- Hello, everyone.

Welcome to "Michigan Out-of-Doors."

I'm Jenny Ciolek, and we've got a great show headed your way this week.

I'll take you to Port Huron where we check out a festival celebrating our lake sturgeon population here in Michigan.

You'll get to see some of those fish up close and personal.

So you won't wanna miss that story.

And Jimmy and Jordan have some other great stuff headed our way this week.

- Well, that's right, Jenny.

We do have a couple more things on this week's show.

We're gonna kick things off by doing a little bluegill fishing on the west side of Michigan with a husband and wife team and their three daughters.

I tell you what, we had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs on that trip.

And we're also gonna sit down with a tick expert on this week's show and find out what we could all could be doing to prevent ticks and enjoy our time in the woods a little bit more.

Make sure you stay tuned.

I'm Jimmy Gretzinger.

And it's time for "Michigan Out-of-Doors."

♪ From the first spring rains ♪ To the soft summer breeze ♪ Dancing on the pine forest floor ♪ ♪ The autumn colors catch your eyes ♪ ♪ Here come the crystal winter skies ♪ ♪ It's Michigan ♪ Michigan Out of Doors - [Jimmy] What a beautiful day in the woods.

♪ Some day our children all will see ♪ ♪ This is their finest legacy ♪ The wonder and the love of Michigan ♪ ♪ As the wind comes whispering through the trees ♪ (bird calling) ♪ The sweet smell of nature's in the air ♪ ♪ From the great lakes to the quiet stream ♪ ♪ Shining like a sportsman's dream ♪ ♪ It's a love of Michigan ♪ We all share (upbeat music) - [Narrator 1] Michigan out of doors is presented by... (bright music) - [Narrator 2] By country Smoke House.

A sportsman's destination since 1988, featuring varieties of homemade sausage, jerky, brats, and gourmet entrees.

Holiday gift boxes can be assembled in store or online.

Details at countrysmokehouse.com.

(energetic music) - [Narrator 3] By Angler Quest Pontoons, offering fishing pontoons designed by anglers for anglers.

Angler Quest Pontoons are built with a multifunctional layout to support a variety of fishing adventures.

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- [Narrator 4] Mid-Michigan Ponds has been building and maintaining ponds throughout Michigan for nearly 25 years.

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(anticipatory music) (firecracker hissing) (gun firing) (dramatic music) (upbeat music) - Well, we are on White Lake.

White Lake's between White Hall and Montague here in west Michigan.

And we're gonna try to catch some blue gills today.

So we're hoping that they're gonna be on beds.

And we got the whole crew with us today.

- [Craig] Yeah, you do.

- They're eating some donuts right now.

But, yeah.

We'll see what we can do.

We had a big storm that came through yesterday.

So I don't know if that messed things up.

But, yeah.

Hopefully, you get a few blue gills today and... - [Craig] And they're on the beds now.

- [Jordan] That's what?

They were.

Yeah.

It's been kinda a weird spring.

You know, the water temperature's been pretty cold.

It's been a cold spring.

But about a week ago, they moved up on the beds.

And, hopefully, they're still there.

So we'll see what we can do.

- [Craig] Perfect.

- [Jordan] I first met Emily and Craig about 10 years ago on a bass fishing story in the Alpena area.

Emily was pregnant with twins back then.

And now those kids were here on the boat with us today.

- 10 years ago, we had Evelyn and Eleanor in my belly.

(indistinct) Out bass fishing up in Alpena.

- [Craig] That's right.

- [Jordan] Craig's wife, Emily, would be joining us for the morning trip, which was literally right out their back door.

We got in the boat, (gentle music) rigged our wacky worm setup, and started casting.

Now, this is a very good way to fish for bass in about any situation.

But, today, with the fish just getting on some beds, it was perfect.

And it wasn't long at all until we found some fish.

It turns out, Emily's pretty competitive and was hoping she would out-fish Craig.

So far, she was one up.

