February 2010 * STOP ASIAN CARP *

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1 February 2010 * STOP ASIAN CARP * What a great effort! We ended up with about 3,000 signed letters--1,000 to each senator and 1,000 split between 14 of our 15 congressional districts. In this issue: From the Editor, 2 The Prez Sez, 3 Vice s Views, 4 Upcoming Events, 5 8 Fishing Reports, 6 MSSFA Board Meeting, 9 MWS Board Meeting, 10 Membership, It Pays to Belong, 16 MWS Sponsors, 17 19

2 From the Editor What we have to offer. I look around and I am amazed at what Metro West Steelheaders has to offer. I remember listening to John Wright selling to our new members at the Ultimate Fishing Show. As I listened, I became aware that the club sells itself, all we have to do is tell others what we found in the club. And that is just what John did, reminded me we have an excellent calendar of events, with so many diverse fishing venues, fund raising, charitable donations, family and kids events, comedy club, parties, conservation education and activism, fishing tips and education, and last but not least, Great Friends to be made. We are amazed that we have many new members this January until we stop and think of what we each already get from the club. We all wish to welcome our new friends to join us and have some fun. As I heard others say, we have so much going on, you can pick your time when you are free and most likely you will find a tournament, an outing, or just some one willing to go fishing with you. You will find you will learn how to fish better and enjoy it more. I know I did when I joined a few years ago and now I am glad. Let me hear from you, I need you comments good or bad. Write me an e mail and tell me what you like and what you want to see. Matt Lubaway, Editor Do you have an announcement or information for club members? Contact: Matt Lubaway at (248) or mattman353@comcast.net Please submit all contributions for the March newsletter by February 20th. Metro West Schedule Tuesday, February 2, :00 pm General Membership Meeting Saturday, February 6, :00 am - Ice Fishing Woodruff Lake 3:00 pm Tuesday, February 9, :00 pm MWS Board Meeting Friday, February 12-14, 2010 All Day The Farm Outing Manistee, MI Thursday, February 18-21, :00 am - 9:00 pm Outdoor Recreation Expo Detroit Boat Show Cobo Center, Detroit, MI Thursday, February 25-28, :00 am - 9:00 pm Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Outdoorama Rock Financial, Novi, MI 7:00 pm General Membership Meeting ALL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 7:00 PM at the Livonia Seniors Center Southeast Corner of Farmington Road & Five Mile Road MWS WEB Site: Or State MSSFA WEB site: and then go to Chapter Websites, then Metro West Home Page. If you have questions, contact Henry Nabors - HHNabors@Ameritech.net or call (248) METRO WEST STEELHEADERS

3 The Prez Sez IT S SHOW TIME II The 2010 Ultimate Fishing Show produced by yours truly with a cast of many MWS members, came off without a hitch. We set up our display at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, January 6, at the Rock Financial Show Place in Novi. Our usual 10 x 20 booth was set up with the wooden backboards adorned with the many pictures of members and guests with their catch of the day, as well as Ron Maschke s 34 lb. king salmon. Our skirted tables all in place, hundreds of copies of Great Lakes Sport Fishing News, MWS calendar cards, membership applications and pens at the ready; we were set for opening day. About that time Mitch Curbey came up with the idea that we could continue our Asian carp letter writing campaign at the show. OK? What do we need to do? Fortunately, there was an unused 10 exhibit space next to our booth which we ended up using for our Asian carp letter writing campaign. Dan Keifer created a generic version of his Asian carp letter (the same one which we all signed at our October meeting) and we used it at the show. I found a website that gave maps of the 15 Michigan congressional districts, and by asking for a person s home town we were able to determine who the US congressperson was for most of the people we talked to. We made copies of Dan s letter, set up additional tables, used the old Metro West Steelheaders banner, found more pens and our second booth was ready to go. I believe our booth had more activity than any other booth at the show, with the possible exception of the beer booth. We had six to eight people on duty at all times, about half in each booth. Those in the Asian carp booth talked to people about our letter to close the Chicago sanitary and shipping canal. We explained to the people that Metro West Steelheaders is a fishing club and that we re engaged in a letter writing campaign to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. Everyone, well almost everyone, signed our letters. We asked them to sign three letters, one to each of our two US senators, and one to their US congressperson. We ended up with about 3,000 signed letters 1,000 to each senator and 1,000 split between 14 of our 15 congressional districts. Ron Maschke led our team at the MWS booth and was there every hour the show was open; however, we did miss Goldie this year. Thanks for the great job Ron! We cleaned fish from the trout pond and received $ in contributions. We also brought in 12 new members. Thank you to everyone for the help and the great job. It is because of people like you that make Metro West the most dynamic and fastest growing Steelheaders chapter in Michigan. The supporting cast in order of appearance: Ron Maschke Dave Skrobot Paul Valentine Jim Robertson Ron Witte Mark Davis Jason Krasson Hermann Christoph Mitch Curby John Purcell Gregg Ruggles Eric Braden Matt Lubaway Bill King Matt Benuska Jim Fox Mike Hartrick Mitch Nimmoor Henry Nabors Dan Kiefer Mark Platt Dave Sgromolo Todd Stav Marty Drum Jennifer Drum Dominic Liparoto Craig Bradley Clyde Schoen Fred Bolton Mark Lewallen Mike Shewell Jim Robertson Picture This METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 3

