We are making some progress regarding the weather conditions and lake conditions. Although it seems to be slower than we’d like, the snow is quickly disappearing  and Long and Grand lakes are showing signs of serious ice deterioration.  Won’t be long now.  And in just a little over a month , May 5, we will reopen the store and have your favorite live bait and some serious tackle supplies. Just south of Alpena we noticed a complete lack of snow.

Yesterday we toured the area and found that there is a dock available for you at the Thunder Bay river access behind the post office.  You would have ready access to the river and Lake Huron from there. and good parking. This dock is between the Alpena post office and the MDNR  building.The docks in the Alpena Boat Harbor are not yet in. In fact there is still ice in that area, but it is very dark and should be gone in a few days.We did notice a few empty boat trailers at the river access, and saw some folks trolling the river for steel-head. Walleye is open year round of course in Lake Huron, but not the river or inland waters until April 15. And April 1, 2017,  you can purchase that new DNR fishing license for you early birds. Your old license is still good though.

We also noticed quite a lot of ice burgs in  Lake Huron, and even though this is a beautiful sight to see, it could prove dangerous to smaller boats.

April 15 marks the beginning of Walleye season, and there has been some confusion on that date. We have had a lot of folks who still think it does not open until May 15. Check your Michigan fishing guide and it will show the opening dates for all the species and areas they apply to.

I should mention too that some very nice sized Pike were spotted in a small river that runs off of Long Lake, and so the spawning season has begun. For us, spotting the different species in the spawning areas always thrills us and gives us hopes of a great fishing season ahead.

Well, time to start my favorite spring chores, that being getting the stones out of the lawns and back onto the parking lot.  Even though I’ve been doing this for 24 years now, the thrill of raking millions of little stones back  into the parking lot still thrills me. [ yea, right].

Have a great Easter, and enjoy the advent of Spring. And get ready for some great fishing with those new Lorie Rig crawler harnesses.

🙂