- Hello, everyone.

Welcome to "Michigan Out of Doors."

We're glad you joined us this week.

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

I'll take you out on a squirrel hunting tournament with a couple of father and daughter hunting teams.

We had an absolute blast out there.

You won't wanna miss that story.

And Jimmy and Jordan have some other excitement in store for us this week.

- Well, that's right, Jenny.

We do have a few more things on this week's show, and we're gonna kick things off with doing something that is quite popular this time of year, and that's chasing steelhead on the Big Manistee River.

You won't wanna miss that.

And I think we have time for a bragging board as well, so 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 ♪ - [Hunter] 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 ♪ - [Announcer] "Michigan Out of Doors" is presented by... By country smokehouse, 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.

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More information available at glfallc.com.

(upbeat rock music) - [Announcer] 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.

Learn more at anglerquestpontoons.com.

(water rippling) (gentle guitar music) - [Leland] We're just gonna kind of keep 'em at an angle off the back of the boat.

We're gonna move the boat with the trolling motor.

Every now and again, if you wanna move it forward real slow, like a foot, and then just kind of back it up, and you're gonna feel that vibrating.

Now, sometimes when they hit these rods, I mean, they'll just fold 'em.

I mean, they'll just wham, you know?

Sometimes, you're just gonna feel this vibrating, and it feels like something thumped the rock.

There's a thump, and on that thump, we're gonna set that hook, I mean, we're gonna set hard.

Depending on what hole we're in, where we got logs and stuff like that, we may leave the other rods in, I may have you reel 'em up.

We'll get the fish to the outer side of the river where we're clear of logs and stuff like that and try and get 'em in the hoop.

- [Jimmy] Captain Leland Kenny would be taking his good friends, Michelle Angus and Megan Lutkey, out for a day of fishing today on the Big Manistee, and I was happy to be tagging along.

- [Leland] We're on the Big Manistee River, trying to catch some steelhead.

- [Jimmy] How's the fishing been over the last few weeks?

- It's been pretty good, one of the best years I've ever seen for steelhead fishing.

So we got some weather, we got some snow, some plummeting temperatures, so we'll see how we do today.

- [Jimmy] Nice, and what are we gonna start doing?

What's our timing?

- We're gonna start out by trolling these plugs.

This year's been a phenomenal plug bite for us.

And then with these freezing temps and wind we got first thing this morning, a little bit better than dealing with all the frozen eyelids trying to float bobbers.

So, we get a few fish on these plugs though, we're probably gonna switch over to bobbers, do some bobber fishing, beads, jigs, wax worms.

- [Jimmy] Okay, and you got our ace anglers on board today?

- [Leland] I do, I do, yep.

We got Meg and we got Michelle, a couple of the ladies that fish tournaments with us, so should make for a good show, seeing these guys fight some fish.

(reel whirring) Go right down on the wall.

There you go, yep.

(reel whirring) (water rippling) - [Jimmy] Come on, almost there.

- [Leland] Nice and easy.

Keep coming up, all the way up.

Keep coming up, up, up, up.

All right, reel down and do it again.

Up, up.

(water splashing) - [Jimmy] Nice scoop.

Woo hoo!

- Look at him.

- [Jimmy] Nice job, young lady.

- Thank you, sir.

It's a pretty fish.

- [Jimmy] That was perfect.

- I have a pretty good teacher.

(Jimmy laughs) - [Jimmy] Wow.

- He's pretty.

- [Leland] He's beautiful.

- [Jimmy] Not a bad start to the day there, team.

- [Leland] First hole produced.

- [Jimmy] Sweet.

Nice job.

- Thank you.

- [Jimmy] Throwing it back today, aye?

- [Leland] Yeah, we do that often.

I'm not opposed to keeping fish, but... - [Jimmy] There he goes.

As we moved down the river, I asked Leland what kind of things he's looking for when moving from spot to spot.

- Fishing seams, some deeper pockets, you know, you get a seam coming off the edge of a log there where you got a straight line of turbulent water.

And today, I mean, with the temperature so cold, I'm looking at some slower water, even some shallower water, some deeper water, just slower.

These fish are getting cold, they're lethargic.

We've had some pretty cold temps the past few days, so we're kinda lower water right now.

Our water levels come back down.

The flows come back down and sometimes these fish, I mean, in low water, we'll find 'em sitting in high water spots, so we just kind of check around and kind of see what their attitude for the day is and then go from there.