I think we brought the good anglers.

(Emily laughing) (upbeat music) (fish splashing) - [Craig] Yeah, over there.

There you go.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- [Craig] There's a fish.

Oh, you swallow her too.

- Didn't even really feel a bite.

- [Jimmy] Nice job, young lady.

- Thank you.

First fish of the morning.

- [Jimmy] It was fun to look back 10 years and to see how, today, both Craig and Emily made a priority to get their kids into the outdoors.

- They've been doing it since they were really little.

Probably three.

It's something that Emily and I have enjoyed doing.

And we always wanted to make it a family thing.

And, yeah, they've been going pretty much since they were two, three years old.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- So last year was the first time where they could start to bait their own hook and take their own fish off.

So, you know, I encourage anybody to, if you got young kids, to get 'em out early.

It's a little bit of work to start with.

But once they pick it up, it's turned to be a really good opportunity to hang out with your kids, you know, when you're in these types of environments.

So it's been fun.

No way.

- [Jimmy] Got another one?

- [Craig] Nice one.

- Tiny.

(laughs) I don't think that's a keeper.

- Yeah.

- [Jimmy] So our setup today was pretty simple.

Just a slip bobber and some worms.

Fishing gills on beds can be done a few different ways.

But for today, that seemed our best option.

And Craig told me what kind of water he's looking for.

- This time of year we're, I mean, these fish are spawning right now.

So you're just trying to find probably two feet to four feet off of some type of drop.

We're fishing right now.

We're like, fishing nine feet over here.

And it's two feet up here.

So these fish are kinda in the deeper water.

And once the the temperature is right... - There we go.

- They get up on these kind of hard sand bottoms or gravel.

And do their spawning thing.

And then they kinda cruise back into the deeper water once summer comes around, so.

So, yeah.

- [Jimmy] Perfect.

And just bobber and worm.

- [Craig] Bobber and worm, yeah.

Old school.

Like we kind of said earlier, bring it back to six, seven years old.

So ton of fun.

(Jimmy laughing) - [Jimmy] The plan today was to fish for as long as the girls could stand it.

And, of course, snacks help a lot when getting kids into the outdoors.

- It was pretty quick.

I think they all had their first fish on a hook by three years old.

Just like this.

We'd get 'em out.

Go blue gill fishing.

Something that they could just sit and enjoy their snacks.

And, yeah, get a hook in the water.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- [Emily] And now we've done blue gill, bass.

Salmon fishing is another one of our family favorites.

Heading out on the big water.

And all three of these girls have reeled in-- - [Evelyn] Yeah, we do pike.

- [Emily] Big salmon all on their own.

They were determined.

And that's been a really cool moment to enjoy with them as a family.

- [Jimmy] That's awesome.

It was fun to be reminded just how much fun catching even small fish that you're gonna throw back can still be.

All three of the girls today were doing a great job for sure.

- I have a perch!

- Right next to the lens there.

Look at how big he is.

- [Eleanor] Mom, can you take it off?

(Evelyn laughing) - [Jimmy] What do you got here, Craig?

- [Craig] Hey, it's a girl day.

The tackle box.

(Jimmy and Craig laughing) - [Jimmy] Did that come with a Barbie?

- Yeah, yeah.

Okay, all right.

Yeah.

(Jimmy and Craig laughing) - [Evelyn] That's the one I steal.

Dad, that's the one I steal.

(upbeat music) (voices overlapping) Oh, another perch.

- Another perch!

So much perch!

- Right!

- Fish!

(indistinct) - You got one?

Nice.

- Can we keep it?

- You wanna keep that one?

- Yeah.

- [Jimmy] What's your favorite part about doing this kind of fishing?

- Spending time with the family and just being out on the water.

- Yeah?

- Having fun.

- [Jimmy] What's your favorite fish to catch?

- Bluegill.

- [Jimmy] Bluegill?

Well, that works out good.

- Mm-hmm.

