It’s frigid outside, but things are toasty inside.
The weather outside actually gives me a great opportunity to look back on some of our trips from this past year. The one that really stands out for my Manistee River Salmon Guide Service, is once again getting to fish with a friend of mine, Dr. Howard Tanner.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dr. Tanner, he is the former head of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the man who is responsible for initially stocking Coho salmon into the Platte River. It was his work that led to the subsequent stocking of king salmon into Lake Michigan, thus giving birth to the prolific sport fishery that we enjoy today.
It was Dr. Howard’s vision to create a Great Lakes sport fishery, taking advantage of the huge alewife population, and he felt that salmon would be a great fit. Many people don’t realize, but at the time that Dr. Tanner decided to plant those first Coho fingerlings in the mid 1960’s, there was another fish in the works, ready to be stocked. Personally, I’m glad that the decision to abandon the striped bass was made, replacing it with salmon. I’m glad that I have the job that I do, guiding salmon and steelhead customers on the world class waters of the Big Manistee River.