- Well, hey everybody.

Welcome to "Michigan Out of Doors."

Thank you so much for joining us on this week's episode.

And as you may or may not know, this past weekend was the start of the trout season here in Michigan.

That's always a big deal.

So we're gonna stop in at a couple of different camps, show you what the first several days of the trout season looks like here in the great state of Michigan.

We're also gonna sit down with the DNR on this week's show and learn a little bit more about their app and their e-licensing part of the thing and how that works if you bought your turkey tag on the app this year, how you go ahead and tag that bird.

So, lots of good stuff on this week's show.

You stay tuned.

I'm Jimmy Gretzinger.

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 ♪ ♪ Shine a light to sportsman's dream ♪ ♪ It's the 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.

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(dramatic music) (water gurgling) (pensive music) - [Jimmy] The opening week of trout season is a big deal here in Michigan and last week we were able to tag along with three generations of trout anglers who never miss an opening day and usually spend that entire first week on the water.

- We're on the Pere Marquette River, the North Branch in Branch County.

We're gonna hit the water here, it's almost 8:30, and float from Sulak down to Upper Branch Bridge, float fish in the bank, off the bank, and hopefully gonna do good on catch some trout and crawlers and spawn and see if we can put some fish in the boat.

- Who else do we got with us?

- This is my dad, William II, and my son William IV.

So three generations, been up here 28 years.

(gentle music) I am using a Shimano Symetre reel.

I got a nine foot Okuma light action rod.

We use six pound T-line, number six hooks.

And right now I'm throwing spawn and I'm getting bites, but they're not holding onto it.

That one did.

Just a little guy.

I knew it was a little one.

(William mutters) Beautiful fish.

Hey, I broke the ice.

- That's all we need to do is turn the camera on and- - Right.

Yeah.

- And you start catching fish.

- Hey, whatever it takes, right?

- Made for TV.

- Right.

It took me two spawn bags to catch him.

He didn't, he wasn't really that hungry.

The last couple days I have had better luck with spawn.

I've thrown a lotta crawlers and I drift through half a dozen times and don't get nothing.

So I'll put spawn on and you throw spawn in there and then I start getting bites.

I don't know what it is, but some of the fish prefer the spawn, some of 'em don't.

So, it's good to have both.

My dad always has luck on crawlers for some reason.

He's like the crawler master.

There he is.

- Is he a keeper?

Yeah, he's over 10 inches.

- [William] It started with my grandpa and my uncle and that was just kind of the thing to do.

And we've all loved fishing, but for some reason trout, we've just never given it up.

It's something we've always done and we enjoy it.

And it's just, when you get a tradition like that, it's kind of one of those things that a lot of traditions die these days and it's just one thing that we've kept going and passed it on to my son.

So it's always nice to at least have one of those that you can carry on throughout the years.

- [Jimmy] Things were a slow to start the day, but we were catching a few fish and enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful scenery that the Pere Marquette River has to offer.

(water trickling) (birds calling) - [William] What I like about the PM is it's small, but it's not small.

There's a lot of dark water, there's a lot of deep holes.

We fish mostly, all the structures that are in it, the log jams, and it tends to hold a lot of fish.

We usually, some days obviously, depending on the water clarity and whatnot, you don't get a three man limit.

But more often than not, we will always find the fish we're looking for.

And it seems to always produce, even the people I've talked to that I know of that come up here to fish, they always seem to do really well fishing this river and when the steel header in here, they're in here really thick.

We've seen quite a few of 'em yet this week and it's late in the year, but there's still quite a few of those in here too.

And that tends to bring up a lot of the browns and a lot of the rainbows with them.

So it usually coincides with trout season pretty well.

- Didn't even know I had 'em on, just started reeling in and my pole just kind of, do do do, and I was like, that's weird.

And I yanked my pole.

Next thing you know my pole bends over.

I started reeling him in and next you know I have a fish.

- [Jimmy] As we made our way downstream, we continued to catch a few trout here and there and never passed another angler, which is part of the reason these guys like staying out.

for the entire first week of season.

(easy going music) - My dad, of course, is at the top.

He's got three browns and one rainbow.

My son has, have you got three browns, bud?

I'll say three browns and I got two.

None huge.

I think the biggest was, I think my son caught a 13 and a half inch brown.

But it was a wonderful day on the water, finally, with the nice weather we've had.

- [Jimmy] After a long day on the water, we decided the best way to end our trip would be to head back to the camper, get out the deep fryer and cook a few of the fish we had caught throughout the day.

- [William] The only recipe we really got is deep frying and some frying magic, just regular vegetable oil and fry it up in some frying magic and enjoy.

