There are plenty of signs that make it clear that fall is here. The leaves in my yard already boast touches of red, gold and yellow, while the pine needles have already contributed their first layer to what is a tiramisu of future raking. The beaches have a bit more elbow room, even on the w…

There are times when almost any crankbait will produce the desired effect and other times when the fish seem to want something specific. I was reminded of this recently while casting for walleyes with a couple of guys; we went through a couple of tackle boxes full of baits, but only the Flic…

MUSKEGON — We were on the lake well before sunset, trolling crankbaits among a few other boats, and Chris Reinhold mentioned that anything we did early would just be a bonus.

Many hunters know how easy it is for an everyday hunting expedition to develop unexpected incidents that seem to burn their places into our memories.

Yoga in the Park

LANSING — Move over, Milwaukee. Butt out, Buffalo.

A gallery of reader-submitted outdoors photos. Submit your best photo of the week to tcrecordeagle@gmail.com and we'll post it online and pick our favorites to run in our reader-shot roundup in the GO: Great Outdoors section that runs on Thursdays. Please include some information about the p…

Editor's note: This article has been edited to correct the date of the event.

Back when rigging plastic worms wacky style (i.e. with the hook in the middle of the worm) was first catching on — abut 35 years ago, if memory serves — anglers often used a finishing nail stuck in one end of the worm to give it a little weight to make it easier to cast. Now hook-maker VMC h…

ERIE — Shooting time for waterfowl typically starts a half hour before sunrise, but during teal season — 16 days, beginning Sept. 1 — shooting time arrives at sunrise. It’s easy to see why; as Joe Robison and I slogged our way through the marsh in the pre-dawn, the skies were littered with d…

Several years ago, I had the privilege of interviewing a woman celebrating her 100th birthday. As we stood in the shade of her peach orchard, she sang a song she remembered from the Suffragette Movement. It was the rallying call of her youth. She knew in her bones what the movement meant to …

Paddle Antrim Festival

Returning home on my western road trip I spent a few days exploring South Dakota’s Black Hills and Badlands National Park. The two are just a few miles apart, but a huge elevation difference.

Northwest Michigan’s robust deer herds signal a promising season for the region’s hunters.

Some of the most common questions we hear this time of year have to do with dividing perennials, so the timing of this months’ column is perfect for talking all things division.

LANSING — The near record-high water shrinking Lake Michigan beaches is uncovering a king’s ransom of Petoskey stones.

MIO — A tiny songbird that almost exclusively nests within northern Michigan’s pine barrens is the champion of perhaps the region’s greatest conservation story.

Gwizdz’s Gadgets

BIG RAPIDS — I was in the midst of late afternoon telephone conversation with my buddy Denny Bouwens when he casually mentioned he might go fishing that evening. I asked if I might join him. He said, why not?

As the days become shorter, the light available for running becomes shorter, which is an essential detail runners should keep in mind as they take to the trails this fall.

2019 Salmon Classic Fishing TournamentFish-TC.com invites anglers from Michigan to fish for cash and prizes in a series of tournaments in East and West Grand Traverse Bay on Aug. 30-Sept. 1. Contact SteveoJoslin@gmail.com.

I just completed a 5,400 mile road trip to Seattle and back that included a seven-day Alaskan cruise and visits to Theodore Roosevelt, Glacier, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave and Badlands National Parks as well as the Black Hills National Forest. Each stop was beautiful and breathtak…

Topwater fishing for bass is heating up and many of my buddies are swearing by the Rebel Pop R.

GREEN BAY, Wisc. — The way I wound up in Dave Leitgabel’s boat goes back to last winter at the Indianapolis sports show. Leitgabel told me was attending the show with his son when Mark Martin walked by. Leitgable pointed him out as “the president of walleye fishing” and the lad suggested the…

As cycling trends change all over the country, so do the events. A trend we have been seeing with road cycling in the United States in the past few years is the Gran Fondo.

Power Island Rapa Nui

CEDAR — It’s a striking landscape.

TRAVERSE CITY — The countdown is on for the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Traverse City triathlon. Elite athletes from nearly every state in the country will join local athletes Sunday in the race through multiple communities and townships across three counties.

Gwizdz’s gadgets

KALKASKA — You have to really want to fish the kind of places where Chuck Emmert fishes for brook trout. It’s not a walk in the park. It’s more like bushwhacking through the jungle.

The time has arrived. Lake Michigan salmon season is on — and so far it has been a story about big fish.

The Pine River has a reputation among the paddling community as one of the Lower Peninsula’s fastest, toughest rivers. Having kayaked different stretches of the river many times over the years with Traverse Area Paddle Club members, I’ll second that. It’s fast, fun and keeps you on the edge …

BELLAIRE — It’s been five decades since Grass River Natural Area became a nature preserve.

Dune Dash

Record water levels are threatening Great Lakes surfing.

Gwizdz’s Gadgets and Gear

KINDERHOOK — The rule of thumb for anglers is that as summer lengthens, fish go deeper. And though that is largely true for a number of species, there are still plenty of fish to be caught shallow. That’s the mantra of one of my fishing buddies, who showed me again recently that there’s no n…