- [Jimmy] And do you guys eat 'em up too?

- Yeah.

- [Jimmy] Oh, good.

Yeah, (indistinct).

- We have to throw it out, (indistinct).

- Broke the streak of perch.

- (laughing) Nice people.

- [Craig] Let's see that one there.

(indistinct) Nice job.

(indistinct) (water lapping) - Oh!

Yeah, not a bad one.

(family chattering) That's a little bit strong.

- That's a keeper.

- Yeah, all right.

Keep that guy.

- [Jimmy] Well, today we threw back more fish than we actually kept, which can be the case when gill fishing.

The spawning window can vary here in the state, depending on where you are.

Today was fun to see a family out enjoying a day on the water.

And Craig wanted to end the time with a little prayer of thanks for the day.

- Thank you for today.

Thank you for an opportunity to be out here on the water and enjoy, you know, a moment with great weather.

Lord, thank you for having Jimmy with us here today.

It was a great memory and something that we'll keep with us forever.

In your name we pray.

- Amen.

- Amen!

- [Craig] Amen.

- [Jimmy] Faith, family and fishing.

All three are important things, but when you can put 'em all together, well, it really makes for a perfect day out in the water.

Have fun today?

- Yep.

- Yeah.

- [Jimmy] And then how many fish did we catch?

- Like 15?

- 15.

- [Jimmy] 15?

Well, we threw a bunch back.

We probably threw back about 15 or 20 maybe.

- Uh-huh.

- Yeah.

So probably like 35 fish in total.

- [Jimmy] Yeah, probably 30 or 40 anyways.

Well, good job today.

Thanks to the Thompson family for letting me tag along today and for showing us the importance and the fun of getting the next generation to enjoy Michigan's out of doors.

- Our lake sturgeon population here in Michigan is something that's near and dear to my heart, and about 15 years ago I was invited to be part of the planning stages of the Sturgeon Festival that happens in Port Huron.

And it's great to see that it's still going strong.

(mellow music) - Yeah.

So we're honored to continue the tradition of hosting the Friends of St.

Clair.

This is one of their larger fundraisers of the year and we just feel grateful to promote our area and the sturgeon and help them in any way we can.

Obviously we deeply care about this waterway staying clean and you know, a healthy environment for our sturgeon.

- [Interviewer] Yeah.

You guys took some school kids out earlier the week too, to kick off Sturgeon Fest, right?

- We have taken out hundreds of sturgeon field trips at this point.

They were packed to the gills every time, so that was super cool.

We have some deckhands that are actually becoming teachers, so they nerded out a lot over all the experiments, but it was wonderful to see the kids engaged and learning so much.

- [Interviewer] Awesome.

Tell me what we can expect on this cruise.

- So on this cruise, we're fortunate to have the US Fish and Wildlife here.

They're gonna talk to our guests about what we can do to keep these waterways clean, the birthing rates of our sturgeon, what's going on when they spawn below that river, and why that river's an important place for them and how we can keep those waterways healthy.

- [Narrator] For 13 years I owned and operated the Huron Lady boat and was privileged to be part of the beginning stages of the tour boat portion of Sturgeon Fest.

It's great to see Kristy and her husband, captain Dustin, carrying on the tradition.

Jim Bose has also been part of this event since the beginning.

- The big thing that I always want to tell folks, there's, you know, we talk about big numbers, 30,000 sturgeon call the St.

Clair Detroit River system home and it's about a hundred mile stretch.

It's bookended by Lake Huron on the upper end of the waterway, Lake Erie on the lower end of the waterway.

And essentially tell people 30,000.

But what's that relative to, when there were historically upwards of a million fish were in Lake Erie?

The number that I tend to, I like to tell folks, although we're moving away from that, we were at 1% of what was historically here.

So that really, that's a number that people remember, that there was historically way more fish that were than are here today and the work that we've been doing, what feels like the course of my career, that number's going in the right direction.