4 The Vice s View Getting to Know You January was a good time for those who attended. Some new friends were made and I hope this will continue. I once again hope to have something for a mixer at our February meeting. We have a small change in the program for February s Meeting. Todd Stav is going to give us a seminar on Ice Fishing and then touch on Hand Lining as a second subject. Then in March we will go into more detail on hand lining. In addition for March we will have some video info on spring Salmon and Coho fishing. March will also be our tackle trade and sale month, so get your equipment ready. I need to know who will be interested in setting up a table in March to display their wear s, so please let me know ASAP. We are also trying to arrange for a knife sharpening person to be available to sharpen knives at the March meeting. Does that sound like enough for March? April I have a Charter Captain lined up, by the name of Jerry Lee of Jerry Lee Sports Fishing Charters. He will plan to take a good hour or so to cover Salmon and Walleye fishing on the big lakes. The boat inspector guest has been delayed until our May meeting for now. I also plan to have more videos on Salmon Techniques for our May meeting to get us ready for our Lexington Tournament. As I wrote before lets all get together and get to know more about each other and have some fun and learn some new fishing techniques. I hope to see you in February. Fish On Clyde Schoen Vice President Register Your Catch! Submit form with picture for official entry to: Karen Westfal kclipper2004@yahoo.com 4

5 Upcoming Events 2010 RIVER FISHING OUTING AT THE FARM The River Fishing Outing at the Farm will be Friday February 12 thru Sunday February 14. "The Farm" is the club house of THE GREAT LAKES SPORTMAN CLUB in Copemish, Michigan north of Manistee our host for the outing. The cost for this event is $50.00 cash that includes your lodging and food, three meals a day! Saturday will be our day to fish. From the Farm we branch out and you can fish the Manistee, Platte, Bear Creek, and Betsie River. Or ice fish on the Portage, Manistee, or Crystal Lake. If you have a special spot, that will be fine too. After the day of fishing we come back to the Farm to enjoy full course steak dinner. To keep the cost down we did not hire a cook or dish washer so we all help out in preparing the meals and cleaning up. If you would like to attended, I will be taking sign ups only at the Tuesday February 2nd general membership meeting were I will have information and maps about the outing. We are limited to the first 20 members paid. If you have any question contact: Phil Bustos, Your Stream & River Chairman, cell e mail pbauer227@wowway.com OUTDOORAMA This year is the same as last year seeing as how last year we did so well. The way we ran it last year, two people running the fishing machine, and two people promoting the club worked out great. So at the February 2 nd membership meeting we will have the sign-up chart being passed around throughout the meeting. As always I am asking for members who have not yet participated to sign up and contribute to better our club. If everyone is willing to work a few hours, the show won t rest upon the shoulders of a few members. So come on down and see the show for free by signing up for work and enjoy the day! Contact: Mark Platt John Wright at at COMEDY CLUB FUND RAISER - RESULTS Our comedy fundraiser for 2010 netted $2,250! We had a great turn out. The comic's were fantastic, the food was good and there was plenty of fun had by all! We had 200 in attendance. Thanks to all who participated. Special thanks to Bea King, Marty Drum, Cheryl Skrobot, also Mark and Allison Platt. I would like to thank my daughter Melissa for bartending, Denise, Darrell, Dave, and Debbie Kinjorski for donating their time seating, serving and selling 50/50. My sister Diane Darga ran the food line, my cousin's Donna and John Willacker sold the drink tickets, and my friend Carol Riddle sold beer. Every one who helped did a super job! "Grand Celebrations Hall" is looking forward to next years fundraiser as much as I am. Karen Westphal METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 5

