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July 4th: Deadliest Boating Holiday

The Fourth of July holiday is not only the busiest boating period of the year, but it also holds the tragic distinction of being the deadliest nationwide.   more...

Ferguson combines love of sailing with passion for design

Islander Scott Ferguson recently won the 2008 Laser Masters US Nationals held at the New Bedford Yacht Club. Ferguson dominated the nine-race series where he had seven first place finishes as the next closest finisher had just one first place. "Things just went my way," Ferguson said. more...

Regatta sets sail

Portage Lakes, Ohio -

High winds did not keep sailors off the high seas or Portage Lakes June 28-29.

The South Shore Yacht Club sponsored the 2008 National One Design Racing Association Great Lakes Championship Regatta. Four races were held on Saturday, and two on Sunday.

Sailors traveled from Colorado, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Washington DC to compete in the Great Lakes Championships.   more...

Age-old tradition of rail meat

Who wants to be rail meat?

The age-old tradition of new sailors pairing themselves up with captains for use as movable ballast continues at yacht clubs all over Marin.

"Think of yourself as a big sandbag," said former rail meat CJ Spady of Sausalito. "Captains need you, because of your weight, to sit on the rail and keep their boats from heeling over too much. Over time, while you are keeping out of everyone's way, you observe. Then you become a sandbag who can do something."   more...

KATIE ABBOTT TO COMPETE IN SAILING AT THE OLYMPICS

Katie Abbott is getting a second chance at Olympic glory.

The 21-year-old Sarnia woman and her two teammates just missed qualifying for the Beijing games following an equipment failure during a their first sailing race together in February.

But thanks to an invitation issued by the International Sailing Federation, the Canadian women's team will fill a vacant spot at the August games. more...

Surveying damage after dam mistake kills brown trout

ERIC SHARP

VANDERBILT -- The smell of rotting fish could take the bark off trees. And to biologists Andrew Nuhfer and Tim Cwalinski, the sight of dozens of brown trout from 16 to 20 inches was infuriating and disheartening.

Several miles of the Pigeon River were decimated last week because someone at the Song of the Morning Ranch, a yoga center, apparently screwed up when opening a gate on a private hydroelectric dam and released tons of soft black silt.

Big fish hunting on Lake St. Clair

Video by ERIC SHARP/DFP

Join Freep outdoor writer Eric Sharp for a look at the fishing that has made Lake St. Clair one of the top destinations for the elusive muskellunge.   more...

Refining Your Downwind Sails

Perhaps you have already dipped into the delights of downwind sailing using an asymmetrical spinnaker and discovered the fun and satisfaction of sailing with the wind at your back and a colorful sail billowing out ahead of you. However, if you're like most cruisers, your boat is probably fitted with a "conventional" symmetrical spinnaker and, for now, your budget doesn't allow the purchase of an asymmetrical. And like other sailors, you would probably love to use the spinnaker you have, but having to rig up all those lines and blocks and a pole seems pretty complicated, so you've shelved that until another time.   more...

Fishing Kayaks Review

words by Paul Lebowitz
photos by Robert Zaleski
first appeared in Canoe & Kayak, July 2007

The truck sways drunkenly from side to side as we bounce down a deeply rutted track that clings, improbably, to a steep cliff studded with cactus. Directly below us lies one of the most remote, beautiful and fishy spots on northern Baja’s Pacific coast, but I don’t dare to look. With every bump the rig seems to lurch closer to the precipitous drop, so I just grip the wheel tighter and keep my eyes on the old Subaru leading the way. The two factory-fresh kayaks on the roof are probably worth more than the car.  more...

 

Walleye and Wind

by Jason Mitchell

The affect of wind on walleye is almost cliché.  Follow the wind or fish the windy shore.  Wind stacks up baitfish and then the walleye follow.  The reality is however that this cliché is only right half the time so this theory is just another half truth.  There are so many scenarios where wind has a negative affect on walleye location and movements.  There are many times where we are more productive avoiding the wind and the more we can recognize just when wind is not good for our fishing efforts, the better anglers we can become.   more...

Lamprey treatment scheduled for Sturgeon River

By RICH ADAMS

CHEBOYGAN - Crews will be in the area next week to continue battling the invasive sea lamprey.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel will apply lampricides to sections of the Sturgeon River in Otsego and Cheboygan counties to kill sea lamprey larvae burrowed in the stream bottom, according to Dennis Lavis with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ludington Biological Station.   more...

Cleanup of ordnance along Lake Erie finished

PORT CLINTON — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week finished a cleanup of unexploded ordnance found along Lake Erie at the former Erie Army Depot.

The Corps detonated 1,323 munitions, explosives, and other items of concern. Of those, only two live items were detonated and removed — high-explosive 90mm rounds that did not have fuses and never were fired.   more...

Bathing Beauties in Northern Michigan

Michigan Women Antique Northern MI Bathing Beauties Card Love It, photo by UpNorth Memories - Don Harrison.   more...

from Michigan in Pictures

Draft EPA Permit Opens Pandora’s Box Of Compliance Problems For Boaters

ALEXANDRIA, VA, July 1, 2008 -- In response to a federal court order, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a draft permit for millions of recreational vessels for “normal operational discharges” that could open a Pandora’s box of compliance problems and unfairly subject recreational boaters – including those who own canoes and kayaks - to potential nuisance lawsuits.  more...

DNR encourages anglers to report any unusually large fish kills

In the wake of the recent discovery of viral hemorrhagic septicemia in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan and from a large inland lake in Ohio, Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries officials would like to remind anglers to report any unusual numbers of dead or dying fish.   more...