Here they come, nice and easy, nice and easy, up.

(water splashing) (crew cheering) - [Leland] Meg is on the board.

- [Jimmy] Ooh, look at the color of that one.

Way to go, young lady.

- (laughs) Thank you.

- [Jimmy] Nice job.

Well, so far, our morning couldn't have been going much better.

We fished two holes, and we had two nice fish.

Like an old pro.

- Yeah.

- [Jimmy] As we moved along, I asked Michelle and Meg what they liked about this kind of fishing.

- It's pretty unpredictable.

You might get one, you might not.

It's the adrenaline of catching a fish is always a plus.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- The fish, themselves, are really beautiful too, so I like that a lot.

- [Jimmy] You like the winter fishing or the summer's fishing better?

- You know, I really prefer the warmth, but- - [Jimmy] That's fair.

(laughing) - you can't take the good without the bad, so.

- It's really calm, and the fish are beautiful.

And it's a good time, 'cause you never know if you're gonna catch one or not, and then when you do, it's just so great.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- [Meg] And you pull it in and then you just get to see the beautiful fish.

- [Jimmy] And what's the tackle company that you guys have?

- [Meg] Lucky Tackle outta McBain, Michigan.

- [Jimmy] Okay, how long you guys been doing that?

- [Meg] Three or four years now.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- [Meg] All custom made stuff, focusing on steelhead- - [Jimmy] Oh, okay.

- [Meg] like we are today.

Yeah, it's great.

(water rippling) - [Meg] Time to reel it in?

- [Leland] Yep, reel.

(water splashing) (Leland speaking indistinctly) - [Jimmy] Nice scoop.

Woo hoo!

We got all the fish today on a gold digger plug, but probably more important than the plug was the boat control, from what Leland says, it's very important.

- Oh, it's important.

You know, this pluggin' and stuff, when these guys, and some of 'em still do it, they use oars.

They run oar, drop their anchor, drag the chains back and control the boat that way.

I've been using a trolling motor for six, seven years now and back trolling these plugs, and I do other things with it.

We jig salmon and stuff like that.

But on a day like today, I'm noticing these fish are really lethargic today, these females that we've picked up already, and they're lagging it real slow.

I mean, I'm sitting on spot lock right now.

We're kind of moving the boat back and forth, but I'm not pushing through holes really fast today.

We're moving really slow.

I mean, some days I can start in a hole, and we can just work it really quick and hit fish.

And then other days, depending on temperatures, the fish, and what we got going on, we move a lot slower, which, you know, you spend a lot of time in a hole, if you don't get a bite, it's a bummer, 'cause you burn up a lot of time.

But these fish have character, and I like to say they have attitude, and you just gotta figure out their flavor of the day and just go with it, so.

(water rippling) (Leland speaking indistinctly) (water splashing) - [Jimmy] Good job.

Ooh, he's a dandy!

- [Leland] Another male.

- [Jimmy] He's long.

All right, good job, team.

Another nice fish for sure, and it was about this time of the day when Leland got out the Blackstone, (laughs) which is always a very good sign.

What do you got going on here, Captain?

- Oh, a little bit of lunch on this cold day.

- [Jimmy] Yeah, what's on the menu?

- Oh, we got venison burgers and venison steak.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- [Leland] Yeah.

- [Jimmy] Well, just like most fishing trips, as soon as the food comes out, (laughs) a fish hits a rod, but what a great problem to have.

(water splashing) Woo, oh, look at how nice and silver he is.

(Michelle speaking indistinctly) This was another really nice fish, and although we were releasing the fish today, steelhead is one of my favorite fish for the dinner table.

And as the burgers finished up, well, we had another fish hitting our plugs.

(reel whirring) - [Leland] You got this, Jimmy?

- [Jimmy] Yep.

- [Leland] All right, nice and (indistinct), bam.

- [Jimmy] Hey!

- [Michelle] Beautiful.

- [Jimmy] Good team effort there.

- [Leland] I gotcha.

- [Michelle] Thank you.

Look at that fatty, nice.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

- [Leland] Don't spill the burgers.

(gentle guitar music) - Oh, that is a pretty fish.

- [Leland] You did good.

You did good, Jimmy.

(everyone laughs) - [Jimmy] I have the easiest part.