(oil sizzling) Tasty, fresh, tasty, delicious.

- Gone.

- Mm-hmm.

- Gone.

(man laughs) - [William II] Hot.

- From start to finish, it was a great day on the water.

Special thanks to the Miller family for letting me tag along on a fun day of trout fishing here on the Pere Marquette River.

Well, an old trout fisherman once told me the best part about trout fishing is being where trout live.

And I think that is very true, especially as you see the PM River there, a beautiful part of our state.

Now we're gonna head a little north and a little east, where we're gonna hit the Au Sable River and show you what goes on in the Grayling area when it comes to the trout opener.

(gentle country music) When you say opening day in Michigan, most folks think deer.

Well, not the case if you're in the Grayling area where the mighty Au Sable River runs.

Today I was covering the event that is the traditional opening day of the trout season.

And I started at the old Au Sable fly shop.

- It's the night before opening day of trout season.

Openers eve.

It's a good time.

We're happy.

- [Jimmy] Now how many people come through here on a day like this?

- I don't even know, man.

I've lost count of flies.

I've lost count of people.

I've lost count a lot, a lot.

Everyone's excited, man.

This is traditional openers.

- [Jimmy] What all do you have going on here today?

- Well, we've got Dennis Potter tying flies in the learning center and we serve up a pretty good batch of food, pulled pork and chicken.

We like to eat, we like to have a party.

And this is a great time of year to celebrate, especially when you have such a nice spring.

We deserve one.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

And so how many, what will the fishing actually be like tomorrow?

Good, bad or indifferent?

- That's part of why we're excited.

The fishing this year is shaping up to actually be good.

After the last couple of real strong winters and just kind of miserable springs, the fishing especially, the dry fly fishing really didn't exist.

So this year we've already had Hendricksons and olives and little mahoganies and fish rising and we're just excited.

Water's in good shape.

It's exciting.

- [Jimmy] There was an excitement in the air for sure.

And even though there is stretches of the river open year round, today has a special place in the hearts of the anglers.

Just a few miles down the stream I made my way to the mecca of all things trout: the Gates Lodge, where folks were getting all the gear they needed for the opener.

- People are excited, fish are rising, Hendricksons are hatching, river's, mostly wadable.

So it's gonna be a great opener.

- [Jimmy] And what is the allure for opening day for trout fishermen?

What is it that makes it so special?

- At this point, it's just tradition.

It means very little to 90% of the people coming here.

'Cause they like to fish the rivers that are open year round anyway.

But their grandpa did it, their dad did it, they're doing it, and now we're seeing the next generation coming up too.

- [Jimmy] And is the fishing usually good on the opener, bad on the opener, and how does this year- - It depends who you ask.

This year's good.

The last two have been terrible.

So everyone's very happy right now.

Lots of smiling faces around here.

- [Jimmy] Are there lots hatching right now?

- Right now, no.

I'd say we're about an hour away.

- [Jimmy] But they are right now.

- Every day has been good.

- Okay.

- Good, we're exceeding expectations as far as the fishing.

Opening day is a lot of the same folks that have been coming here since I started, that were coming here when Rusty Gates owned the place and were coming here when Rusty's dad owned the place.

So some of 'em are second generation, but it's really cool to see.

- [Jimmy] One of the traditions up this way is a big fish Fishmas Eve party, that good friend Eddie Kulnis throws every year.

I'd always wanted to join this party right on the banks of the river and finally was able to make it there this year.

Now there were campfires going and there was a fish fryer humming.

And most importantly there was story after story, of fish that were caught and fish that got away.

And as the night wore on and the fires continued to flicker, Ed told me why this event is so special to him.

- But there's something about tonight, it's a validation of what we love, and it's a gathering of people, you know, so many times I find myself in social situations and downstate and people will say to me, you know, what, who, what do you do?

Well, I like to fish.

And I start talking about fishing and then and in less than a minute I see their eyes glass over and I say, they don't want to hear this stuff.

But tonight I can talk fishing all night long and everybody wants to hear it.

And that's a part of it too, but it's friends, dear friends, 30, 40, 50 years worth of friendships.

And the thing is, we all have one thing in common.

Our love for the river.

That's what it's really all about.

(easy going music) - [Jimmy] Opening morning came, and since there's not a real rush to get on the water, the waders and the rods hung in anticipation.

In fact, the only hustle here at Gates Lodge was in the boardroom for the annual opening day breakfast where a special toast is made to the fishermen who had passed away that year.

- This thing has been going on now, like I said, for 16 years.