- [Narrator] The success story of our lake sturgeon here in Michigan is a great one, and people really seem to embrace this prehistoric species.

Passengers on the sturgeon crews were able to see a couple of fish that have been caught as part of the Fish and Wildlife Service research project here.

After a quick question and answer session with the research team, it was back to shore and over to the Fort Gratiot Light Station for more festivities.

- We're at the 15th annual Sturgeon Fest.

I can't believe it's been 15 years.

We're here at Fort Gratiot Light Station.

It's a beautiful setting.

It's a beautiful way to celebrate Sturgeon Fest.

And we have, it's one festival, two locations.

So we're here at Fort Gratiot Light Station.

We also have the ship portion aboard the Huron Lady that people can buy tickets and go experience sturgeon.

But we have band and food trucks and vendors.

You can see everything behind me.

It's lively and festive, and of course the celebrity is our lake sturgeon touch tank that's out on the beach, and we'll be hand releasing all the sturgeon back into the wild at the end of the festival.

Sturgeon Fest is hosted by Friends of the St.

Clair River.

We're based here in Port Huron up in the thumb coast of Michigan.

And we've been telling the fascinating story of lake sturgeon for 15 years now, and they're a mascot for the Great Lakes recovery.

So as the St.

Clair River has been healing, lake sturgeon population are also increasing.

So that's a very important relationship is seeing lake surgeon population numbers increase.

Also having the St.

Clair River heal itself from a century of abuse and surgeon are just, I think they're cute.

They're a fascinating, a fascinating mascot and a way to tell the really important story of Great Lakes recovery.

We get about 2000 people and last year we had people from 11 states.

So people love to come see the dinosaur of the Great Lakes, this gentle giant of the great lakes.

And they're pretty uncommon to see in the wild.

They're bottom feeders, they stay at the bottom.

They are becoming more common just because we know their numbers are increasing, which is fantastic part of the conservation story.

But here at Sturgeon Fest, you get to get up close and personal and touch 'em and see 'em and really get that connection to nature.

- [Narrator] The grand finale for Sturgeon Fest happens here at Lighthouse Beach, where a crowd gathers for a ceremony before all of the touch tank fish and the sturgeon in the classroom fish are released with the help from the St.

Clair Detroit River Sturgeon for Tomorrow team, - [Narrator] We have about a dozen babies, sturgeon in the classroom, fish that are gonna be hand released by the students today back into Lake Huron.

(singer chanting) (drum beating) Our big adults that are in our touch tank, of course our celebrities, they'll go back into the wild at the end of the day.

All of this is possible because of the DNR and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

We can't have a sturgeon festival without a sturgeon.

- [Narrator] The DNR recently shared some exciting news with those involved in the Sturgeon in the Classroom program.

- [Kristy] We got news this year that the very first time this has happened, as Sturgeon in the Classroom, sturgeon was caught by an angler and noted in the diary program.

Its name is Bubbles.

It was raised by a classroom (crowd cheering) a couple years ago, I think it was released here at Sturgeon Fest in 2021, I believe.

And it's been caught.

So it's just a really neat, that's the whole purpose of Sturgeon in the Classroom is that, there's two purposes to that.

One, we give the fish an advantage for being a year older, more chances of survival.

Number two is to have that connection with the students so that they become Great Lake stewards someday.

So the fact that the surgeon are thriving out there is just a really neat full circle moment.

(energetic music) - [Narrator] Tyler Schutt was here with his teacher, Ryan Kolowski from Port Huron High School.

Tyler released their classroom fish, Wrinklehof, that was featured here on "Michigan Out of Doors" last fall.

It's great to see so many different organizations coming together in an effort to protect, promote, and grow our lake sturgeon population here in Michigan.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service, the province of Ontario, Michigan DNR, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, and Friends of the St.

Clair River have all worked together for years now to make sure the lake sturgeon numbers here in these waters continue to grow and flourish right here in Michigan's out of doors.

