- Well, hey, everybody, welcome to "Michigan Out of Doors," thank you so much for joining us this week, we've got a lot of variety on this week's show, we are gonna kick things off by doing a little pike fishing on an inland lake and getting a masterclass on how to troll for those with rod at hand, after that, Jenny's gonna introduce us to a wildlife artist who is a great artist, but what's really cool is what he does his paintings on, you won't wanna miss that, and Jordan's gonna take us to an event that just happened in the Lansing area that's all about hunting, bird-dogs, and it all happened at a brewery, some great things there as well, so 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 ♪ (relaxed guitar music) ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ 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 ♪ (relaxed guitar music) - [Narrator] "Michigan Out of Doors" is presented by... - [Narrator] 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.

- [Narrator] By Great Lakes Firearms and Ammunition, a family-owned-and-operated firearm manufacturer in Sparta, Michigan, offering a wide variety of calibers and colors backed by a lifetime warranty.

More information available at glfallc.com.

(upbeat rock music) - [Narrator] At Boss Shotshells, we make all our shot shells right here in Michigan and deliver them direct to your door.

(upbeat rock music) (ethereal electronic music) (upbeat rock music) - [Jimmy] Just last week, I found myself in Southern Michigan with outdoor writer Joe Bednar and his buddy, Chris Allen.

Today, I was getting a masterclass in how to troll for pike on... (indistinct) Lake here in Barry County.

- This is, like, right in-between, you know, hot summer and the early fall time, not really fall by yet, so we're gonna hit these really steep edges this lake has, where the pike are, and ambush, like, up in that deep weed line usually, and so, by trolling really tight to that contour, I like a tiller to do that, it's a little more accurate, but I... Whatever works for somebody, but you wanna get right on that edge, and so, they're lying in ambush there, and so, if we have, like, a crank-bait at a couple different depths, inside rod might only be 10, 12 foot down, outside rod, we'll start maybe 15 feet down, we're kinda, like, scraping that weed edge and that's usually a good tactic, some albeit deeper...

Both lines will be deeper, but right now, we're kinda transitioning, I'm gonna wanna hit one up a little bit higher on that edge.

(indistinct) (loud clattering) And I'll be on the inside with more of a... Something not as deep, trusty... (indistinct) - [Chris] That's a cute little...

It's got teeth marks on there.

- [Jimmy] It's got a few bites on there.

- Oh, yeah, wait 'til you see some other ones, they...

It looks like they've had, like, a meat tenderizer, a hammer smashed on them repeatedly.

(loud clattering) - [Jimmy] We had perfect conditions today to start, Joe has been chasing these toothy critters since he was a kid and he literally wrote the book on pike fishing.

It was fun to pick the brain of an expert, and as we got lines in the water, Joe explained more about this entire process and what he likes about trolling for pike with rod in hand.

(machinery humming) - About the pike trolling, and then, I'll do this with muskie too, I'll do the...

Hold the rod and fish for 'em that way.

Notorious followers that they are, I'm trying to constantly provoke them with rod maneuvers, which is fun, holding the rod, you get to feel that violent strike, but you're also...

Since they can, like, follow a bait all day, you won't know it, I'm trying to, like, trigger them so I'm twitching the crank-bait a lot, I'll, like, sweep it up with a long sweep like this, and then, I'll let it, like, kinda fall back in some intervals, like, most of the strikes come that way.

(machinery humming) I'll still do a static rod-holder one when I'm solo and the lake doesn't have too tough of contours, but more fish will come on the rod that I'm working for 'em, but some will come on that static rod.

Hopefully, I can release them though with no issues.

- [Chris] I think my drag was not helping that.

- [Joe] Oh, I didn't have that.

- [Chris] Sorry, my fault.

- [Joe] I didn't set it, yeah.

(machinery humming) Ooh, he might be a decent one!

- [Chris] Yeah, he's giving me a little head shake.

We like that.

Yeah, there we go.

- Let's get a look at it.

- [Chris] Okay.

- [Joe] Oh, he's a nice one!

What a start!

Can I get that net, Jimmy?

Oh, look at that tank!

(laughs) That's great!

Sorry.

(Joe exclaiming in excitement) - [Chris] Stand down.

- [Joe] Ooh, he's pulling some line, this is great, what a start.

- [Chris] Under the boat, they like to do that.

- [Jimmy] He looked pretty good.

- [Joe] He's a nice one.

- [Chris] He looked nice.

- [Jimmy] It's a good... Real good one.

(machinery humming) - [Joe] Oh, what a start.