And it's tough to say goodbye to good fishing friends and people that have been in the Michigan Fly Fishing Club with us.

There's an old saying in fly fishing that it's not the fish you're looking for when you get into this sport.

And the older I get, the more appropriate that seems.

So with that, I'd like to offer a toast, even if it's coffee, Jan, (group laughs) to our absent friends.

We miss them all.

- Hear, hear.

- So thank you for being here today and good luck fishing for the world's most beautiful fish.

Michigan brook trout.

- [Fisherman] Stay outta my spot.

(group laughs and applauds) - [Jimmy] So after quite a buildup, I was finally hitting the water with Jeff Moss.

This is Jeff's 50th opening day here on the Au Sable.

- This is my 50th year.

1966 my dad brought me out here.

- [Jimmy] Well, you're not that old, are ya?

- I'll be 60 this year.

- [Jimmy] Wow, so you've been coming since you were 10.

- 10 years old.

- You're kidding.

- Nope.

We've been on this river a long time.

It's still a beautiful place to come.

- [Jimmy] Now are there certain stretches that really, that you like to fish more or is it all about the same?

- It's all, the whole river, it's the holy waters.

It's prime fishing from where it starts at Burton and all the way down to Wakeley Bridge.

It's all good fishing.

It's all beautiful water.

- [Jimmy] Like many of the anglers here, the rod that they actually use on the opener has some special meaning as well.

- This is a rod built in 1968 by Art Newman, one of the founding fathers of Trout Unlimited.

- Really?

- Yeah.

It's a Wanigas.

And Wanigas spelled backwards is Saginaw.

And he built this for my dad and for my Uncle Seymour.

So they have a matching pair of rods and I love to fish this every opener.

It brings back the joy I had with my dad, fishing in the Au Sable River, starting at 10 years old with my cousins.

And it's just an amazing thing that I've been able to do this for 50 years and it's a tradition now for me.

It's an awesome feeling.

And that's where the fish was supposed to hit.

(both laughing) - [Jimmy] Now Jeff told me the river is like a car wash for the soul and if you happen to hook a fish, well, even better at her.

What happened here?

- We got a fish.

I put a nymph on, pink hem, head nymph, indicating an emerger for the Hendrickson.

And lo and behold... And caught a little fish.

Oh, it's the perfect size.

(Jimmy laughs) I'm just kidding.

A beautiful, beautiful little fish.

Whoops.

- Jeff fished most of the day catching some nicer fish.

But like most of the anglers here for the opener, the fishing is just part of the draw.

It's the river, it's the friends and it's the memories, both old and new, that bring them back every year here in Michigan's out of doors.

(pensive country music) Well we are here today with Joe Presgrove from the DNR and Joe, tell me a little bit about kinda how long you've been working with the department and what do you do here?

- Sure.

I work with the Michigan DNR.

I'm the department specialist working in licensing and customer service.

- Okay.

- Have a lot of hands on experience with the development of the new hunt fish app.

- Yeah.

And we're here to talk about that.

So how, how long has that been out, the app, for people that don't have it?

How does that work and why'd you guys kind of go with that system?

- Sure.

So the app came out in August of 2022.

Since then we had over 470,000 downloads.

Wow.

So we wanted to provide another resource or another tool that someone could have in their gear bag or in their tackle box where they can access different features.

Maybe it's purchasing licenses or looking up some of the hunting and fishing regulations just to name a couple of 'em.

But it's a pretty cool tool I have.

It's a lot of people are downloading it and appreciating it.

- What kind of feedback have you been getting on the app - Overall, great.

I mean, great feedback.

A lot of people are using it out in the field.

They say it's a quick way to report harvests, buy licenses, if they're looking up rules out in the field, maybe they're out in the duck blind or in their fishing boat, they can download the hunting and fishing regulations ahead of time.

As long as they have power to their phone, they can access those, even if they don't have any service out there.

So overall, all positive.

- Now is it something to where the department's hoping to go all e-licensing, kinda like that?

Or is it's just just one of, are we still gonna always be able to buy a tag down at Meyer, Walmart or whatever?

- Sure.

It's just another resource.

- Okay.

- It's another way people can access buying licenses out in the field.

So we still have our point of sale agents that are out there.

A lot of the ma and pa shops are still around where you can buy a physical tag there.

Also, we have e-license, the online site that's still available.

This is just a third channel.

Okay.

- That we're offering.

- And so it is a little bit different now, this spring turkey season is the first time I believe that we've done the e-licensing?

Is that what you refer to it as, or?

- Yeah, we did something similar with fall turkey.

- Okay.

- Last year.

But this is the first big season that we're doing a e-harvest tag.

