michigan ice open

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Michigan Ice Open

on Hamlin LakeJan. 31-Feb. 2, 2014

Inside • Complete schedule• Tournament rules• Boundary map• Ice fishing tips

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2 | LUDINGTON DAILY NEWS | MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2014

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3611 N. Jebavy, Ludington 843-2058 Hours: 6 AM-10 PM Daily

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Large Selection of

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Fishing Clinic

Register for our Hamlin Hookers4th Annual Ice Fishing Tournament

February 8, 2014 at 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM

All TheLatest2013/2014

CONTACT: VAUGHN FLEWELLING, 231-843-2058 TO REGISTER AND FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sponsored by Hamlin Grocery. Register at HamlinGrocery, $20 to enter. 100% cash pay out for 1st Place. Super prizes for 2nd, 3rd, 4th placing.

Thisisanindividual,one-day,totalpointstournamentonHAMLINLAKE.Participantsmustsign-inatthetournamentcheck-inlinenolaterthan5:00PMformeasuringoffishandcalculationofpointsbyadesignatedcommittee.

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MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2014 | LUDINGTON DAILY NEWS | 3

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2014 Michigan Ice OpenHamlin Lake - January 31-February 2, 2014

Friday, January 31, 2014On-site registration begins at 6:30 p.m.Tournament Rules Meeting at 7:30 p.m.,at Stearns Motor Inn Ball Room,212 East Ludington Avenue, Ludington

Saturday, February 1, 2014Michigan Ice Open Tournament 8 a.m.-2

p.m. Access point to Hamlin Lake at Victory Park Landing (Parking lot at Victory Park Land-ing will open at 6 a.m. No participants are al-

lowed into the lot prior to 6 a.m. Bucket check and line-up will begin at 6:30 a.m.) Landing will only be accessible to tournament participants. Spectators are encouraged to use Wilson Hill for parking and access to the ice.

Michigan Ice Open Weigh-In 3:30 p.m. with awards to follow at Baymont Inn & Suites, 4079 West U.S. 10, Ludington. Spectators welcome.

Sunday, February 2, 2014Youth Fishing School 11 a.m. and 12:30

p.m., at Hamlin Town Hall, 3775 North Jebavy Drive, Ludington

Pre-registration is required for this FREE event for kids between the ages of 5 and 14. There is a limit of 50 kids per session.

Two sessions will be offered. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

• Registration forms will be accepted at the Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce. Participants may also down-load the registration/waiver and release form from www.michiganiceopen.com and fax it to 231-845-6854. For information call 231-845-0324

* See map on page 6 for directions to Victory Park.

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A guide to all things ice fishingBY BRIAN MULHERINDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

What’s tight lining? What’s an ice troller? What’s a Nuggie?If you’ve ever wondered about

ice fishing and its lingo, this is your guide.

The Michigan Ice Open takes place on Hamlin Lake Feb. 1 and you can bet many of the people on the ice that day will know the an-swers to the questions above.

The tournament pits two-person teams against each other in a chal-lenge of who can catch the biggest and the most fish. The team limit is eight bluegills and eight crappies.

Catching eight bluegills on Ham-lin Lake is generally not difficult, but catching eight of them that approach 9 or 10 inches can be a tough task. Conversely, there are some very large crappies on Ham-lin Lake, but finding them can be difficult.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

If past tournaments are any guide, fishing will be heavy in at least three locations — near the end of Lincoln Road, on the north shore across from Wilson Hill Park and more than a mile east of Wil-son Hill Park in an area called “the hole” by ice anglers. That’s not to say those will be the only areas with fish. The late-summer algae bloom on the upper lake caused weeds to die off in several areas. Fish under ice tend to migrate to areas with healthy weeds.

Anglers can travel by snowmo-bile, ATV or by walking. Walkers could have a tough road, though, with a 2.5-mile walk from Victory Park to the crappie grounds off the end of Lincoln Road. Crappies can be found in other parts of the upper lake, too.

If anglers don’t like their spot, they can hop to another. They can drill as many holes as they like, but anyone can use them as long as they’re far enough away from an-other angler.

Indian Pete Bayou and the Lost Lake Bayou are off-limits, as are ar-eas northeast of Victory Park and anything west of the narrows.

TECHNIQUESWhat is tight lining? It’s a type

of jigging done with high-visibil-ity line in lieu of a spring bobber. Anglers generally keep their bait in constant motion and watch the line either in the hole or above the hole to see if it bends differently or

straightens out when a fish grabs it and swims up or down. Then they set the hook and reel in their fish.

