Let's Keep This River Clean!For this Spring 2017 I’m urging you to check out another web site — Anglers of the AuSable.
This group leads the fight against the short-sighted decision to allow the tiny tourist-attraction Grayling Fish Hatchery (closed in the 60s by the DNR) to become a Fish Farm raising up to 300,000 pounds of restaurant fish. The issue is now in the hands of Heidi Grether, director of the Department of Environmental Quality. The inexplicable thing is how anyone can see this as an economic boon to Grayling — a couple of jobs, money in the pocket of the owner balanced against perhaps irreparable harm to the river through elevated levels of fish food and fish feces in waters managed for years to be pristine. Not to mention the possibility of fish-born diseases that is yet to be understood. How can it make sense that the threatened property values, jobs and other economic interests of AuSable Country are trumped by the small potential return to the community of a low-tech fish farm? Can that possibly justify the acknowledged pollution of the river? My video, It’s Not a Hatchery, It’s a Fish Farm, has had thousands of views and I’d like to think it lays out the case against the Fish Farm. If you agree, please pass it around to others who treasure this river. Anglers has this most recent update: Breaking News on the Fish Farm And when Anglers of the AuSable holds its 30th Anniversary banquet on April 29, 2017, in Gaylord, I hope you’ll be there contributing your time and dollars to the fight! Thanks, TU! Brown Trout Professional!
Well, the 2015 Trout Season is upon us. I've just posted another video about the efforts of a number of groups to bring back the trout fishing on Big Creek, where beaver have had their way with the stream since the 1970s.
What once was a little jewel of a trout stream is now submerged under tons and tons of sand and sediment wrought by the industrious beavers. And Big Creek is important, as it is a major contributor of water flow and fish habitat to the AuSable North Branch. Long interviews with Steve Sendek and Steve Johnson provide the audio for the five-minute video. But it couldn't all accompany the video so I've published the full 20 minutes of raw interview as another edition of Trout Radio. It's good listening on a important subject. A wide range of restoration activities are planned for Big Creek this year — and I'll be there to record it. Many thanks to the Mason-Griffith Founders Chapter of Trout Unlimited which named me its Brown Trout Professional of the Year at its annual meeting in January. Surely this means I'll catch more and bigger fish this season, right?? I'm honored to be a member and chronicler of the chapter, which does so much for the AuSable region. Fish On! An AuSable Brown trout
Hi, I'm Craig Porter.
On AuSableTrout.com you'll find stories about the famed AuSable River — the fishing, the fishers, the ecosystem and the ongoing efforts of many dedicated men and women to protect this amazing resource. I recently retired after 37 years at the Detroit Free Press — now I can chase fish and fish stories whenever I like, and with the help of Outdoors Writer Eric Sharp, old friend and partner in many a boondoggle story for the Freep, I will shine a light on the good works happening on the the river. Of course, I intend to give the nearby Manistee River some attention, too. And maybe I can convince you to volunteer or join these organizations that are working year around to assure that our children will have a place to pursue wild trout. Tight lines! I'd love to hear your ideas about this site or any other fishing-related subject. Reach me at Craig@AuSableTrout.com, or use the handy form at right. |
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