6 Huron River Fishing Report by Mike Gable Upcoming Events THE 52nd ANNUAL DETROIT BOAT SHOW The Metro West Steelheaders will have a booth at Michigan's Premier Boating Event! The 52 nd Annual Detroit Boat Show will be Thursday February 18 th thru Sunday February 21 st at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan. The hours for the show are Thursday 2/18, 3 pm 9 pm, Friday 2/19 & Saturday 2/20, 11 am 9 pm and Sunday 2/21, 11 am 6 pm. We will need club members to volunteer and help out at the show. This is a great way to meet other members in the club and to meet people that visit our booth. You get to talk about your common great love for the sport of fishing here in Michigan. This is not a hard job. All you have to do is talk to people and answer question about our club and what we do for fishing on the Great Lakes and share a couple of good fishing stories. This is a good way for new members to learn about our club from our established members and get visitors to join the a great fishing club. We also will have our fishing simulator machine running for the children and adults who visit our booth. It gives each a chance to have the fun of fighting a fish! It s a blast! Fishing Reports Jan. 23, 2010 Lance Hinatsu and I fished the Huron River Jan. 23rd. We put in just below Telegraph road and hit most of his hot spots on our way down to I 75. The upper river didn't produce. When we got near the golf course, Lance hooked into a 9 lb plus hen on a chartreuse and silver kwikfish. He fought her like he'd done this for 40 years or so. I was busy untangling the other lines. We hooked into 2 other steelies shortly there after. The hen hit Dr. Death (purple top and silver bottom) and the male smacked MJ (Michael Jackson), all black with white glitter. These were all kwikfish lures. We tried other lures to no avail. We met up with Matt Benuska halfway down the river. He was just getting started. We didn't encounter any other waders or boats till the lower stretch of river. The weather was cloudy and high 30's. The fish ended up being cleaned and sent to Tom Snyder (Lance's friend) and the eggs went to Mark Platt. It seemed everyone was happy. Avon Lake, Ohio Steelhead Fishing Report by Jeff Bustos If you are interested in helping at the show, contact the show chairmen and tell them what day and the hours you would like to help. Or you can sign up at the general membership meeting on Tuesday February 2 nd. All volunteer get into the boat show free. Show Chairmen: Bill King Phil Bustos wking39483@comcast.net pbauer227@ wowway.com Jan. 20, 2010 I had a day out of work on Jan 20th and called up Jim Chamberlin to try some steelhead fishing. We went to Avon Lake Ohio and what a blast! 8 for 13 on steelhead. We kept 4. Additional picture on back page. Jan. 25, 2010 We had an ok day at Avon Lake today. It was very windy and cold. The water was dirty. We went 10 for 16 and took home 8. The fishermen on this trip were Metro West members Jeff Bustos, Mark Lewallen, Matt Benuska, Jim Chamberlin and two of Matt s work mates. Jeff B. 6 METRO WEST STEELHEADERS

7 Upcoming Events Contact: Mark Platt at METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 7

8 8 METRO WEST STEELHEADERS Upcoming Events

9 MSSFA Board Meeting MSSFA State Board & Presidents Meeting, January 16, 2010 Notes The combined presidents and state board meeting was held on January 16 th. Metro West was represented by President Jim Robertson, Membership Secretary Henry Nabors and State Director Lenard Pietila. The meeting began with a slide presentation on the current status of the Asian carp. The DNA evidence that was found above the locks and close to Lake Michigan was documented by biologists at Notre Dame and they are not allowing other parties to see the results of their findings. It was shown that the DNA could have been transported by birds or more likely from boats or ships that the carp collided with. This is important as only one carp was found in the five mile section of the area treated with rotenone. (Since this meeting, more DNA has been found inside the Calumet Harbor break wall, leading into Lake Michigan.) The carp need wide, fast flowing rivers to spawn in. The St. Clair River was cited as a preferred type as the eggs need enough space to roll for 3 5 days before hatching. Ben Morlock from the Michigan Attorney General s Office explained that an injunction, not a lawsuit, was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court to address closing the locks until a permanent barrier is in place. The ultimate goal is to close the canal and eliminate the unnatural connection between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. Metro West President Jim Robertson explained the Metro West petition project and how it worked at the Ultimate Fishing Show. Jim distributed packages to each club with all the information needed to help them gather signatures and using the Michigan Steelheaders as a driving force in combating the Asian carp. Jim s talk was well received and showed Metro West as being out in front on this issue. Also at this meeting was Dr. Howard Tanner who is considered the father of Salmon in Michigan. Dr. Tanner, a fisheries biologist, was instrumental in getting Salmon planted in the Great Lake in the 1960 s. Dr. Tanner and his family along with MSU is starting endowment for fisheries students dealing specifically with Salmon issues. They are looking for contributions from the Steelheader chapters and we will present this to the Metro West board of directors for approval. Lake Committee Reports: Lake Huron For the 1 st time Steelhead will be net penned not in a river, but in the harbor at Harbor Beach 15,000 will be penned. This is a new approach with Steelhead and the pens will need daily cleaning. The Thumb chapter will be in charge of these pens and hopefully these Steelhead will help to take the place of King Salmon. Metro West has been a donor to the Harbor Beach net pen project. Atlantic Salmon for Lake Huron will be raised at the Platte River Hatchery. These programs may provide a new fishery in Lake Huron to make up for the loss of the Salmon stock. Time will tell. Metro West also donated funds to LSSU which is the major egg producer of Atlantic Salmon. Lake Michigan Report for Lake Michigan is that 2010 should be a good year for Coho Salmon and Kings should be caught in good numbers and increasing size. The reduction in Salmon stocking is having the desired effect as the numbers of young alewives is also increasing. If only the DNR could do something about the howling winds that seem to target the Metro West tournaments! Lenard Pietila, State Director Metro West Chapter METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 9

