Slideshow

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Heat Wave

Forcasted high is 100oF. Record high for this date is 96oF so it looks like we're headed for the history books. It makes it hard to get Outdoors Downriver but there's so much going on. The top draw would be the Trenton Boat Races known as the "Roar on the River". The activities start tomorrow so check out their web site- http://trentonroarontheriver.com/ for more info. They have a fund raiser on the Diamond Jack boat but you can take a cruise Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays leaving Wyandotte's Bishop park at 1 and 3:30pm. See their web site for more info-http://www.diamondjack.com/.
Remember the water is only about 75oF so the ride should be a bit cooler than being on shore. Lake Erie Metro Park has boat tours also on a limited basis. Check their web site for more info- http://www.metroparks.com/calendar_item.aspx?ID=1727&PID=7&r=3 or go to the Discovery Cruise's web site-ID=1727&PID=7&r=3http://miseagrant.umich.edu/discovery/ here's the schedule.
Lake Erie Metropark 2011 Schedule
Cruise Dates
Cruise Times


10am
2pm
6pm
9pm
June 25 - Saturday
No Child Left on Shore
No Child Left on Shore




July 1 - Friday






Fireworks!
July 6 - Wednesday
ROV Adventures
ROV Adventures
River deTroit History


July 7 - Thursday
Eagle's Eye
Aliens Among Us
Bob-Lo Island
Night Watch
July 8 - Friday
Great Lakes Science for Teachers
Whiskey River


July 9 - Saturday
Eagle's Eye
Strait Talk History
Bob-Lo Island
Night Watch
July 10 - Sunday
Eagle's Eye
Big River Meander


July 13 - Wednesday
All Aboard Kids
Shipping Out
River deTroit History


July 14 - Thursday
Wind, Waves & Weather
Fish Story
Eagle's Eye


July 15 - Friday
Bob-Lo Island
Shipping Out
Handy Billy


July 16 - Saturday
Whiskey River
Lower Lighthouse Lore
Eagle's Eye


July 17 - Sunday
Eagle's Eye
Strait Talk History
All Aboard Kids


July 22 - Friday
Aliens Among Us
Eagle's Eye
River deTroit History


July 23 - Saturday
Strait Talk History
Lower Lighthouse Lore
Detroit River Revival


July 24 - Sunday
Fish Story
Big River Meander


July 25 - Monday
Journey Through the Straits (10:30-4:30)


Getting closer to the water would be a canoe or kayak outing. The Riverside Kayak Connection in Wyandotte has tours and classes to get you on the water. Every Saturday and Sunday at Elizabeth Park they rent kayaks. Check their web site for more info- http://www.riversidekayak.com/.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Extreme Fishing Gets Good

The Lindberg Flash says walleye are almost jumping in the boat on the DR delta. Many reports are coming in from up and down the river of limits. Summer is finally here and the mayflies are gone. Many fish, especially walleye, just gorge themselves on these pupae. The fishing usually slows during this time, except for the silvers, so it's a good time to be fishing now that they're gone. Unless you're into extremes.

Extreme Fishing show host British actor Robson Green returns for yet another series of the show in which he travels the world screaming and swearing his head off as he reels in the fish. Today he is visiting Detroit and he's probably going to fish one of the hot spots on the river. Fighting Island, Mud Island, Sugar Island, pick any island and you should find some fish around. So which island does Robson pick? Zug Island!

He usually goes after an exotic fish, a toothy relative of piranha or a hammerhead shark or even octopus. What is he fishing for around Zug? His specialty is competing with local anglers using their fishing techniques. So let me guess, he'll be handlining for carp. Oops sorry handlining isn't fishing, my bad. We'll just have to wait and see what’s so exotic about fishing the old channel of the Rouge River. Probably the view.

What is it about the rest of the world and Detroit? Writers covering the Autoshow cover the desolation of the city, ESPN writes about how rundown and depressing the city is and then the show about what would happen if humans were wiped off the face of the earth; building unoccupied for 50 years, crumbling with trees and other things growing out of the cracks. Nothing about the sharp new cars or the new sporting venues we have and surely nothing about new neighborhoods going up around the city.

I made a call to Lockeman’e Hardware in Delray to find out the scoop. Dave said I should call Andy’s Bait and Tackle Shop who was contacted by the Friends of the Rouge River. This was becoming a tangled web and I found out that Delray resident Danny Newsome would be Green’s competition. The FOTR, http://www.therouge.org/, had contacted Mr. Green about fishing the Rouge and showing off how much the river has been cleaned up. It looks like this may turn positive after all. The program is only aired in the UK and should be available in September. Green’s web site is;

http://www.robsongreen.com/extreme-fishing/#

From a very reliable source I’m told that Zug Island wasn’t an island until 1888 when Mr. Zug let the River Rouge Improvement Company cut a small canal through the south section of his property to connect the Rouge River and the Detroit River more directly (this Short Cut Canal, as it came to be known, was enlarged in the early 1920s by Henry Ford to allow large ships to more easily navigate to and from his famous Ford Rouge Complex. Making it easier for Iron Warriors like Yash to build our country. Like sands thru the hour glass so are the changes on this river.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Happy Birthday Amelica

  Yes this weekend we're celebrating my Daughter's birthday along with the country's. It seems just a few short years ago that she was born. It was the 200th anniversary of declaring our freedom. Now she's old enough to be President. Happy birthday Melissa! Let take a fishing trip if you can pull yourself away from all of the Bike Club meetings.