(warm music) (energetic music) - [Jimmy] Well, we are here today with Travis Avery from Sawyer products and we're talking ticks today.

- [Travis] That's right.

- And you're kind of the tick expert.

So kind of gimme an overview here in Michigan, it feels like the more people that you talk to that spend a lot of time outdoors, we're seeing more ticks.

I don't know if that's true or not, but kinda where are we when it comes to ticks here in Michigan?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So nationally, tick populations have more than tripled in the past 14 years.

And specifically here in Michigan, we are at a 10 year high according to all the data being reported by the doctors so far.

- Okay.

And is there, are they worse in the west side of the state, northern part of the, where are they kind of, the hot zone?

- Typically where the biggest urban sprawls are.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- So we're displacing pets and animals from their natural habitats, that displaces the mice and the foxes and whatnot.

So as cities grow is where you'll see a lot more tick populations where they can thrive.

- Okay.

And what are some common maybe misconceptions out there about ticks?

I mean, not every one has Lyme disease.

- Sure, yeah.

- Is there certain ones, the little ones do, the little ones don't.

- Sure.

- Kinda walk me through some of the-- - Yeah.

- So unfortunately the prevalence of Lyme intakes is also in line with the amount of ticks increase.

I actually got bit by a tick earlier this year and sent it in to get tested and it was confirmed with Lyme.

So that's one of the things you can do is, you know, if you do end up finding a tick on you or getting bit by a tick, it's not the end of the world.

But our goal here today is to give you the education and awareness to be proactively prepared.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- So, yes, Lyme is in Michigan.

In fact, it has been discovered in all 50 states now, but here in Michigan we're most prevalent with deer tick or blacklegged ticks.

- Okay.

And so walk me through, if you find some on you, whether they're, let's just start with unattached.

- Yeah.

Ideal scenario is you find it crawling upon you and you can safely remove it, potentially dispose of it.

But if you do find a tick on you, again, don't panic.

It usually takes up to 24 hours plus for Lyme disease or other diseases to be contracted.

- Okay.

- So the goal would be to safely remove the tick from your skin.

So after being out in the woods, we always recommend tick checks at the end of the day or regularly, depending on if you're in a heavily tick infested area.

But once you safely remove it, we also recommend saving it so you can send it in for testing if you start to develop symptoms or in an area where you know has high prevalence of Lyme.

- Okay.

And if you find one that's attached to you or your dog let's say, just pull it off.

- Yup.

- Is there a technique?

- So yeah, you don't wanna do the using like cigarettes or lighters, you don't want to use hand sanitizer or anything that allows the tick to unburrow itself on its own.

When it does that, it's gonna spit out a bunch of nasty things.

That's (voices overlapping).

So what you wanna do is either there are specific tick things you can buy for removal, but simply just tweezers by the head and trying to pull it out as straight as possible.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

And I don't know if it's an old wives tale, putting Vaseline on 'em and they would-- - Yeah, same.

- Don't do that.

- Yep, yep, yep.

- Okay.

- [Travis] Those are outdated methods we have learned since that that actually encourages them to not have a clean exit.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

So you brought some products.

What are some of the things that you guys use?

- Yeah.

- That you recommend to try to prevent ticks and what's the best way to do that?

- [Travis] Totally.

So again, we wanted to let people know that the tick, just because the ticks are more prevalent doesn't mean that you have to be more paranoid per se.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- So our first recommendation is our clothing treatment, permethrin.

That's the active ingredient.

We originally developed this for the military back in the eighties.

That's what the military applies to their BDUs, their uniforms.

And this is the civilian approved formula, a lower concentration.

- Okay.

- And this is derived from the chrysanthemum flower family.

It's a synthetic version, so it won't break down in the sun as quickly.

So this treatment is completely odorless after it dries.

And it lasts for six weeks or six washes.

- Oh wow.

- Yeah.

So you're-- - That's right on your clothes, not on your skin?

