Indigo Guide Service

Traverse Magazine, This Summer: Discover Lake MIchigan’s Beaver Island by Dianna Stampfler.  June 2010

Kick off the summer of 2010 with a trip to Beaver Island, the Great Lake’s most remote inhabited island, in the waters of Lake Michigan off of Charlevoix.

People come to Beaver Island for its abundant nature and solitude and much of what the island offers is free. With over 100 miles of scenic roads, old two-track trails and beaches, it is ideal for hiking and biking. Pristine woods welcome nature lovers for bird watching and photography, as well as sportsmen looking or hunting and fishing opportunities.

Visitors can expect to discover a wealth of ecological resources, including nature preserves and state land available for walking and exploring. Approximately 35 percent of the Island – located about 30 miles north of Charlevoix in Northern Lake Michigan – is state forest land.

Check Out These Naturally Awesome Beaver Island Adventures

Beaver Island Ecotours: Offering a wide variety of tours for outdoor enthusiasts, such as driving and walking tours, inland lake tours, biking tours and hiking and camping trips. Visit sandy beaches, bogs and inland lakes, marshes, cedar swamps and hardwood forests in search of loons, osprey, turtles, salamanders, deer and a variety of flora and fauna for family enjoyment. beaverislandecotours.com

Bonadeo’s Beaver Island Boat Charters: Explore the outer islands of the archipelago such as High Island, Hog Island and Squaw Island, on half-day or full-day excursions ideal for singles, couples, families and groups. Learn the history of the island lighthouses and former residents as you play a modern day explorer in Northern Lake Michigan. beaverislandboatcharters.com

Indigo Guide Service: Guided fly fishing and casting trips for smallmouth bass, carp and other species on Beaver Island and its surround islands make for some of the best flats-style fishing in the Midwest. indigoguideservice.com

Inland Seas School of Kayaking: Paddle the clear-blue waters of the Beaver Island archipelago where a variety of outdoor experiences are offered for all ages, including sea kayak trips in the St. James Harbor and on Lake Michigan or naturalist-led kayak eco-tours on the inland lakes. Be on the lookout for loons, eagles, osprey and beaver lodges during the morning or afternoon excursions or take part in a full-moon paddle and learn lunar lore while listening to the nighttime sounds of Northern Michigan. inlandseakayaking.com

Lakesports & Paradise Bay Gifts: This is the place to pick up a fishing pole, bait or tackle as well as rent canoes, kayaks, boats with motors, pedal boats, bikes and camp gear. Also offering hourly moped rentals. beaverisland.org/lakesports/index.html

Paradise Bay Dive Shop: Located on Beaver Island’s Paradise Bay – one of the finest harbors in the Great Lakes. The water surrounding the island contains shipwrecks and other underwater scenery just waiting to be explored. Sign up for Scuba instruction, snorkeling, diving classes, cruises aboard The Resolute or out-island adventures. paradisebaydiveshop.com

Beaver Island Boat Company Tours: Beaver Island Boat Company’s knowledgeable and well seasoned tour drivers will guide you through Beaver Island’s beautiful scenery and intriguing history, while giving you an idea of why island life is so unique. Your journey in one of our fifteen passenger vans to the southern tip of Beaver Island will take you through its beautiful dunes and forests and alongside several of the island’s pristine inland lakes, bays and beaches. Ultimately, the tour will pause to visit and climb one of the oldest lighthouses on the Great Lakes, Beaver Head Lighthouse. This is a great way to see the island for eco-adventurers who may not be able to walk or bike the many trails but still want to be surrounded by nature. bibco.com

Visitor Info

Visitors will find two established campgrounds on Beaver Island, both owned and operated by the Island Townships and open from April 1 to the end of November. There are no reservations at either campground and the primitive sites are available on a first-come, first serve basis. Both campgrounds provide pit toilets and hand pumps, there are no showers at either facility.

Saint James Township Campground is located on the north end of the Island, off Donegal Bay Road one mile outside the St. James Harbor. The campground and its 12 sites overlook Lake Michigan and Garden Island, with views of Squaw and Whiskey Islands. ($5 per night, per campsite).
Bill Wagner Peaine Township Campground is located on the east side of the Island, seven miles south of the harbor and accessible via the East Side Road. This 22-site campground is on the shore of Lake Michigan with a view of the west coast of mainland Michigan. ($10 per night, per campsite)
 
Beaver Island is also home to the Central Michigan University biological field station, offering academic classes in biology, other sciences, and the arts. Faculty and students utilize the woods and waters surround the Beaver Archipelago as their outdoor classroom for field trips and lectures.
 