10 MWS Board Meeting Metro West Chapter, MSSFA Board Meeting Minutes for January 12, 2010 Attendees: Jim Robertson, Mark Platt, Henry Nabors, Tom Taylor, Matt Lubaway, Bob Olari, Clyde Schoen, Lenard Pietila, Marty Drum, Todd Stav, Mark Davis, and Carmen Zirles. Guests: Ron Maschke, Jim Fox, John Wright, and Phil Bustos President, Jim Robertson, called meeting to order at 7:07pm. Jim welcomed the guests to the meeting. Vice President Report: Clyde Schoen Clyde reported on the speaker line up for up coming months. February: we will have a Todd Stav and Marty Drum talk about ice fishing and will give us a hand lining seminar for walleyes in the river. March: we will have our annual tackle swap and shop. Also a knife sharpening demo and reel spooling. April: we will have Jerry Lee from Jerry s Sport Fishing Charters speak at the general membership meeting. Clyde Schoen made a motion to give $ to Jerry for speaking at the meeting. Tom Taylor seconded the motion. Motion passed. May: we will have a presentation on what is required for a boat inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard auxiliary. We will schedule a time for boat inspections so we can get the inspection sticker for our boats. Secretary s Report: The Minutes, for the December board meeting were read. It was noted that Mark Davis not Mark Plat s name should be in the treasures report. Lenard Pietila moved to accept them as amended. Todd Stav seconded. Motion was passed. Treasurer s Report: Carmen Zirles presented the treasures report. Henry Nabors made a motion to approve the report and Tom Taylor seconded it. Motion passed. Membership: Henry Nabors: Henry submitted a written report. It will be in the next newsletter. We now have 154 members. We gained 54 members last year. New member challenge: John Wright had 6 new members and his name was sent to the state MSSFA. The names of the other members that sponsored new members were put in to a hat and Bill King took the A prize of $ John Wright took the B Prize of a MSSFA membership and the C Prize went to Herman Christoph. Henry also suggested we look into a small boat tournament during our big water tournaments. Todd Stav will look into this and report back to the board. Directors Reports: All directors are to review there areas of responsibility and report on them at future board meetings. This doesn t mean that they are in charge of the events or committees, but for the board meetings they will convey the information to the board. State Director s Report: Lenard Pietila: The December meeting was canceled. There will be a presidents meeting in Lansing and Lenard, Jim Robertson and Henry Nabors will attend. Marty Drum: The banquet is going well and he has a lot of prizes and giveaways. Marty has purchased additional items for the raffles at the meetings. Marty made a motion to give him $ to purchase the line for the March meeting. He will borrow a line loading machine from Gander Mountain for the meeting. Todd Stav seconded the motion and it passed. Matt Lubaway: Matt and Jim Robertson produced a special news letter for the shows. Matt made a motion to work up a pricing schedule for advertisers and a possible hyperlink to the advertisers web sites from ours. Henry Nabors seconded the motion. Motion passed Mark Platt: Mark suggested that we combine efforts on the carp problem with various state agencies. Mark will check with MUCC to see what they are doing. He got a call from the AG s office on our letter writing efforts and they want to coordinate our efforts with them. We need to purchase table skirts for the tables we use at the shows. Mark made a motion to supply up to $ for the purchase of the skirts. Tom Taylor seconded the motion. Motion passed. (Continued on page 11) 10 METRO WEST STEELHEADERS

