for the Cherries Grand Buffet at the historic city Opera House downtown. Three seatings on Friday, July 10 will take place, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. They’re limited to 200 each and will cost $25, so get your tickets early.

Cherries Jubilee—Tours and Contests

The focus on food continues with the focus on cherries, of course. Pie eating enthusiasts are invited to sit down and open wide for pie eating contests sponsored by Sara Lee. Children’s contests take place at F&M Park from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday, July 6, 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, and at 1 on Thursday, July 9. Adult contests take place at the Festival Open Space at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 4, Monday, July 6, Wednesday, July 8, and Friday, July 10.

Now, what to do with the leftover pits? A Pit Spit contest, of course. Spitters can demonstrate their skills four times, starting at 6 p.m. on July 4, 6, 7 and 8 at the Festival Open Space, with both novice and expert categories.

Cherries Jubilee-Wine

For the first time, it won’t be just cherry wine being uncorked at the Cherry Festival. A ‘Global Wine Pavilion featuring more than 90 wines from around the world picked by Master Sommelier Ron Edwards of Petoskey, formerly of Tapawingo.

Local, domestic and international wines covering all varieties and prices will be available for testing and tasting from July 9-11. Besides the wine tasting, those paying the nominal $10 entry fee also will get a free pour of the night’s featured wine, plus a crystal wine glass by Stolzle, recognized as Europe’s leading designer of

Stemware.

Cherries Are Green, Too

Of course, lots of trash is generated at an eight-day festival like this one, some 15,000 tons, in fact, so planners have teamed with DTE Energy to recycle compostable materials. And all food court vendors will provide customers with compostable cups and “greenware” instead of plastic. Also focusing on the environment is DTE Energy Green Day, on July 10. It includes a volunteer clean-p of the Boardman River’s banks, starting at 9 a.m. near Union Street.

Other events also highlight this year’s festival. Heritage Day, sponsored by Turtle Creek Casino, celebrates native Americas with a Pow Wow dance and other events. There are foot races sponsored by Meijer including a 5K for walkers. There are cherry orchard tours, art shows, beach volleyball tournaments, midway rides for the kids, barbecuing contests, another fireworks show on July 4th, cycling tours of the Old Mission Peninsula…and on and on.

Come have some fun in the heart of northern Michigan.

When You Go

For more National Cherry Festival information, go to www.cherryfestival.org, or call 231-947-4230.

For general festival and visitor information, visit the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau at www.visittraversecity.com, or by calling 800-TRAVERSE. The CVB also publishes a great informative guide to the city and surrounding area, from campgrounds and beaches, to restaurants and dune rides for the whole family. It’s also free.

For July 9-11 Wine Pavilion tickets, go to cherryfestival.org, or call 231-947-4230, or at the door.



Travel Blogs

Grayling. Home to two of the Midwest’s top canoeing streams. Grayling. Home to arguably the top freestone trout fishing streams east of the Mississippi. Grayling. Home to a state park that tells the story of the forests that re-built Chicago after the Great Fire. And home to other outdoor fun, from downhill and cross-country skiing in winter, to mountain biking and just kickin’ back in summer.
Is it any wonder that this north central Lower Michigan town, about a five-hour drive from Chicago up U.S. 127 is revered by so many? Here’s some of what this small town has going for it:
Take a canoe trip from several hours to several days on either the Au Sable or Manistee rivers, within a few miles of each other here. Liveries in town will outfit you for day trips, or prepare you for an overnight trek on the Au Sable, up to 150-miles to Lake Huron, or on the Manistee west to Lake Michigan.
Don your waders or hire a guide like retired teacher Bob Andrus for a trip through the famed Holy Waters flies-only stretch of the Au Sable, where the national conservation group Trout Unlimited was conceived, or in the more rustic Manistee, in a historic Au Sable River drift boat (contact him by calling 989-275-2814). He’ll tell you what to use. If you want to wade, get advice on where and what flies to use at Gates Au Sable Lodge, (gateslodge.com) where there are great riverside rooms, a great fly shop and a restaurant.
Or, try the river on your own at one of the many public access sites, some of which also feature rustic state forest campgrounds. The river hosts lots of mayfly species hatching throughout the late-April-through September season.
Six miles north of town, visit 10,000-acre Hartwick Pines State Park (www.michigan.gov/dnr. See how 19th century lumberjacks lived at the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum. The Michigan Forest Visitor Center tells the story of lumber in Michigan’s past and present.
Walk the park’s trails through its redwood-like virgin white pines, with a canopy so thick that little vegetation grows below. Step inside the contemplative Chapel in the Pines and drive the park’s interpretive trail, or pedal its mountain bike trails, open for cross-country skiing in winter. Or, try downhill skiing at Skyline Ski area, or nearby Boyne Mountain (see accompanying story).
Stop at the Grayling Fish Hatchery and walk the 1914-era raceways to see huge trout. Take home a bit of the town from Goodale’s Bakery, home of the best cinnamon bread you’ve ever tasted, and unique English muffin bread, shipped nationwide.
In nearby Roscommon, stop first at the Fifth Street Market (989-275-7300) which has the best wine selection in North Central Lower Michigan. Then choose from several canoe/kayak liveries in town for a float down the Au Sable’s South Branch. Or, don your fly fest and waders and head for this area’s other Nirvana of trout, the 4,500-acre Mason Wilderness Tract, about three miles north of town.
Given to the state by the widow of an auto company magnate, fishing access sites are tucked into the woods along a two-track road here (it’s best to go in with a GPS so you can find your way out again if you’re not with a local) that runs the length of the tract. Expect real wilderness stuff, including a roaming black bear or several, and some say even cougar.
Some of the best brook and brown trout fishing in the eastern U.S. isreaches its height here in June and early July with the “hex hatch,” the appearance of the giant Michigan mayfly, or Hexagenia limbata. These three-in-long mayflies are active at night, bringing out the biggest brown trout in the river to feed with wild abandon as the flies hatch out or blanket the river in a spinner fall.
Don’t let the river fool you by its placid looks on a sunny summer afternoon. The trout know the dinner bell rings evenings that time of year. Earlier in the season—which always starts the last Saturday of April—best action will be in the afternoon on Henrickson mayflies, caddis and stoneflies.
Fly shops in Grayling (oldausable.com), will have information on the progression of hatches.
While you’re waiting on the fish, the river is also a great kayak adventure. You’ll be maneuvering around “sweepers,” skeletons of cedar trees that swoop over the river and up. The Mason Tract hiking and cross-country ski trail also parallels the river for 12 miles. There’s rustic camping at the north end, at Canoe Harbor State Forest Campground.
Nearby, relax during the day at what are considered two of the best inland lake state parks in the state, on Higgins Lake. Families love the Higgins Lake South State Park (michigan.gov/dnr) especially, as it’s knee-deep nearly 700 sandy feet into the water, perfect for keeping an eye on the kids. Higgins Lake is so impressive, it was named the world's sixth most beautiful by National Geographic.

When You Go
Closest major Michigan airports to the Grayling-Roscommon area are in Saginaw, about 90 minutes south, and Traverse City, about 90 minutes northwest. Accommodations include Gates Au Sable Lodge along the river, the Ramada Inn in Grayling, as well as resorts on both Higgins Lake and nearby Houghton Lake.
Contact the Grayling Convention and Visitors bureau for more, at 800-937-8837, or www.grayling-mi.com, for Roscommon, www.hlrcc.com, and for Houghton Lake, www.visithoughtonlake.com. For camping, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr, then to the camping and recreation link. There are private campgrounds in the area as well. Contact the visitor bureaus for lists.