- Yeah, ladies did good.

We didn't lose any fish, and we landed half dozen, six, and probably had five other bites we just didn't connect with, so yeah, it was good.

It was a good day.

We appreciate you coming back, Jimmy.

- [Jimmy] Thanks for letting me tag along.

- [Leland] Absolutely, anytime, buddy.

- [Michelle] It's been lot of fun.

- [Jimmy] You really couldn't have asked for a better day.

Captain Leland knows this water very well, and our lady anglers, well, they were top-notch.

There is still a lot of good steelhead fishing ahead, so get out and enjoy it right here in "Michigan's Out of Doors."

- You know, over the last 10 or 15 years, there have been a lot of great squirrel hunting tournaments that have popped up across the state.

In this next story, I'm gonna tag along on one of the newer squirrel hunting tournaments with a father and daughter duo, actually, two of those teams, we had a blast out there.

(bright guitar music) - [Carly] We're at the SCI Flint 2nd Annual Squirrel Tournament.

We're about to kick off, check everybody in and start squirrel hunting.

- [Jenny] So it's a drive through check-in?

- Yes, drive through between 8:00 and 9:00, first cars to pull up get released first, and then they get to go out on their way.

They gotta be back in for sign in at 4:00 PM.

- [Jenny] I'd be tagging along with president of SCI Flint, Mike Dickerson, his daughter, Ava, Louis Duncan and his daughter, Janessa.

The girls had some hunting tips for us.

- [Jenny] All right, what's the key to a successful squirrel hunt, what'd you think?

- I would think to get a good gun and get a good aim for that.

- [Jenny] Perfect, and see some squirrels, right?

- Yes, yes, definitely.

- Be really quiet.

- [Carly] Oh, That's a good one.

- [Jenny] Quiet, good idea.

- Okay, we're gonna go out to the DeBuck's side farm.

We talked to the owners out there.

They're gracious enough to let us come out with the girls, and we're gonna stop and pick up a Polaris on the way, so we got some nice comfy ride for the girls.

We're gonna go out and we're gonna get some squirrels.

It's gonna be a good time.

We're gonna have a lot of fun, aren't we?

This weather's a little bit brutal.

(laughs) Hopefully, the snow holds off a little bit, and they get out and they're running around.

It should be fun.

We're gonna have a great day.

Oh, we pulled in to grab the quad, and there just happens to be a couple squirrels here in the backyard, so we're gonna go ahead and give 'em a business, I guess you could say.

Hey girls, you wanna go see if we can get after these really quick?

(Ava and Janessa speaking indistinctly) - [Jenny] Janessa and Ava would be following along with their dads today in more of an observer role, and were enjoying being out here as part of the hunting team for this tournament.

Mike had a gray squirrel on the move and was able to get a shot off.

(gun fires) - [Ava] Daddy?

- So we got us a fox squirrel here in Michigan, first one down.

- [Jenny] I didn't think we were gonna see any with this windy, nasty day.

- [Ava] Daddy, can I pet it?

- Yeah, you can for sure.

Look at that.

- Oh, I've never seen it.

- What you think?

What do think, Janessa?

- I like it.

- [Mike] You like it?

Check it out.

- [Jenny] So why do you do events like the squirrel tournament?

- [Mike] To get youth in the outdoors?

We also do archery in the schools' programs with several different schools.

Everything that we do is tailored around getting kids involved.

We do the Youth Pheasant Hunt.

Even our fundraiser, we have a Wish Hunt, which celebrates kids and the outdoors and getting kids out hunting.

We feel like it's kind of a dying sport, and we want to keep it going, want to keep it alive.

- [Jenny] Mike, what are our guns of choice?

- So today, I'm actually, just in case we see a rabbit, I brought my wife's 20 gauge.

I got a Beretta Xplor, nice 20 gauge.

I actually grabbed some of her heavier waterfowl loads in case they're up in the tree a little ways, so hopefully that works out well.

- We're using a single-shot 410.

- [Jenny] Classic.

- Keeping it really simple.

When I was young, used it rabbit hunting a lot, and it's probably the oldest gun that I have.

I've been very fortunate, taken some good game in my life.

But hunting with Janessa, there's nothing really more special than that.

I appreciate every moment of that.

And seeing that she is liking it and wanting to come with me and asking, "When are we gonna go next time?"

That is really nothing better.

