Upper Peninsula • Keweenaw Bay: Catch rates were hit or miss. Those lucky enough to catch fish found splake, brown trout, coho, lake trout, whitefish or herring when using tip-ups or when jigging. Some were trying for smelt and burbot at night, but no reports came in. Those still-fishing ...

“I look out my window and what do I see, I see a bird way up in a tree.” — Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller In the relative light of the darkness, I stood with my arms stretched above my head, fingers spread open like the snow-covered branches of the trees, reaching for the heavens. The night ...

By BILL COOK Michigan State University Extension Special to the Journal EAST LANSING — Trees marked with paint tell a story and communicate timber sale contract specifications. The most common marks are orange on trees scheduled to be harvested and blue for property boundaries. ...

Upper Peninsula • Little Bay De Noc: The cold evenings had formed a crust on the snow layer with slush underneath, making travel difficult at times. Walleye anglers reported fair to good catches just south of Aronson Island with rapalas and minnows in 30 to 40 feet. Although this area is ...

Editor’s note: This column was originally published in January 2017. When I was young I remember well, I'd hunt the wild turkey and bobwhite quail.” — Bob McDill There was a time, not too long ago, when seeing a wild turkey in the Upper Peninsula, especially the more northern portions ...

MARQUETTE — Jeff King’s Tuesday presentation at Northern Michigan University’s Jamrich Hall began with a video of him running his sled dogs on what appeared to be a very bumpy trail, with his sled overturning a few times along the way. It’s a view of mushing most people don’t get to ...

Upper Peninsula • Little Bay De Noc: Ice conditions worsened with additional snowfall and warm temperatures. Heavy slush made travel difficult even by foot. The better ice was found in the northern areas. Anglers were taking vehicles out, but this is NOT recommended. Anglers should avoid ...

MARQUETTE — The cold, fresh waters of the Great Lakes are literally littered with shipwrecks; according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, about 1,500 wrecks are submerged in Michigan waters alone, some more than 100 feet down and others much nearer the surface. Not everyone ...

“In the wee wee hours, that’s when I think of you.” — Chuck Berry On stormy winter days like this, if I’m given time and space, my mind tends to wander away, sometimes to summertime. I think about walking on the sand with the clear water rolling over my toes down at the ...

Upper Peninsula • Little Bay De Noc: Was hit with another big snowstorm. There is ice from the Kipling area and north. There was still some open water in the “Narrows,” so the area should be avoided. There are pressure cracks from Gladstone south to the Terrace Bay Hotel. Those fishing ...

“I’m a man of means by no means, king of the road.” — Roger Miller If I were to walk down the middle of this windswept blacktop road on a fine day in July, I’d be taking my life into my own hands. The heavy traffic from those summertime travelers headed out for the hills and the ...

MARQUETTE — They’re botanical jewels — and they’re a passion of Northern Michigan University senior biology major Nate Martineau. Martineau presented a program on orchids, mostly found in wet or moist habitats, on Wednesday to the Laughing Whitefish Audubon Society at the Peter ...

Upper Peninsula • Lake Fanny Hooe: In Copper Harbor was producing splake and lake trout. • Lake Antoine: In Dickinson County was producing some perch for ice anglers; however, the fish were running small. • Little Bay De Noc: With the colder temperatures, anglers were fishing the ...

“I love the flower girl, was she reality or just a dream to me.” — Artie Kornfield/Steve Duboff The first time I recall seeing her, she was standing alongside an old country road. I had just crossed a cement-railed bridge on a cold afternoon. I was headed north over the gravel with ...

MARQUETTE — The site of a mule pack string carrying loads in a natural area might be better imagined in the western United States. But it happens in the Upper Peninsula too. In October 2018, about 480 feet of boardwalk was installed along the White Deer Lake Trail in the McCormick ...

Upper Peninsula Ice conditions still vary in the eastern Upper Peninsula. It seems some lakes have good ice while others have slush. Inland lakes closer to Lake Michigan had a bit less snow on them. Little Bay De Noc: Ice conditions were not the best, as the ice at Gladstone and to the south ...

“There’s a woman I long to touch, and I’m missing her so much, but she’s drifting like a satellite.” — Bob Dylan I stepped outside the back door to find the treetops glazed in ice, clinking like windchimes as the breezes moved the branches back and forth. Rain that had fallen ...

GWINN — Erik Strazzinski of Gwinn wasn’t sure what to expect for his recent ruffed grouse hunting trip. On Saturday, Strazzinski, president of the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society, embarked on his search for grouse south of Gwinn with his hunting partner, Jesse ...

Upper Peninsula The cold temperatures are making ice; however, anglers still need to use caution. Indian Lake: Had ice and reports of walleye and perch being caught. Manistique Lake: Had reports of crappie, walleye and pike caught on South Manistique. Manistique River: Was producing a ...

“The days they pass so quickly now, nights are seldom long and time around me whispers when it’s cold.” — John Denver A pale and waning crescent moon hangs low in the morning sky as I’m on my way west and then south, thinking of things that have come and gone over the past several ...