Oh, he's a beauty!

Easy, easy does it.

- [Chris] Yep, yeah, yeah, I got you, Joe.

Coming at you.

- There we go.

(water splashing) Oh, what a start!

Nice!

(people laughing) Nice!

- Yeah, a little spray, so... All right.

Good way to start the morning, yeah, good job, so... - Like I said, if you take a guy who's better at fishing than you are, they make you look good.

- [Chris] Yeah, well, I'm just glad to be in the boat.

- [Joe] That's my strategy.

No, but the accurate trolling is what we want, it already paid off.

Maybe even 36, which... That's the master angler fish, so let's see what we got.

- [Jimmy] Any trick to handling 'em the best way?

- [Joe] You know, it's kinda case-by-case, but when you keep 'em down in the water like this, if you get a big thrash, you can then just, like, let go, you know, not risk your hands and stuff.

She should be all right here.

- [Chris] Yeah, one good hook in her.

That's all you need.

- [Joe] Nice.

No, that's a beauty.

(water splashing) That's a nice pike right there.

- [Jimmy] Oh, that's a dandy.

- (laughs) Thank you.

- There she goes.

(water splashing) - [Jimmy] Well, nice job, boys.

- All right, good job, Joe, give me a little... (people high-fiving) - [Joe] Good.

All right.

- That's right, that's how we do it.

- [Jimmy] Almost look like you know what you're doing.

- Heck no.

(people laughing) - [Jimmy] With so much variety and different kinds of fish that we can chase in our state, I was curious what drew Joe to chasing after pike.

- [Joe] As a kid, I...

They were always just, like, the most exciting draw for me 'cause I catched, you know, little bluegills on cane poles or whatnot, so, like, when we finally even got your first... What people would call a hammer-handle pike, that was huge, like, I... You know, 18-inch pike, we were thrilled, that was a big deal for us, and that just kinda lit the fire, and ever since then, even though I like catching anything, I found them to kinda be the best for, like, a combination of great qualities, like, you have that bigger fish challenge and thrill that, like, a big pike can give you, a little bit of a sense of muskie-fishing, but then, you also...

There's enough of 'em around on good pike water where you get some good action like bass fishing, but for me at least, the average size is quite good on a pike, even what someone considers a small pike, say, 20 inches, is still, you know...

I don't know, on the right tackle, is a fun fighting fish, hits hard, gives you a good fight, so it's like a combination of trying for big game as well as, like, some action in-between, so I kinda think they're a great combination there, and then, the availability, I've done really well on everything from, like, little creeks, rivers, small lakes and all the way up to, of course, the Great Lakes, that's probably our greatest treasure for really big pike, but the variety of waters then and the accessibility for everybody, from wading guy or a kayak guy, a little rowboat on up to, you know, big-water boats, it kinda offers it all.

- [Jimmy] It is very true that you can find pike all over our great state, and it was interesting to see the variety of lures that Joe uses when trolling or casting.

- On the inside line that I'm gonna try to, like, brush the edge a little bit more, I'm gonna do a heavy spinner blade that's, like, a one-ounce head, and if you downsize the single willow blade, and if it's a tandem, you even take off the front, you don't really want the lift, so, like, a thinner, smaller willow and a heavy head will get nice and deep toward that weed that I wanna brush those deeper weeds with it.

You could use a light trailer, sometimes, no trailer 'cause that also adds lift to the spinner bait, and then, sometimes, if I feel like if the weeds aren't too thick, I'll rig a trailer hook downward for better hookups, so we'll see, I think we can get one this way too, just, you know, kinda demonstrate that.

- [Jimmy] When trolling or casting up against some heavy weed edges like we were doing today, you're gonna find that you're battling with the weeds throughout the day, but that's just part of it, and like this fish here, you may bring in the same amount of fish as you do weeds.

- It's two pounds of pike... All right.

If we get two for two nice ones, that'd be nice.

It feels pretty good.

- [Jimmy] Yeah?

(machinery humming) - We'll get some... We'll get... You know, the smaller ones are okay, we need to have them around, but... (machinery humming) You know, it didn't take long after I think we went to both baits being the deeper, it's...

The water's still warm.

Oh, man, it's nice.

It's a good one.

Oh, wow, he's beauty.

- [Chris] Oh, yeah, I see him.

- [Joe] Oh, yeah.

(laughs) Oh, there we go.

- [Chris] Oh, goodness.

- [Joe] Let's go, let's go.

Oh, geez, should probably get a little bit busy here, we'll see what happens.