We gotta have snack time, we gotta have fun time, but really, it's just us together is really what makes it special.

- We both got hot chocolate and sour streams.

- [Jenny] Nice, that's a key to a good hunt, right?

Good enough snacks.

- Uh-huh.

- [Jenny] While the girls were enjoying a break, Mike snuck out and spotted another squirrel on the move in the distance.

(gun fires) - (laughing) We weren't expecting that, were we?

Did you get it?

- [Jenny] Yeah.

- Beautiful.

(Jenny laughing) - Well that caught us off guard, nice gray squirrel.

- [Louis] Nice and fat too, eh?

- [Jenny] Oh yeah.

- [Mike] Not bad.

- Ooh, it's a pretty color on that one too.

- [Mike] Yeah, today isn't ideal.

It's a little windy, a little brisk, so, might be a little underdress, but we're walking quite a bit.

But got a little snow on the ground.

It is a little bit soft.

Yesterday was kind of warm.

So, it's working out pretty good.

We were just kind of sneaking along and all of a sudden, boom, here come a squirrel, so we made the best of it.

It's been tough so far this morning, but first and foremost, it's about them girls having fun today.

I mean, that's what it's all about.

So, to get your kids out in the outdoors and first and foremost, they're having fun with the whole process.

All we heard about was hot chocolate for the last hour and a half, so you know what, they might as well sit back and have a little hot chocolate.

Louis was watching 'em for a minute, which is pretty cool, so we're just making everything work.

I think it's gonna be a pretty good day, making the best of it, for sure.

- At 11:30 or so, and we've got two squirrels.

We're getting ready to limit out here shortly.

I know we're on a new stand of woods.

We're gonna check that out, see what we can do.

- [Mike] All right, yep.

(gun fires) (gun fires) - [Jenny] Holy moly, that one made you work.

- (laughs) We saw this one, what, 200 yards away?

- [Jenny] Yeah.

(laughing) - Ran over here, trying to make short work of it.

We're making the best out of a tough day, so if we see one, it's all hands on deck.

- Well, we're gonna sneak up around this edge right here.

and there's some oak trees up here.

We're gonna try going after them.

Squirrels hopefully are starting to come out.

- [Jenny] What happened, we lost our two younger hunters?

- Well, snack time, snack time and hot chocolate time, so they'll come back out here shortly with us.

- [Jenny] All right.

Mike and the girls hopped in the machine to scout the next property, and Louis hit the woods, hoping to drop a few squirrels for his game limit.

The SCI Flint chapter, like most of us, has a strong drive to recruit more youth hunters here in Michigan.

- If we can get one kid off a video game or get one kid out hunting, save one kid from being on drugs, being in the streets, if we can just save one kid, (gun fires) I think that's what it's all about, one at a time, just affecting these young kids, getting 'em in the outdoors.

Some of them have a bad experience at home, or they don't have the mentorship, and I think it's important to have a resource where they can come and have good positive mentorship.

We have a youth mentorship program, Carly Rolls, that sits on our board.

She's been really active at trying to develop.

So for anybody interested in getting some kids involved, maybe a single mom or a single dad or whatever at home that needs some resources and wants to reach out and needs somebody to help introduce them into hunting, we're more than happy to help.

- [Jenny] This squirrel was being stealthy and sneaking around the tree and my footage got a little crazy as I tried to flush it back around the tree for Louis while trying to record the shot.

The squirrels were starting to show themselves a little more as the morning turned to midday, and we suddenly found ourselves with a target-rich environment.

Is that the gray one?

- We've hunted all morning trying to chase these squirrels and now we come up on the spot, and there's three in one tree.

So, we got all three of them.

So that's probably in the last half an hour, got all five, so not bad.

- [Jenny] Yeah, that's your limit.

Now we need Mike to get his limit.

- It's good.

It's good, because this is my last shell.

So, we worked it out.

(Jenny laughing) - [Jenny] You planned that well, nice.

- Yep, we worked it all out.

- [Jenny] Good shooting.

- Nice.

- [Jenny] Congrats.

- All right, ready to go.

- [Jenny] So your vest has no game bag.

- No game bag, but I have pockets, (Jenny laughing) so we're good.

- [Jenny] That's awesome.

- That's some, yeah, got some squirrel in it.

- [Jenny] All right, let's go find them.

- All right, there's five here.