11 MWS Board Meeting (Continued from page 10) Todd Stav: Todd is handling the sales of merchandise with the club logo on them at the club meetings. The last meeting he sold some items and took orders for others. He will look into silk screening some tee shirts with the club logo and the club events on the back as we have done in the in other years. OLD BUSINESS: Bylaws: The changes will be read at the next meeting and voted on in March. Big Fish: Karen Westphal will take over the big fish contest for this year. Ultimate Fishing Show: We received $ in donations for fish cleaning. It cost $ for the special news letter. We collected 3,000 signed letters on the Asian Carp problem at the show. See Jim Robertson s report in the news letter. We still need someone to take over supplying coffee, water, and soda s at the meeting. It would be nice if we could supply some hotdogs or other food at a reasonable price as some members come to the meeting right from work. New business: Tom Taylor will look into getting a screen that we can use at the meeting for videos. We will donate the screen to the Senior Center. Mileage reimbursement will be 65% of IRS allotment. Meeting was adjourned at 9:53 PM Respectfully Submitted, Bob Olari Wabatongushi Lake Outing June 26th July 3rd 2010 Matt Lubaway Outing Chairman It s time to start thinking about the 2nd Wabatongushi Lake Outing. We will have exclusive use to my best friend s family owned island for ONE WEEK on the lake in the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve, Ontario (the largest game sanctuary in the world at 3,000 square miles). The island is centrally located on the 24 mile long lake. The waters are near pristine, with 70 uninhabited other islands, an average depth of 17 feet, with the deepest area near 190 feet. The cabin sleeps 10 comfortably, and has propane heat, cooking and refrigerator/freezers and lighting. You will have ample chances to view moose, black bear, loons, lynx, and bald eagles. The lake has an abundance of different structure such as rocky reefs, sandbars and weed beds allowing easy fishing for Walleye, Northern Pike, Whitefish and jumbo Perch. Portage up one of the numerous stream or to the nearby lakes for Speckled Trout, Smallmouth Bass and possibly the fabled Blue Walleye. The cost is reasonable, due to the generosity of Mike Swartout; $150 for ONE WEEK, plus the cost of food. To stay at one of two fishing lodges on the lake would usually set you back about $1,400. We plan to travel caravan stlye, but we will also provide extensive directions, too. OR you can also fly in on Hawk Air from Wawa, ON or take the Algoma Central Railway or Canadian Pacific Railway. Plan ahead! Hope to see you there. Refreshment Team Needed Ray Fraser has volunteered his time at our meetings to prepare our refreshments at the General Club Meeting (1st Tuesday of every month). He made sure we had bottled water, coffee, soft drinks, other refreshments and occasional meals available during our meetings. Starting January, we need volunteers to take on this task. We welcome your creativity. Please contact any Board Member, or Jeff Bustos METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 11

12 IT PAYS TO BELONG Business / City Art Van Furniture Statewide Batteries Plus Statewide Big Papa Sport Fishing Oregon Novi, Boat U. S. Insurance Statewide Cutco Cutlery Statewide Dunham's Sports Statewide Firestone Metro-25 Livonia & Taylor Gander Mountain Local Gordon Food Service Statewide K & M Marine, Inc Telegraph Road, Redford, Mi MC Sports Major Locations METRO WEST STEELHEADERS Livonia MSSFA It Pays to Belong Statewide MUCC Membership Statewide Richfield RV Statewide Riverfront Marina Monroe, Elm Street River Raisin Marina & Campground 2502 E. Elm Avenue, Monroe, Mi RX Optical Statewide Slamco, Inc. Internet Sales Slammer Tip-Up Discount / Web Site / Contact See MSSFA It Pays to Belong List See MSSFA It Pays to Belong List 10% except down riggers and rod holders Big Papa Sport Fishing $12.50 Membership Due. Use membership # GA83723B 20% to All Steelheader Members (retail prices are listed) jeffzyck@gmail.com See MSSFA It Pays to Belong List $20.00 off on $ service. Gander Bucks $10.00 off $50.00 purchases Save 5% on your purchases at the cash register. (Just tell the clerk you are a Metro-West Steelheader Member) 10% off on all merchandise except sale items - Includes engine or trailer parts and labor cost. See MSSFA It Pays to Belong List Free: 1) July Family Picnic; 2) Kids Fishing Outing/ Picnic/ Prizes; 3) Chance to win week at MUCC Camp for family member; 4) Luna Pier Picnic; 5) Family Christmas Party/Kid gifts w Santa; 6) Monthly Newsletter; 7) Great Lakes Sports Fishing Newspaper - Monthly Contact Henry Nabors - HHNabors@ameritech.net pays_to_belong.pdf Free if a METRO WEST STEELHEADER, May 1 each year. See MSSFA Pays to belong List See MSSFA It Pays to Belong List One free with one overnight dockage; total cost for two nights is $15.00 Marina office Buy One Get One Free Includes campsite, dock and launch. Call for availability See the add in MWS Newsletter See MSSFA It Pays to Belong List 10 % Discount If you know of a location that gives a discount to Steelheaders, please let Bill King know or wking39483@comcast.net. If you have a business that might, contact Bill on how to proceed with getting the business involved. 12 METRO WEST STEELHEADERS