  Fishing will be on the US side since she doesn't have a Canadian license. For those of you that have them I ran across an article from Bassmasters.com:

  From Bassmaster.com

Anglers caught in Canada's border crackdown
Lake Erie
B.A.S.S.
For U.S. anglers, what is required when fishing Canadian waters on Lake Erie remains unclear.


By Frank Sargeant
Jun 29, 2011

On May 30, 22-year-old Roy Andersen of Baldwinsville, N.Y., motored to his favorite fishing spot in the Gananoque Narrows of the Thousand Islands area in the St. Lawrence River — as he had done dozens of times before — and proceeded to fish for pike and perch.

But in short order, two officers from the Canadian Border Services Agency boarded his boat and informed him he was in violation of customs procedures. He had failed to report in to Canadian customs when he crossed the international border at midriver.

This amazed Andersen, since not only he but hundreds of other U.S. anglers routinely cross the border to fish. The norm has been that so long as no one attempted to anchor or land on Canadian soil, reporting in was de-facto not required.

But the CBSA officers understood the rules differently, and they informed Andersen that if he did not pay a $1,000 fine, on the spot, his boat would be confiscated!

Andersen managed to pay with a credit card, but the incident, which seemed to mark a dramatic change in Canadian policy on border enforcement for boaters and fishermen, has ruffled feathers all the way to Washington.

Andersen is appealing the fine, and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and Congressman Bill Owens, both of New York, have sent letters to the head of CBSA requesting an explanation of the change in policy. The outcome of the incident could have an impact on tournament anglers as well as casual fishermen throughout the border region, since anglers routinely pass back and forth across the unmarked open-water border during fishing trips throughout the Great Lakes and the connecting rivers.

The possibility of fines and confiscation of property threatens anglers competing in the upcoming Bass Pro Shops Northern Open on Lake Erie out of Sandusky, Ohio, as well as B.A.S.S. Federation Nation events on border waters.

There’s been a lot of confusion over what’s required, with different offices and officers of the CBSA interpreting the rule differently now that the question has come to a head.

Here’s what Chris Kealey, spokesperson for Canadian Border Services Agency’s Northern Ontario Region, told Bassmaster.com:

“These rules have not changed. If you are entering Canadian waters by boat and you drop anchor or go to shore to refuel, lunch or shop, you must report to Canada border services. It’s the same for Canadians going into U.S. waters.

“However, there is an exception that states if you are in transit from one location in U.S. waters to another in U.S. waters and pass through Canadian waters temporarily, that is permitted without reporting in to CBSA. And we also recognize that, in some areas, navigation into Canadian waters may be necessary for safe passage. In the Thousand Islands, for example, you might travel into Canada to avoid islands and shoals in many areas on the U.S. side, and that’s no problem.”

Captain Rick Unger, president of the Lake Erie Charterboat Association, said that he had never had an issue in many decades of taking anglers into Canadian waters to fish for walleyes, nor had he heard of any other skippers who had run afoul of CBSA — until the Andersen case.

“This is a big issue for us, naturally, so I tried to run it down,” Unger said. “I called the CBSA’s CANPASS remote reporting number and got hold of the Windsor office, and the officer in charge there told me flat out that word had come down from the top last week that they were not going to require U.S. boaters and fishermen to report unless they anchor or go ashore, period. I called back the next day, got another officer, and got the same answer. So, the members of our association are proceeding on that, (and we’re) fishing as we always have without reporting on trips that go straight out and straight back to U.S. ports.”

Chris Kealey of CBSA agrees: “We understand that boaters may not even know when they cross the border at times; in general, our enforcement people are not going to arrest and fine fishermen who do not attempt to anchor or land. However, if you have doubts, you can call 888-226-7277 anywhere along the Canadian/U.S. border to report in,” Kealey told BASS Times.

Chris Bowes, tournament manager for the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens, said that based on what is known at this point, anglers in the Lake Erie event (scheduled for Aug. 25-27) will be permitted to cross over and fish the Canadian side of the lake, but they will be advised to check in by phone with a Canadian customs office.
 
  Some good and bad news about our country's bird the eagle. Last year I wrote about the eagle I saw soaring over I-75 coming back from turkey hunting. This year I heard of an eagle being shot in Genesse County a mile from where I saw the bird. It had to be the same one. Now this:
 
An injured bald eagle is recovering from a gunshot wound and should take flight again soon.

The five year old male eagle was rescued February 17 in Genesse County with a broken wing after being shot. The eight pound eagle was moved to the Howell Conference and Nature Center from Monroe in early May to continue rehabilitation. The facility has a large flight pen which allows the bird to fly back and forth to regain the strength necessary to survive in the wild.

Veterinarian Maxine Biwer tells Action News the eagle's release could possibly come in the next three or four weeks. The shooter was apprehended and fined heavily.