After a day, or more, of exploring the rustic nooks and crannies of Beaver Island, visitors can find luxurious packages at the East Wind Day Spa & Hair Salon (beaverisland.org/eastwind/index.html), where facials, massages, manicures and pedicures are offered to help relax both the mind and body.A variety of dining options can be found on the island, with Nina’s Restaurant at the Beaver Island Lodge offering a fine dining menu and extensive wine list.
 
Situated adjacent to Lake Michigan, Beaver Island Lodge (beaverislandlodge.com) has been a host to visitors since the 1950s and is one of many lodging properties on the island. Other noteworthy accommodations include The Brothers Place (beaverisland.org/brothers-place/index.html) – a rustic Northwoods lodge originally built on a 20-acre parcel in 1928 as a retreat house by the Christian Brothers religious order and Shanoule B&B (beaverisland.org/shanoule/index.html) – a rustic three-suite bed-and-breakfast tucked away on a 40 acre secluded wooded lot.

Getting to Beaver Island is easy. The Beaver Island Boat Company (bibco.com) runs from early April through December, with limited runs in the early and late season. The 32-mile ride takes approximately two hours. Fresh Air Aviation (freshairaviation.net) and Island Airways (islandairways.com) both provide plane service to the island. All three services operate out of Charlevoix.
 
Those searching for a truly removed up-north destination will find it on Beaver Island, one of the purist four-season vacation destinations in Michigan. When it comes to natural escapes, nothing compares to America’s Emerald Isle – Beaver Island. For more information: 231-448-2505, BeaverIsland.org.

Michigan Outdoor News, Beaver Island’s fishing bonanza: Sight-fishing for carp by George Rowe

A few years ago, ardent anglers from all over these United States and some foreign places traveled to Beaver Island for the fishing — some of the best smallmouth bass fishing on the planet.

Cormorants are generally blamed for the demise of that fishing.  But cormorant control measures have been practiced on the island in recent years and the bass fishery may be on the rebound.  Now, the lowly carp is a new star of the islands.  Steve West, the enthusiastic Chamber of Commerce guru for the island, calls carp the "Golden Bones of Beaver Island," comparing the carp, of course , to the bonefish of Florida and the Bahamas.  And, it isn’t a bad comparison.  But comparing the fishing to angling for permit off Florida or the Bahamas might be an even better comparison.

Bonefish rarely get to be much heavier than 10 pounds, but the permit grow to enormous sizes and the average fish might be close to the weight of a Beaver Island carp.  The fight in both fish is similar.

This is why one might see in St. James Harbor a strange skiff with a poling platform at the stern and a long push-pole lashed to the deck.  This craft is used to move slowly along the shallow flats, as those aboard search for fish.

This fishing is really part hunting.  First you find the fish, then you work to get in position for a cast.  The fish is apt to ignore your offering, so you go in search of another fish.  Fortunately, there are lots of carp, so you’ll get another opportunity. shortly.

 When I heard about this fishing, I was eager to try it.  As one with a great deal of experience with bonefish and permit in Florida and the Bahamas, it would be very interesting for me to sample some new flats fishing.

I ran some weekend charters while living in Florida, fishing the upper Keys, and visited many locations in the Bahamas for bonefish.  This is some of the finest fishing in the world.  The skiff, set up to operate well in shallow water, is poled across the shallow flats, in gin-clear water no more than 15 or 20 inches deep.  The fish often are spotted "tailing," showing their tails and dorsal fins as they root around in the soft bottom for cabs, shrimp, and other tasty morsels.  You also can spot them just swimming along slowly, cruising.  The fact that they’re often in small schools helps in seeing them.  Sometimes, you first see mud where the fish have been feeding and stirring up the bottom.

Fishing for the Beaver Island carp is exactly the same, except that the fish are easier to see.  Carp are darker and larger, averaging perhaps 15 to 20 pounds.

It’s a good idea to wear polarized sunglasses, especially if the day is cloudy or if there’s much of a chop on the water.  When we were out there, the sun was bright for much of the day and Lake Michigan was as placid as a mill pond, so it was pretty easy to spot the fish.

 Carp congregate in the shallows as soon as the water warms enough for spawning.  The best time is apparently from mid-June through August.