(water splashing) - [Chris] There he goes.

Yep, yep, yep, yep.

(indistinct) - Nice.

Got the rod... (indistinct) - [Chris] Yes, all right, here we go, ready?

(water splashing) - [Joe] We're not having it yet.

- [Jimmy] See if you can bring it over this way.

- [Joe] How about this way?

- [Jimmy] Or this way.

- [Joe] He's barely hooked, see if you can get her.

- [Chris] Okay.

I gotcha, I gotcha.

- [Joe] See if you can get her.

(water splashing) All right!

- All right.

Good job, good job.

- [Joe] Nice one.

Nice one.

- [Chris] There we go.

- That's cool.

- [Jimmy] Nice job, guys.

- [Joe] That's in that same ballpark, that's a quality pike.

Should be at least 34, she might be 35.

We have so much great fishing in Michigan, it's just easy to forget that, you know, pike are still, like, the dominant predator.

- [Jimmy] A very dominant predator for sure, and what a great day we had on the water, thanks to Chris and Joe for teaching us a thing or two about pike fishing right here in Michigan's out-of-doors.

- In our travels across the state, it's always so interesting to run into people who have so much talent in so many different areas, and I ran into one of those people recently, Mr. Eric Carlson.

You may remember a couple of weeks ago, we introduced you to Captain Eric Carlson in the Alpena area.

Eric and his family jigged up a limit of lake trout on Lake Huron and showed us a great way to target those sport fish there.

While I was in town for that trip, Eric mentioned his other passion, painting wildlife art.

In addition to charter fishing, Eric teaches art and design at Alcona High School and art at Alpena Community College.

His talent shows through in his work, I stopped into his home studio where he was creating a piece on wild turkey feathers.

- I think the first one I did was, like, 2001 or 2002, and if I remember correctly, I had seen one...

I had seen a feather painted somewhere in a...

I don't know if it was at a craft show or what, and it was really, really crude and rough, and I'm like, "That's kind of a cool idea," and I'm like, "I know I can paint better than that," so I decided that I was gonna give it a go, and I did, and I was teaching school and a young lady had a dad that was... Made rustic furniture, and he was the football coach at the school I was teaching at, and came to me and said, "Hey, you might wanna try and make a few more of these," and he goes, "I'll frame 'em up for you," and he did the Ann Arbor Art Fair and a couple other ones, and he went down and did that, and sold them, and I was, like, "Well, cool," well, I was just starting out teaching and wasn't making a lot of money, so that was... For me, that was a good little side hustle, right?

So kinda just blossomed from there, and obviously, over time, your artwork gets a lot better and, you know, people get to know who you are and just things kinda happen.

My clients are everybody, like, so... And not everybody, obviously, but they're from all walks of life, I've got people, you know, that save every penny so they can afford a piece, and I've got people that drop thousands and thousands of dollars on artwork, so, you know, I've got pieces all over the country, but most... You know, more than that is it...

Most of what I do, it's pieces that have a personal connection to somebody, so whether it's a pet portrait, you know, of a beloved dog, hunting dog, a lot of sporting dogs like I had mentioned before, but... Or, you know, trophies...

Hunting trophies, somebody's first deer, or first turkey, or biggest deer, or biggest bear, I do a lot of that, and I was shying away from doing portrait work, but, you know, apparently, people like it and I've gotten pretty decent at it, so yeah, so that's become pretty popular as well, so I really enjoy doing fish and all wildlife, birds, just a wide array of things.

The feathers, I do a lot of different things to the feathers to make it work, and no two feathers are the same, so starting out, like, I'll get a tail or feathers given to me, and then, I actually wash and dry them, but kinda even going above what you would do, like, for taxidermy work, and then...

So I... You know, I use a pet dryer, and I shampoo 'em and clean 'em, so get all the dirt, or grime, or whatever else is on 'em, and then, I blow dry 'em and get everything to come back together, it's kinda amazing 'cause it looks like a wet ready dog, and then, you blow it and it's like, "Whoa, that's beautiful," and then, I treat 'em, I've got a couple of different sprays that I treat 'em really lightly with to... Just to bind 'em enough where I can paint initially on 'em, and an acrylic is a polymer-based paint, so once that dries, it actually kinda glues that together a little bit, and once you've got a couple layers on there, you can build on that and go from there, so I use as minimal spray as possible, but I do do that, and then, I also have a couple of double-sided tapes that I use specifically to kinda combine them if I'm doing, like, a... You know, a multi-feather painting like we had there, sometimes, I'll do a full fan.

