The Schrems Chapter is kicking off its most aggressive year in conservation in recent history with six major projects and support for several other conservation efforts. The projects cover three watersheds and we need volunteers on all of them! I hope you will join us on one or more of these projects as we work to conserve, protect, and restore our local coldwater fisheries. Pigeon River Project Volunteers Needed May 16, 2009. SWMTU returns to the Pigeon River in Ottawa County to continue its work on the Pigeon River in Hemlock Crossings Park on Saturday, May 16, 2009. We will...
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Michigan Trout Unlimited Joins Pigeon River Lawsuit
May 4, 2009 Contact: Bryan Burroughs 517-599-5238 [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Michigan Trout Unlimited joins litigation against Golden Lotus for failure of dam at Song of the Morning Ranch on the Pigeon River. On March 20 2009, Michigan Trout Unlimited and Pigeon River Country Association filed a motion to intervene in the State of Michigan’s lawsuit against Golden Lotus, Inc. – the owner of Song of the Morning Ranch, located along the Pigeon River in Otsego County. By stipulation of counsel, an order granting Michigan TU’s intervention is expected to be entered by the Honorable Dennis Murphy in the Otsego...
SWMTU launches ambitious temperature monitoring study – volunteers needed
In 2009 and 2010, SWMTU will conduct a temperature monitoring program on several area trout and salmon rivers in West Michigan. On SATURDAY, MAY 2 we will be installing temperature logging equipment in the Rogue River and Tyler Creek in Kent County, the Pigeon River in Ottawa County, and Prairie Creek in Ionia County. Volunteers are needed to help with the installation as well as to check on the units once a month and download the data on occasion. No previous experience is necessary, as all the volunteers will be trained in how to install and handle the equipment. The...
Fly Fishing Film Tour – April 2
Thursday, April 2 at 7pm Wealthy Theatre 1130 Wealthy St. SE, Grand Rapids 2009 Films Lineup Here is the list of films from the 2009 Fly Fishing Film Tour. For more info visit: www.FlyFishingFilmTour.com Confluence Films: “Drift” A stunning visual journey, DRIFT takes you on a cinematic adventure across the flats of Belize and the Bahamas, down the tailwaters of the Green, Frying Pan and the Big Horn, spey casting on the Deschutes, and exploring the exotic rivers of Kashmir, India. | confluencefilms.tv Beattie Outdoor Productions: “Nervous Water” Filmed in Colorado, New Zealand, Texas and Papua New Guinea, Nervous Water...
Michigan Trout Celebrating 50 Years
The idea for Trout Unlimited was “born” on July 18, 1959 on the banks of the AuSable River. Fifty years later, TU remains dedicated to the protection of not only Michigan’s coldwater rivers and streams, but those across America. Michigan Trout Unlimited, a grassroots organization consisting of almost 7000 volunteers in 22 Chapters, is committed to conserve, protect and restore our coldwater resources. In the past eight years alone, Michigan TU has raised almost $4,300,000 and has provided 320,586 volunteer hours protecting Michigan’s streams.
Removing dams from the Muskegon River
Jeff Alexander reports on the efforts to remove small dams from the Muskegon River watershed. Great news for the river! Thanks MRWA!
Annual Steelhead trip on the Muskegon River
SWMTU has its 2009 Steelhead float trip for members and friends on the Muskegon River for Saturday, April 18, 2009.
State Files Lawsuit Against Golden Lotus, Inc. Over Pigeon River Fish Kill
The Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources, and Michigan Department of Attorney General announced today that a civil lawsuit has been filed today in 46th Judicial Circuit Court, Otsego County, naming Golden Lotus, Incorporated (GLI) as a defendant and alleging violations of various state environmental laws resulting in a significant fish kill in the Pigeon River. GLI has owned and operated the Song of the Morning Ranch dam and the impoundment located in the Pigeon River Country State Forest since May 26, 1969. The function of the dam is to control the water level in the impoundment, which...
Seminar and movies in March and April
The Fly Fishing Film Tour is coming back to Grand Rapids, and Frank Willet of the PM Lodge will join us for a seminar.
Fly fishing for carp
(Editor’s note: Dick Smith is a long-time board member of SWMTU and avid fisherman. This article first appeared in Trout Talk.) By Dick Smith The carp come onto the long flat to feed and the smallmouths shadow them. Sometimes there will be two or three bass swimming along with a carp. Generally the bigger the carp, the bigger the bass with it. The carp work the bottom and stir things up. The bass feed on whatever the carp chase out and can’t catch right away. There is a lot more looking than casting in that kind of fishing. I don’t...
Fly fishing for pike
(Editor’s note: Dick Smith is a long-time board member of SWMTU and avid fisherman. This article first appeared in Trout Talk.) By Dick Smith The Grand River is famous for its big pike, but they are generally caught by accident by someone who is fishing for something else. Pike are very specialized predators. They hunt from ambush. Their large anal and dorsal fins are set well back near their tails. Those fins act as vertical stabilizers, but those two large fins also act in combination with the tail to accelerate the fish from motionless to top speed in only a...
Fly fishing for smallmouth bass
(Editor’s note: Dick Smith is a long-time board member of SWMTU and avid fisherman. This article first appeared in Trout Talk.) By Dick Smith In the second summer of their lives, when they are about 5 or 6 inches long, smallmouth bass begin to feed heavily on minnows, and for the rest of their lives minnows make up a majority of the food they eat. Smallmouths like crayfish, and they eat them whenever they can catch them. But crayfish are nocturnal and they are very good at hiding where the bass can’t get at them, so they are not a...
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