13 Membership 2009 New Membership Drive Results MSSFA Entry for Most New Members for the Club John Wright 6 Members Congratulations John for an outstanding recruiting effort!! Metro West Prize Winners (determined by drawing by category) 1st Prize Bill King 4 or more Free MSSFA & MWS membership for 1 year ($40 value); 2nd Prize John Wright 2 or more Free MSSFA membership for 1 year ($25 value); 3rd Prize Herman Christoph 1 or more Free MWS membership for 1 year ($15 value). Total New Members for the Year Members Signed up one or more new members Final Results: John Wright 6 new members; Bill King 5; Ron Maschke and Jim Robertson 4; Marty Drum and Henry Nabors 3; Phil Bustos 2; and 1 new member each Billie Jo Cruz, Bob Olari, Clyde Schoen, Danny Ballas, Greg Ruggles, Herman Christoph, Jason Krasson, Jeff Bustos, Jim Drews, John Purcell, Keith Hooper, Lance Hinatsu, Len White and Nelson Pearson lll. 13 new members did not identify a sponsor most joined because of the newspaper articles, the web site and our newsletter. METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 13

14 Membership 2010 New Member Introductions The Club is off to a roaring start! Thirteen new members have joined in January. Twelve were invited and joined during the Ultimate Fishing Show in Novi. John Wright enlisted four and Ron Maschke, John Purcell, Jim Robertson and Matt Lubaway each sponsored new members! I expect there will be more to join at our February General Meeting based on their introduction to Metro West at the UFS. Keep up the great work!! Welcome New Members! M. C. Wade: Wade joined MW at the January meeting and is sponsored by Len White Sr. Wade and his wife Barbara live in Livonia. Wade is an avid Pere Marquette river fisherman. Wade said. I like the picture on the right. That is why I fish. It was taken by a stranger on the PM in the Clay Banks section. It was a Wed. and he and I were alone on the river and neither wanted company. I have never been so close to the river, the fish and the joy of living. If I had died that day, I would have been fulfilled. After that picture was taken, a deer and two fawns crossed the river about twenty feet from me. The second fawn had a hard time climbing the high bank and mama waited for her/him. Of all my memories of fishing this is the one that overshadows the rest. I am always looking for something similar but haven't found it yet. Wade is looking forward to fishing other rivers with his new MW friends. He is a retired teacher and Barbara is a retired microbiologist. Wade added I will fish with any one that is sober. Wade added I have a virgin fold up aluminum boat that (I use for drift fishing); I will take it and look for a partner (for MW river outings). Wade, talk to Phil Bustos about the Club s river outings coming up soon! It is good to have you with us. Welcome! Brett Hartford: Brett said Thanks a lot for the nice introduction to the group! It's an organization that I've wanted to be a part of for a long time,... and I'm glad to be in. I'm 31 years old, and... reside in Royal Oak,. Most importantly, I'm a graduate of MSU,. I've been down in SE Michigan for 5 years now, and am still getting accustomed to fishing the East Side. I still spend the majority of my time on the water on the West Side of the state, but each year do a little bit more in the area, and even further East. I am primarily a river fisherman, and I spend 98% of my time on the water in my waders. My vessel is my legs most of the time, but I do have a inflatable pontoon for floating the rivers which I have been using more and more each year. I cut my teeth on fishing for warm water species like channel cats, smallmouth, largemouth, pike, and walleye -- mostly in the rivers. Then I landed my first anadramous fish (ironically a Lake Trout), and it was all over after that. I target steelhead, salmon and trout for the most part, and that's what I spend most of my time chasing. I fish the Grand System a lot, as well as most of the Lake Michigan Tribs all the way up the coast. I toss hardware most of the time, but have been known to dunk bait on the rare occasion. Brett takes his girlfriend Mandy on the river and said since we've been together, she has been a river angler. I introduced her to steelheading 2 years ago, and get this -- she's never lost a steelhead in her life! She's 4-4 lifetime, and actually caught more fish than I did the first time I took her out. She just recently put her first river Chinook on the board this fall. Brett said he would like to help in a few of the events each year, potentially with the kids. I plan on attending the meetings, and contributing when I can I would... like to become more familiar with the water around the area. The Clinton is my home stream now I guess, but I know there's other opportunities within a couple of hours. I've been fishing Ohio for the last few years, and am starting to get to know more about the rivers over there. I am really interested in some of the tribs up North, and even some on the East Side of Lake Huron, ie. the Canadian tribs to Huron. Brett, Welcome to Metro West. We look forward to seeing you on the river with Mandy. Talk to Mark Platt about the Manistee outings; our team could use a little help! Welcome! Michael Kay: Michael joined the Club at the UFS; his sponsor was John Wright. Michael said My buddy (see Jerry Douglas below) and I do mostly hand-lining at Port Huron. We do enjoy trolling the North side of Erie for walleye and have tried our hand at bows (steelhead) from Wheatley. We have a lot (Continued on page 15) METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 14

