Brothers Doug and Dave show th...

I remember opening day of bass season seeming like Christmas morning when I was a kid. After a long winter of ice fishing, the balmy summer-like weather was a welcomed change, and my brothers and I could hardly wait to hit the lake for bass season’s opener.

Our cottage was situated on a small fishing lake in Barry County. My dad built it with his own two hands, and delighted in the diverse fishing opportunities that awaited us pretty much every weekend throughout the summer. Whether we chose to fish for bass, panfish or pike, the result was always the same – it was just plain fun.

I confess – my brothers didn’t always like to take me fishing. Being eight, six and four years younger than my brothers respectively, I can only imagine that they thought taking me fishing was a lot like babysitting. Even so, they did their brotherly duties and taught me the ropes of angling along the way.

By age 8, I was pretty self-sufficient with the fishing pole, and soon, my brothers considered me a force to be reckoned with on the lake.

Two of my brothers, Doug and Dave, developed a little fishing game of their own to play every time they went fishing.  They called it “Homerun Derby.” Similar to the backyard baseball game where you had to blast a ball over the neighbor’s fence in order to score, bass caught on Saddlebag Lake had to be 10-inches or better in order to register as a “homerun.” And as I had done in the backyard version of the game, I somehow managed to insert myself into my brothers’ summer-long contest.

Arduously, we’d keep a running tally of who caught what, and who had the best batting average. Every fish hooked counted as an “at bat,” and if you lost it, it counted against you. If we happened to hook into another type of a fish like a pike or maybe a big bluegill, well, those were all “foul balls.” We also collectively agreed that only fish caught from the family fishing boat could be counted in the derby. This was a rule that Dave and I routinely fought over as he loved to fish from the dock, and often had tremendous luck fishing the drop off.

Our season would stretch into Labor Day, and eventually one of us would declare ourselves “the Hank Aaron of Saddlebag Lake.” Looking back on those days and thinking about how much my brothers still love fishing and baseball, it’s no wonder that they came up with a way to combine the two.  It’s still one of my most endearing memories I have of Saddlebag Lake and time spent there with my family.

Saturday, May 29 marks opening day for bass season in Michigan, and to celebrate, the state lets you fish without a license. So why not give it a shot? Who knows - you might just hit a homerun!

Thanks to the hard work of Hea...

HOLLY, Michigan -  Several groups of folks will be involved in the clean-up efforts along the Shiawassee River Heritage Water Trail this weekend as crews begin spring cleanup along the river from Holly to Fenton.

On Sunday, May 16, 18 students from Holly High School’s Backcountry Bronchos Outdoor Club and soccer team will help the members of Headwaters Trails, Inc. by paddling along the scenic Shiawassee River between Holly and Fenton, picking up trash and other debris as they go.  A second group tasked with the same objective will paddle the stretch between Fenton’s Bush Park to Lake Ponemah.

Holly High School teacher and outdoor club coordinator Joshua McCreedy credited one of his students for garnering the additional support from members of the HHS soccer team in Sunday’s clean-up efforts.

Norman and Ed were the sole su...

A neighbor boy of ours had the very best of intentions when he rescued two orphaned geese last weekend, and in the process, all of us who got involved with the birds managed to learn a big lesson – usually it’s better to let Mother Nature handle it!

While hiking near Grayling last weekend, Alex came across a nest of geese, obviously ravaged by a coyote or raccoon. With both parents dead and all but two of the little ones gone, Alex felt bad for the sole survivors – one not even entirely out of his shell.

As Alex scooped up the goslings, both so tiny and frail, he wasn’t even sure they’d survive the trip back to his family’s cabin, but they did.

Of the two, one was clearly stronger than the other. The one who wasn’t quite out of his shell at the time of discovery had a bloodied head and two small puncture wounds on top, making his neck and head wobble and shake.

Dan Zalewski talks about the g...

HOLLY TOWNSHIP, Michigan – I was among those brave enough to face Saturday’s rainy and cool weather to stop by Sorensen Park to see Dan Zalewski – the bird man of Howell.

Zalewski and several of his feathered friends from the Howell Conference and Nature Center visited Sorensen Park as part of Holly Township Parks and Recreation’s Earth Day celebration.

Toting five sizable plastic cages, Zalewski didn’t disappoint, showing birders from the area a screech owl, a great horned owl, a merlin hawk, a rough legged hawk, and last but not least, the ever-popular turkey vulture.

All of the birds were rescued, and now make their home at the Howell Conference and Nature Center, helping to educate children and adults alike.