- Yep.

Yep.

So you're gonna hang up your clothes or lay them out in the grass depending on your options.

But basically, ideally in a well ventilated area, apply enough to see a color change in the fabric.

And after it dries it'll be completely odorless and that it only takes, ticks need to crawl across maybe an inch and a half of it to start the dying process.

- Oh, really?

- Yep.

- Wow.

- Mm-hmm.

So yeah.

So that's our first layer of defense.

And then the more treated clothing and gear you have, the more protected you are.

There was actually a study done by the University of Rhode Island that proves you were more than 73.6 times, so not percent, times less likely to get bitten by a tick by wearing permethrin treated shoes and socks alone.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

- So for our fellow outdoorsmen and women, we encourage people to treat even more than that.

You know, the more treated fabric you have, so your pants, your shirt, your... - Now would you use that like bug spray?

Can you put it on your arms or-- - So it is for fabric use only.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- [Travis] So we have topicals for your skin.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- But we always recommend this for your first layer defense.

Most people have, they have regular clothing and gear they use in the-- - Gotcha.

- The woods.

You know, you can treat, spray down your blind.

Another pro tip for our whitetail hunters, you can treat an old moving blanket.

So after you've field dressed your harvest, you throw your deer on the blanket and it'll kill all the ticks so they won't come back to your camp or house.

- Okay.

And then let's say you want to, is there one of those that you could put on your dog or?

- Absolutely.

So that's a great segue.

You can actually use Permethrin directly on your dog.

- [Jimmy] Oh, okay.

- It'll last for 35 days against fleas, and mosquitoes and six weeks for ticks.

- [Jimmy] Oh wow.

- Yep.

So it's a great way, there's other options out there, which, if that's what you're using to keep your dog safe, I'm all for it.

We're all animal lovers over here.

But the benefit of using Permethrin is the tick doesn't have to necessarily bite your dog to start dying.

Again, only needs to crawl across a little bit of it to start that dying process.

- Nice.

Okay.

And then where can people find these tick products?

- [Travis] Yeah.

- Just any sporting good shop or?

- Majority of the sporting good shops.

Amazon, BassPro, Cabela's.

I mean, we also have a store finder, so if you want to potentially support your local mom and pop shop, (energetic music) you can hop on our website and just put in your zip code and get recommendations.

But yeah, Academy, REI, all the major outdoor recreation retailers.

(indistinct) - Okay.

But so the main thing is don't be afraid to go into the woods.

- Yeah, I mean that's what we really wanna encourage is we, all of us should be spending more time outdoors these days.

- [Jimmy] Yes.

- And so even with the rising concerns around vector-borne diseases, we are happy to provide simple and very affordable ways for you to confidently recreate outdoors.

- Awesome.

- [Narrator] Well, there you have it, some good information on how you can do a better job of preventing ticks and enjoy your time in the woods just a little bit more.

- Thank you so much for joining us this week for "Michigan Out of Doors."

Make sure you check us out in upcoming weeks.

We've got a lot of summertime fun headed your way.

If you'd like to see where we are and what we're up to and what we have planned, you can always do that online.

- Well, that's right Jenny, Facebook and Instagram are probably the best ways to see what we're up to on a day to today basis.

You can always check out our website as well.

If you miss an episode of two, you need to catch up, you can do that there.

Make sure you are joining us over the next several weeks.

Lots of brand new stuff coming.

Get out and enjoy everything our state has to offer.

And hopefully we'll see you right back here next week on your PBS station.

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(energetic music) ♪ When I wander far away, a dream stays with me ♪ ♪ Night and day ♪ It's the road that leads to my home state ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ Changing seasons paint the sea ♪ ♪ Like rainbow trout in a hidden stream ♪ ♪ The white-tail deer in the tall pine trees ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ I am, I am a Michigan man ♪ That's where I'm from and I'll show you my hands ♪ ♪ Lord above, I love this land ♪ I am a (gentle music)