15 Membership (Continued from page 14) to learn so we thought we would come to your group which was Highly recommended from a friend. We did try salmon fishing once last year at Port Credit with no luck but plan a return trip this year when we learn more. We are very excited to meet all the members, this is the right step in the right direction for us. Home town - Pleasant Ridge. Welcome Michael!! Jerry Douglas: Jerry said Met you guys... at the Novi show. My fishing buddy, Michael K, joined and it sound like your chapter is just the thing we have been looking for. We want to meet others who are interested in sharing knowledge in fishing the Great Lakes. I just bought a nice 20 Crestliner so we are itching to do some Steelheading, Walleye and Salmon fishing. It would be nice to have an experienced crew member go with me and show me the ropes on my own boat. I love fly fishing as well. I fly fish in the Green River in Utah and I also fish in Colorado. My wife Debbie does like to fish; she often out fishes me. Matt Lubaway is Jerry s sponsor. Home town - Fraser. Debbie and Jerry, good to have you as members of Metro West! Jed Lindstrom: Jed said I caught this fish about ½ mile below the Betsie Homestead dam using a fly rod. I fished the Betsie about 4 weekends and hooked a lot of fish. You end up landing about 20% of what you hook. I used an egg - fly most of the time. These are strong fish for light tackle. I do like to fly fish a lot - mostly on Lake Michigan rivers. Jed indicated that his wife Lori and their two children fish a little. He would be interested in crewing on the big waters when there is an opening. John Wright is Jed s sponsor. Home town - Northville. Welcome Jed and Lori! Jim Chamberlin: Jim has been a supporter of Metro West Steelheaders for several years. He is a professional River Guide and has taken several of our MW members fishing on Ohio rivers that feed Lake Erie. A few of Jim s supporters are Jeff Bustos (just got back from a trip to Avon Lake, Oh.) and Kelley and Rob Nawrocki (their trip was in the newsletter last year). Jim has donated fishing trips for auction Jim fishes the rivers in the fall, winter and spring and works the Mi Hi Charters out of Frankfort and Luna Pier. JIM DOES LOVE TO FISH! Ron Maschke is Jim s sponsor. Home town - Monroe. Jim, it is great to have you as a member!! Dennis Kovacs: Dennis joins MW as an associate member; he is a member of Huron Valley Steelheaders. Dennis said he is looking to meet and network with more people that enjoy fishing! Dennis has a 19 Starcraft and will be looking for crewmembers from time to time. Dennis is sponsored by John Wright; they talked fishing at the UFS. Dennis said he does a little fly fishing but just barely ; maybe we can find a river fisherman to give him a hand with the flies. Dennis son Denny is 14 and just getting into the fishing scene and not sure if that is his idea of having a great day - time will tell. Home town - Livonia. Welcome Dennis! Hope to see you and Denny on the water this summer. Other New Members that we will meet later: Terry Hall from Carlton, Mi; Don Lowell, Clio; Gerald Mitchell, Gibraltar; James Spilos, Novi; Bill Wendling, New Lothrop and Jeff Zyck, Westland. A fisherman with an older boat and motor, was turning the pages in a boaters catalog when he came across a new motor that he liked. He wrote to letter to the company which read, Please send me a new gasoline motor for my boat that was on page 118 of your spring catalog. If it is good, I will send you a check. A week later, he received a reply letter, Please send you check for the full amount. If it is any good, we will send you the motor. 15 METRO WEST STEELHEADERS

