Michigan’s leftover fall turkey licenses will go on sale to those who applied but were unsuccessful in the drawing beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern time Monday.
All remaining leftover licenses will go on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern time Monday, Aug. 26.
Licenses are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The Upper Peninsula has a quota of 1,500 licenses for a hunt that runs from Sept. 15 through Nov. 14. As of Friday, the Department of Natural Resources website showed 362 remaining licenses.
Hunters may harvest either a bearded turkey or a beardless turkey during Michigan’s fall season. An eHarvest tag option is available as well. For more, go to https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/things-to-do/hunting/turkey.
In Wisconsin, there are no remaining fall turkey harvest authorizations for the northern zones.
This is Free ORV Weekend in Michigan. Residents and out-of-state visitors legally can ride DNR-designated routes, trails and the six Lower Michigan scramble areas today and Sunday, without an ORV license or trail permit. All other ORV rules and laws still apply, and the Recreation Passport is required where applicable.
Find places to ride, rules and regulations, ORV events and more at Michigan.gov/ORVinfo.
Review safety and trail etiquette information at Michigan.gov/RideRight.
Beginning Monday, a public boating access site will be temporarily closed on Oman’s Creek, located off Lake Road 17 miles north of Ironwood at Little Girls Point. The concrete ramp planks of the boat launch have cracked and chipped, with significant areas of damage that make launching difficult, the DNR said. The access site will be closed until Aug. 30.
Saxon Harbor, about 8 miles to the west in Wisconsin, provides alternative public access to Lake Superior. Black River Harbor, about 20 miles to the east and north of Bessemer, also provides available public access.
A construction crew from the DNR Baraga center will complete the $26,000 project with money provided from the state’s waterways fund.
The DNR reported this Upper Peninsula activity:
Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers had success during both jigging and trolling trips. Anglers who chose to jig found mostly lake trout. Successful jigging trips were during the mornings and anglers were using natural baits. Anglers who were trolling found salmon and lake trout all throughout the week.
Traverse Bay/South Portage Entry Canal: Anglers were jigging and trolling with some success in the last week. Trolling anglers were most successful and were able to catch Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and lots of lake trout.
Little Bay de Noc: Anglers targeting walleye reported an overall increase in success. Anglers were either jigging or trolling. Those who were able to utilize their electronics to locate and stay on active fish reported the most success. Anglers fished the shoals whenever weather permitted. Some limited success was reported at First Reef and “Black Bottom”.
Manistique: Anglers reported a few Chinook salmon in the river. Walleye anglers reported fair to good fishing when trolling or casting jigs. Northern pike anglers had success when trolling crank baits.
Marquette: Good numbers of lake trout were caught by anglers when jigging or trolling around White Rocks and out towards Granite Island. Lake Trout were also caught consistently out towards the Clay Banks west of Granite Rock. Watermelon color worked well, along with green and orange Spin-n-Glos or green/silver flasher fly presentations for lake trout. Chartreuse and silver jigs were hot around the northeast side of White Rocks especially with a little cut bait. Trolling between White Rocks towards Granite Rock or Clay Banks at lower speeds 2.0 to 2.2 mph in around 160 to 180 feet of water was a popular combination for success. Steelhead were caught on a Dancing Anchovy Moonshine UV and Bloody Nose.
Au Train: Boat anglers did well when focusing their efforts on lake trout fishing. Good sizes and numbers were caught when jigging in 160 feet of water north to northeast of Au Train Island, especially with cut bait. Big lake trout were also caught while trolling in around 160 to 180 feet of water north to northwest of the Au Train Island in the flats or out towards the Laughing White Fish Clay Banks. Wonder Bread, multicolored glow spoons or green/silver flasher flies were good color combinations. A little bit of cut bait jigging or trolling with orange or chartreuse cowbells did very well at deeper depths.
Ontonagon River: Anglers reported that low numbers of walleye were being caught.
Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay: Recent angler reports show that the occasional coho salmon was caught, while lake trout were caught in fair numbers.
Les Cheneaux Islands: Anglers were catching good numbers of perch within the channel using minnows, leeches, and crawlers. They also were starting to pick up some larger smallmouth bass when fishing with tube jigs and other plastics, as well as live bait.