(Mike laughing) Three foxes.

One's a giant.

- Sweet.

- [Jenny] We're going to Sizzler.

- [Mike] Awesome.

- Lunchtime.

- Awesome, lunchtime, I got two happy girls back here, Got to be part of the whole thing.

It was totally awesome.

We got some cool pics.

- [Jenny] Let's get 'em out for- - They're listening to Taylor Swift, "22."

They just got done with their last hot chocolate.

Life is good.

- [Louis] Yeah, it's like perfect.

- I'm like, "You want to go for a walk and kill squirrels?"

And they're like, "We had a great time today.

"We don't need to go out again."

- [Jenny] Ava and Janessa were enjoying their dad's successes with 10 squirrels down and two limits in the bag.

Before we headed back to the weigh-in, Mike and Louis showed them another important part of the hunt, thanking the landowner for permission to use his land.

He was happy to do so.

As we headed in, Carly Rolls ran down the tournament rules and categories for today's competition.

- [Carly] At 4:00 PM, we will weigh everybody's top-five, heaviest squirrels, so teams of two can hunt up to 10 squirrels for the team of two, and they're going out, and we're gonna weigh their top five.

We also have a competition that is Chunkiest Squirrel, so they'll indicate which one they wanna compete for Chunkiest Squirrel.

And we're doing a $5 donation to allow people to participate in Chunkiest Rabbit.

- [Jenny] (laughs) Chunkiest Rabbit.

- [Carly] Yes, while you're out in the field, I feel like everyone comes across rabbits, so why not engage in that as well.

- [Jenny] Awesome, how many people are you expecting?

- [Carly] I think we've got about between 50 and 60 teams this year.

- [Jenny] Awesome, for your second year?

- [Carly] Yeah.

(bright music) - [Jenny] With all the teams bounties weighed in and recorded, it was time to celebrate today's winners.

Our team's heaviest squirrel missed being the heaviest of the tournament by just 1.25 ounces, and our total weight of 10 pounds 5.75 ounces for five squirrels got the team a 3rd place finish in the overall division.

Not too shabby for such a slow start.

Special thanks to Mike Dickerson, Louis Duncan, Carly Rolls, and all the good folks for supporting their community.

It's groups like theirs and events like these that ensure the future of our outdoor heritage here in Michigan and beyond.

And I'd say we have a couple of new little outdoors women right here in "Michigan's Out of Doors."

(gentle rock music) (gentle rock music continues) (gentle rock music continues) Thanks so much for joining us this week for "Michigan Out of Doors."

Make sure you stick around in upcoming weeks.

We've got a lot of wintertime excitement headed your way, including the sturgeon spearing season on Black Lake that's happening on February 1st.

We will be up there with cameras rolling, so make sure you check that out in an upcoming episode.

If you'd like to see where we are and what we're up to, you can always check us out online.

- Well, that's right, Jenny.

The sturgeon spearing season is always a ton of fun.

We're looking forward to that.

And if you wanna see what we're up to on a day-to-day basis, you can always check us out on Instagram and Facebook.

Those are probably the best ways to keep track of us.

Make sure you are joining us over the next few weeks, and if we don't see you in the woods or on the water, hopefully we'll see you right back here next week on your PBS station.

(gentle guitar music) - [Announcer] "Michigan Out of Doors" is presented by... - [Announcer] Do you dream of somewhere bigger than your backyard?

You can get there with GreenStone.

Whether you wanna hunt, fish, hike, or just watch the sunset, we're ready to help you own your place in the great outdoors.

To learn more, visit greenstonefcs.com.

- [Announcer] By SCI, SCI helps protect, promote, and preserve wildlife through conservation practices, which include hunting.

SCI supports and funds conservation programs in the state of Michigan.

Learn more how you can get involved at a chapter near you.

By Show Span, producing consumer shows, including "Outdoorama" at Novi Suburban Collection Showplace.

The show features tackle, trips, boats, outfitters, the trout pound, and of course, Big Buck Night.

That's "Outdoorama" in Novi.

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Learn more at one of 10 monthly meetups or online at networkoutdoors.com.

- [Announcer] Closed captioning brought to you by DD Ranch Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) foundation, working to make hunting and fishing accessible for those with disabilities.

(bright 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 scene ♪ ♪ Like rainbow trout in a hidden stream ♪ ♪ A white-tailed deer... (bright music)