16 Membership Metro West Membership Renewals Please see me at the Feb. 2nd General Membership Meeting or send your renewal dues to: Metro West Steelheaders 1689 Norfolk, Birmingham, MI Henry Nabors, Membership Director Last First Exp Dues Billings Zane Bolton Fred Boulter Al Braden Eric Bradley Craig Brennan Mike Burson Patrick Chisholm Keith Dennis Lawrence Flavin Steve Fraser Ray Gjeldum Paul Grunlund Regan Last First Exp Dues Hinchcliff Roger Hohmeister Kevin Hoort Larry Jones Robert Krohn Jeff Miller Shawn Roehler Joe Shewell Mike Strunk David Tenbusch Tim Thomas Bob Wood Jared Wood John Metro West Sponsors Our sponsors, have supported the Metro West Steelheaders, and we should support them whenever possible. When you see one of our sponsors, please thank them for supporting our club and push business their way. To become a sponsor, contact the Editor: Matt Lubaway (248) mattman353@comcast.net Or Advertising Chairman: Eric Braden (734) Eric.Braden@bp.com Or Marty Drum (734) FishinGod@msn.com You can Advertise here! METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 16

17 Metro West Sponsors Classifieds Ludington Rental House Spacious and clean, five bedroom house right on 5,000-acre Hamlin Lake. Swim, fish, or dock your boat in your own front yard; Launch your small craft right next door; Watch the sunset over the dunes from your living room. Rent our deck boat or a jet-ski just down the road. Or drive five miles into downtown Ludington where you will find golf, movie theatres, bowling, go-carts, puttputt golf, Lake Michigan fishing, a wonderful sandy beach, and numerous restaurants, icecream parlors, and shopping. Jim & Carole Maddux Great hunting opportunity in Hillman, Michigan on 265 acres! Bring your own trailer or use our 2-bedroom, 1-bath mobile home trailer as your hunting camp. Camp has wood or propane heat, hot water, and electrical hook up for your trailer. You can lease 3 hunting seasons for one price of $800 per person. If you d prefer more flexibility, you can lease each season individually for $500 per person. The 3 hunting seasons are: Sept. 11 thru Nov. 8, Nov. 9 thru Nov. 30, and Dec. 1 thru Jan. 1. A 4th season is possible Jan. 2 thru Mar. 31. Lease early to get your choice of hunting spot! Lessee will be provided a key for gate to property. Contact Dan Wisniewski Jeff Bustos for more information. Boats & Motors for sale 1990 Bayliner Trophy 2500 Hardtop 24 with most extras. Volvo 5.8L V8 new in 2006, runs excellent! Lowrance X-25 dual-frequency color GPS/ Sonar with mapping for Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. 3 Big Jon electric downriggers, 8-rod rocket launcher, two 3-rod tree holders, planer board masts and boards, wash-down system and more. $9,400 or best. Rob Nawrocki (734) Paddlewheeler II, like new, garage kept. 4 self draining seats, two large decks, greasable bearings, drink cup holders, drain plugs for foot wells and pontoons. Fitted boat cover. Custom built trailer with carpeted bunks, swivel jack, 12 inch wheels, can fold for vertical storage against wall. Haulmaster trailer, 1720 lb. capacity. This package new sells for $4,000. Asking $1,995 Excellent condition with only minor imperfections. Call Renee Lubaway Mercury 5 hp 2-stroke outboard Newer, very low hours. Short shaft, internal and external gas tanks, perfect for a small boat on inland waters. Easy to start, runs great. $1,200 Call Patrick (517) or patrickbraddock@sbcglobal.net Mercury outboard motor hp Was used for back-up on Island property. Runs great, low hours. Comes with 2-tanks One tank needs repair. $1,000 call TOM@ starwars0547@comcast.net METRO WEST STEELHEADERS 17

18 18 Metro West Sponsors

19 Metro West Sponsors 19

20 Photo by, Jeff Bustos; Fishing with Jim Avion, Lake Ohio Jan 20,2010 METRO-WEST STEELHEADERS P.O. Box Livonia, MI Photo: Woodruff Ice Fishing, President: Jim Robertson (734) Vice President: Clyde Schoen (248) Secretary: Bob Olari (248) Treasurer: Carmen Zirles (734) Current MWS Newsletter Circulation: 965!