- [Jenny] It's amazing to see all the detail and work that goes into Eric's paintings, each one is incredibly unique and has its own character.

Eric also makes his own frames, which are a work of art all their own and custom-made to each piece.

- [Eric] The frames that I typically put on my pieces are custom-made out of cedar and birch that I harvest off my property or family property, a lot of friends will help me out with collecting, you know, they'll have dead birch, I use dead birch...

Standing birch bark, it's kinda a specific state, right?

So it has to be just perfect in order to put on those frames, but so, I rip those down into strips and I matte and frame each piece to fit the particular painting, so every one of 'em is, like, a custom size, I use... Double-matte everything in suede typically, and then, build that custom frame to fit that piece.

Sometimes, people don't wanna pay for that, they are custom and they take me several hours a piece, you know, if some...

I mean, I'd say five-to-seven hours on average per frame for the smaller ones, so, you know, you can't give those away, but typically, people... That's what people want and they're...

They look really good and they compliment that work really good, I think, and that's...

I think that's what makes it stand out and unique.

- [Jenny] Eric meets clients from all over the country, but many have the same interest in his artwork, and the same questions.

- The most common question I get is, you know, "Can you...?"

"If I give you a picture, can you paint it?"

And the answer is, "Yes," so the the key to that is having a good, clean, crisp photograph, so if it's blurry and I don't...

I can't see details, then you're making me guess and, you know, that kinda puts me in a spot, but if I have a good, clean photograph with... You know, that's crisp and I can see details of your dog, and I can catch their personality and see the sparkle in their eye, I can do a lot of cool stuff with that, so yeah.

- [Jenny] From his fishing success, to teaching, to his works of art created from our renewable natural resources, Eric Carlson's talent and passion for the outdoors is evident in all he does.

We're glad he shares it all with us here in Michigan's out-of-doors.

(upbeat guitar music) (gentle guitar music) - [Jordan] A few weeks back, I was able to cover a really cool event in downtown Lansing that was centered around field care for hunting dogs and support for public lands.

(gentle guitar music) - My name's Jameson Hibbs, I'm a chapter coordinator for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, AKA BHA, what Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is, we're a national conservation organization with a mission focused on enhancing and preserving our public lands, public waters, access to sound habitat when you get there, so here we are at Lansing Brewing Company for the Field Dog First Aid Seminar and the Public Lands Pale Ale launch in a collaboration with Lansing Brewing Company, we have a Public Lands Pale Ale, which is a national collab we have with several breweries across the nation, rolling out a beer collab through the month of September.

This event kinda captures what BHA is all about, we represent hunters and anglers that have a lot of different facets in the outdoor industry, tonight, it's all about dogs, all about our man's best friend.

A lot of our people go out with their dogs and chase several different species every year, from waterfowl to upland game, you name it, our people are out there doing it, so tonight, it's all about people, their dogs, the great Public Lands Pale Ale collaboration that we have, bringing folks together, and that's why we're here.

(upbeat guitar music) - We're at Lansing Brewing Company in the capital city of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan.

We've been here for 10 years, historically though, Lansing Brewing Company started in 1898, closed during prohibition, so we're a little bit historical, but a more modern brewery, I myself have been the head brewer here for about six months, so relatively new, but I've been a brewer in the state for about 15 years.

As a brewer, it's not often that we get to do something that gives back, and for me as an avid angler, hiker, camper in the state of Michigan, really great for us to be able to do something that... You know, do the thing I love to do and make beer, and also have that sponsor a good cause, so for the month of September, proceeds from the sale of our Public Lands Pale Ale will go to support the public lands groups and the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers in the state of Michigan and across the country, so come into Lansing Brewing Company, get the Public Lands Pale Ale and support that great cause.

- [Jordan] With waterfall seasons already underway and upland seasons fast approaching, many hunters have been out training and hunting with their dogs.

The speaker for this event, Dr. Sarah Shull from Michigan State University, had some good tips for hunters in general and some advice for hunting in the early seasons.

- I guess I would just say that hunting season should be a year-round sport, it might not have a season as far as actually on regulations, but escorting to your dog and keeping them in condition, they shouldn't really have a season of doing these things, you should be running your dog year-round, they shouldn't be weekend warriors just when the season opens, there's plenty of preserves, land to hike and explore, as long as we're avoiding nesting seasons and such like that, that your dog stays in shape, not fat, acclimated condition year-round, they should not be seasonal as the hunting season changes.