- Okay.

- It's something that allows turkey hunters to buy over the app.

They have it right then.

But I do wanna mention too, it's not the only way to buy a spring turkey tag.

You can still go to the store.

If you go to the store, you get a physical tag.

If you buy it on e-license, a physical tag gets mailed to you in the mail.

If you buy it on the app, it's right on the app.

- Oh, okay.

- So you validate your harvest right then and then that way you're not waiting for a store to open or waiting for the tag to show up in the mail.

If you get a text on a Sunday evening, all the stores are closed and your buddy wants you to go turkey hunt with him on a Monday morning, you're all set, you can buy that tag right then and go out in the morning.

- Yeah.

So how does that work for this turkey season?

You actually just fill out some information.

Is it similar to like when you check in your deer kind of a thing?

- [Joe] It's similar, it's not an actual harvest report.

You're just simply validating it.

- Okay.

- So once you go in there, all you have to do is once you purchase your tag, you harvest your turkey, select that license in the app, there'll be an e-validate button.

Click on the e-validate button, it'll pull up a harvest date.

You just simply hit the harvest date button right there.

And it has some instructions on how to properly tag the turkey from there.

- Okay, so you still have to tag with some sort of a physical tag, even though you're not getting one in the mail.

How does someone do that?

- Sure.

So you just provide your own durable material.

It could be a piece of paper in a Ziploc bag, a piece of tape.

As long as you include the harvest date, the validation date, and the license number, you're all set.

You just put that on the turkey and you're good.

Your season's completed.

- Okay.

And is this something, are we gonna be doing that with deer pretty soon?

I know you have to kind of, I guess validate your deer kill.

But is that something that we would maybe go to not having physical tags anymore?

Is that kind of down the pipe?

- It's, we're exploring it.

We're not gonna be doing it for this fall.

But once we get real familiar with how the process works with spring turkey, we get comfortable with it, people are out there using it, we get their feedback, maybe there's areas that we need to improve, see how things go.

So far it's all been positive feedback.

I think there's been over 13,000 turkey tags purchased through the app.

Last I checked there's over 1600 validated.

So it's being utilized out in the field.

But you know, eventually that might be something the department will explore is working towards deer with the e-harvest tags.

- I mean, I have to say, I mean not everything the DNR has done over the years has been great, but I tell you what, the app is actually really pretty easy to use.

- Yeah, it's awesome.

It's a great tool.

I'm a hunter myself, an angler.

I use it all the time to access the regulation summary so you're not carrying around a bunch of paper copies.

A lot of people have their phones on 'em, so you just pull it right up there on your phone and it's just not accessing licenses, regulation summaries.

You can access a map feature where you can find boat launches, state parks, campgrounds, shooting ranges.

You can view your points and chances as well.

So it's kind of a one stop shop for everybody.

It's just right there on your phone.

And you know the cool part about it too, if you got kiddos at home and you want to rotate between their accounts, you can.

So you can just click on your initials, there's a little plus sign at the top and you can log in with their information and go back and forth so you have it all in one spot.

- So Joe, tell me a little bit about the auto renew portion of the app.

How does that work?

- Yeah, so it's a pretty cool feature that's available on the app also on our e-license store.

So if you buy a fishing license, when you go to the checkout, there's a little toggle switch if you want to enroll in auto renewal.

So what that means is that when the new license year starts, you'd be automatically renewed, your license will be automatically renewed as long as your credit card information stays up to date.

We send out reminders a couple weeks ahead of time that you're enrolled.

So it's not a shock that something hits your bank account, but that's something that's available.

And then like for bear and elk, I'm guilty, sometimes I forget to apply for bear and elk.

- Totally.

Yeah.

- And you, you can auto renewal your bear and elk points or chances.

- Okay.

- Each year.

So with bear and elk coming up here, that might be something you'd be interested in is when you go to checkout, there's a little toggle switch.

Would you like to auto renewal your bear and elk chances.

- Awesome.

- Or points and chances.

So that's a cool feature that's available.

- All right, cool.

Well thank you for your time.

Appreciate it.

- Yeah, thanks Jimmy.

- Good luck in the woods.

- Thanks, you too.

- Thanks to Joe for the information about the app and good luck to all of you turkey hunters out there that are still holding a tag.

Well, hey everybody, thank you so much for watching "Michigan Out of Doors" this week.

A couple things before we go, if you miss part of this week's show, if you wanna see something again, you can always check us out online.

You can do that through our website, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, all good ways to keep track of us.

Make sure you are getting out and enjoying everything our state has to offer right now.

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.

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(happy 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 (bright chiming)