The best fishing technique is to cast a fly that imitates a crayfish or some other small crustacean.  When a fish is spotted, the boat handler maneuvers the skiff close enough so that the angler can reach the fish and drop the fly well in front of it.

When the fish approaches the fly, the angler begins a hopping retrieve, right in front of the fishes nose in hopes the carp will turn and pursue the fly, taking it in his mouth.  More often than not, however, the fish will ignore the offering and continue to cruise.

Sometimes the fish will show some interest by turning after the fly and then turning away again.  Like bonefish, carp are easily spooked, and they’re not likely to take any lure.  As a matter of fact, they often scoot right out of sight.

They don’t seem too sensitive to the waving of the rod or even the little splash when the fly hits the water.  They’re sensitive to sound, however, so if the boat handler makes too much noise with the pole or if a wader makes much noise with his feet, they quickly will swim away.

Gearing up

The tackle we used was sturdy fly-fishing gear — an 8-weight rod with a matching weight-forward or torpedo floating line.  The leader was about 5 feet of 10-pound-test mono.  The flies were large, mostly multi-colored but dark, and most were weighted slightly.

Expect to make good casts to many fish before hooking up.  Our guide said carp are poor predators and not very effective in chasing down prey.  Apparently their vision is not great.  When you do hook up, set the hook and hang on.  These fish will make long initial runs and yet another long run after you battle them back to the boat.  They are large, of course, very strong, and they have terrific stamina.

The reels the guide uses are large with a good drag and there is ample backing behind the fly line.  You’ll see it on virtually every fish.  The fight is frantic.  A carp will run, run and run then get sideways and resist all the way back to the boat.  They are great fun to catch.

Some of the reward is the setting — way back in some remote bay by Hog Island, all be yourself, in a pristine wilderness, surrounded by crystal clear water.

The cormorants are still very much evident, despite serious efforts to limit their impact on the area.  They have created absolutely barren rocky ruins on some of the smaller islands where they have roosted, killed all the trees and other foliage with their droppings.  The new import — the goby — may have a good impact on the fishing.  The cormorants eat them and thus might eat fewer bass fry.  The goby is also bass food.

The smallmouth bass fishery has apparently recovered somewhat.  There is again an open season for them, starting July 1, and you can sight-fish for them just as we did for carp.

We spotted many smallmouths, including a few fish that had been tagged by CMU researchers aboard a vessel operating in the area.

If you want to try this fishing, contact Kevin Morlock who operates the Indigo Guide Service out of Walhalla.  Comfortable accommodations are available on Beaver Island.

Want to try sight-fishing for big, powerful fish in a beautiful setting?  Try those Beaver Island "golden bones."

This YouTube video was shot in August of 2009 with Brandon Butler of Driftwood Outdoors, Bill Konway of Bill Konway Photography and Kevin Morlock of Indigo Guide Service.  In the early part of the salmon run we often throw crankbaits to kings in the lower parts of our west Michigan rivers.  The kings are fresh, strong and full of fight!

Guided mousing trip on the Pere Marquette River, June 17, 2010 with Indigo guide Steve Martinez.

"Thanks for the GREAT trip guys!  Steve, you really went out of your way to get us onto fish even though the previous rain had shut down the hatch.  Our goal for this trip was to get hooked up with at least one nice brown… mission accomplished!
 
We went back upstream in the flies only section two days later at dusk and were throwing some hex and drake patterns we had picked up at BBT.  We both caught 15 inch browns.  I missed a couple on the mouse after dark, but it was so beautiful that night with the stars and lightning bugs, the big moon and the hoot owls… fishing became almost secondary (well, not really, but you know).
 
Steve, is there any chance of getting a copy of Ted’s photo with his fish?  I figured you probably did that sort of thing.  His wife will need siome reassurance that we weren’t just hanging out in bars the whole time!

Dan from Comstock Park, Michigan wins the free Indigo Guide Service shirt with the correct guess of Au Sable River.  We had dozens of guesses with 2 out of 3 guessing the St. Simons Islands in Georgia.  Dan sent his correct guess in 14 minutes after our newsletter was sent.

Enjoy your shirt Dan!

For those of you that don’t know, each month we have a different contest in the newsletter and for June it was, where is the Mac’s Island pictured on the hat.  If you want to join in the fun, sign-up for the newsletter here… Join Our Newsletter