So early season, when we still have a lot of foliage up, the cover's really high, we still have the potential to be way too hot for what we're doing and what we're looking for, so when they're searching for the birds, they're going out on those long retrieves, even in water, it still can be too hot, too humid for the conditions, and so, overheating is gonna be one of our most serious early-season things to be aware of that sometimes, we forget about in Michigan 'cause we're not Florida, or Georgia, or some of our hot climates.

- [Jordan] Another topic that was discussed throughout the evening was what supplies you should have on hand while in the woods or on the water, and although having a first aid kit for your dog is very important, it can be relatively basic.

- I'm quite a minimalist when it comes to the actual first aid kit itself, I use a lot of eye flush saline, so bottles of eye flush or any type of wound flush saline, 'cause you can use that for multiple different conditions, including even on yourself if you need to flush something out of your eye, so definitely some type of irrigating cleanser like saline that you can get at any local drugstore is a must, a thermometer with up-to-date batteries, make sure it works before you head out in the field, that is gonna be something that in the moment, it can get you some valuable information, and then, just some various bandage supplies just like you might use as well, but really, the types of stuff I carry with me, even for my own dogs even are very minimalistic, maybe a three-to-five-day supply of a couple little anti-inflammatories, maybe some antibiotics if your dog has had trouble in the past, you can talk with your local vet about having something to have on hand, but really, it's very minimalistic, clean out that wound, know where you're going, what's scary there, and also, where is your most nearest local emergency clinics so when you do go into those life-threatening things, you don't have to spend the time finding them, as well.

(upbeat guitar music) - You know, one of the great things that BHA does is we provide a gamut of different types of events that bring people together.

It might be stewardship out in the field, from fence poles, to invasive eradication, to native restoration projects, all the way to kind of social events like we're having tonight, so, you know, this event, even though we have a great conservation message kinda focused around our dogs, our canines, it's also an opportunity to bring people together to kinda share their passion for the outdoors, for conservation, share stories, share waypoints, talk tactics, talk about policy going on in-state and nationally, so, you know, that's the essence of what BHA members want, they want to have that centralized location to meet like-minded people.

(upbeat guitar music) - [Jordan] September in Michigan means that the hunting seasons are finally here, and if you plan on hitting the field with your dog this year, make sure you're prepared.

Good luck to all of the hunters out there as we kick off the best time of year to be in the woods.

(upbeat guitar music) - Well, hey, everybody, thank you so much for watching "Michigan Out of Doors," if you missed something this week or maybe last week, you can always check us out online.

You can check out our website and we have full episodes of the show there, our new merchandise area on our website, you won't wanna miss that, and make sure you are joining us over the next several weeks, the hunting seasons are underway, we've got lots of hunts that we have planned and that's gonna be happening over the next several weeks, bear-hunting, deer-hunting, small-game hunting, and not to mention all the good fall fishing, so make sure you are getting out and enjoying everything our state has to offer, and if we don't see in the woods or on the water, hopefully, we'll see you right back here next week on your PBS station.

- [Narrator] "Michigan Out of Doors" is presented by... - [Narrator] Get away from it all to your own place.

With GreenStone's recreational land loans, we'll help you finance acreage of any size so you can own your own place in the great outdoors.

GreenStone.

(upbeat guitar music) - [Narrator] By Morgan Composting, a family business located in Michigan.

Morgan Composting offers a variety of products all powered by Dairy Doo Organic Compost for homeowners and farmers.

To learn more about all the product options available for your food plots, visit dairydoo.com.

(upbeat guitar music) - [Narrator] By GreenMark Equipment.

GreenMark Equipment is a John Deere dealership network in Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana.

GreenMark provides sales and services to farmers, commercial businesses, large property-owners and homeowners.

Information about pricing and products available can be found online at greenmarkequipment.com.

(upbeat guitar music) - [Narrator] Closed captioning brought to you by Double D Ranch Foundation, a non-profit 501C3 foundation working to make hunting and fishing accessible for those with disabilities.

(upbeat guitar music) (upbeat guitar music) (upbeat guitar music continues) (upbeat guitar music continues) ♪ When I wanna fire away ♪ A dream stays with me night and day ♪ ♪ It's the road that leads to my home state ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man (upbeat guitar music) ♪ Changing seasons paint the scene ♪ ♪ Like rainbow trout in a hidden stream ♪ ♪ The whitetail deer in the tall pine trees ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man (upbeat guitar music) ♪ 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 Michigan man ♪ (upbeat guitar music) ♪ From the Keweenaw down to St. George ♪ (upbeat piano music)