Ice trolling is drilling a ton of holes and hopping from one to an-other with an electronic flasher to see if there are fish, particularly big fish, suspended off the bottom.

If they mark a fish, they lower a

lure down to them.Electronics are a big key to com-

petitive ice fishing because they’re a time saver. Electronic flashers will show different size fish in dif-ferent colors, for the most part. The colors vary by brand, but an-glers can tell just by looking if they’ve got a hole full of dinky perch or a school of nice bluegills or suspended crappies.

PLASTICS VS. MEATMost tournament anglers carry

some type of a jig with a soft-plas-tic trailer. Most also carry live bait, but when plastic is working, the fishing is fast and furious.

A Nuggie is a type of plastic trail-er sold by the Little Atom compa-ny. Other companies also produce trailers or ready-to-fish jigs with plastic trailers.

Most anglers also prefer tung-sten jigs because they’re heavier than lead jigs of the same size. The idea is that you don’t have to wait around for a teardrop to flutter to the bottom, particularly on fish

that are eight feet down or more. When you’re hitting them one af-ter another, you want to keep af-ter them before the school moves away.

TAKE-OFF AND FINISHAnglers will be released some

time before 8 a.m. from a lineup in front of Victory Park, ice permit-ting. They can get to their spot and auger their holes, but they must wait until 8 a.m. before doing any fishing.

Anglers can fish from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. At 2 p.m. all buckets will be collected and transported to Bay-mont Inn & Suites for the weigh-in.

The buckets are sealed as soon as they leave the ice and transported together to prevent cheating. An-glers with too many fish face penal-ties and anglers with too few or fish that are too small will be looking up at the winner when the weigh-in is over.

[email protected] x348

Michigan is home to some out-standing fishing, with more than 3,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, more than 11,000 inland lakes, and tens of thousands of miles of rivers and streams.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division strives to engage as many individ-uals as possible in the vast recre-ational opportunities, and provide special times to do so – including the annual Free Fishing Weekends. One weekend each winter and summer, this opportunity allow anyone to fish for free.

The 2014 Winter Free Fishing Weekend is Saturday, February 15 and Sunday, February 16. As part of the free weekends, fishing license fees are waived for two days, allowing residents and out-of-state visitors to enjoy fishing. All regulations will still apply.

To encourage involvement in Free Fishing Weekends, organized activities are often offered in com-munities across the state.

The DNR has numerous re-sources to help people plan and execute an event related to a free fishing weekend. Visit www.michigan.gov/freefishing and look through the Free Fishing Week-end Event Planning e-Toolkit. Once an event is coordinated, register it as an official 2014 Winter Free Fishing Weekend activity online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2014WinterFFW. Upon regis-tering, you will be contacted about receiving a packet of resources from Fisheries Division.

We welcome you to become a part of the tradition that is the an-nual Free Fishing Weekends – a time to get together and have some fish-ing fun!

Free fishing weekend Feb. 15-16

An angler at the 2013 Michigan Ice Open Tourna-ment waits for a bite.

1. This is a team event. Each team will consist of 2 anglers.

2. All teams will be given 6 tags with team numbers on them, 2 to be displayed at all times on the anglers, 2 to be displayed on portable fish shelter or shelters used by the anglers and 2 to be displayed on team’s ATVs or snowmobiles. This rule is to help identify any and all partici-pants on the ice by the officials at any time.

3. Participants may fish with or without a portable shelter. When fishing in a shelter team numbers must be visible at all times. When not fishing in a shelter it must be kept in the open position as not to hole block. No wheeled hous-es or hard-sided houses allowed. Shelters may be set up prior to the 8 a.m. start but the anglers may not enter shelter until 8 a.m. start.

4. No third-party fishing during the event. Each team must fish alone. Family members, friends, or others known to Michigan Ice Open Tournament contestants, but not in the competition, MAY NOT fish within established tournament boundaries during the hours of competition, or on the morning of the com-petition before competition begins. Non an-glers, other than officials and press, will be asked to watch from outside of the core fish-ing groups as not to disturb the anglers.

5. Participants can fish with only one line at a time.

6. All other Michigan angling, snowmobil-ing, and ATV rules must be obeyed. Citations may result in disqualification. No ALCOHOL WILL BE ALLOWED.

7. Each team will be given a Bucket and Lid. The Bucket and Lid will be marked with the team number on it. This bucket and lid must be kept with one of the 2 anglers at all times while on the ice. The buckets should be kept ½ full of water to keep fish as fresh as possi-ble (No frozen fish). When handing over tour-nament catch to officials at the finish line be sure to place one of the team numbers inside bucket before it is sealed. All fish brought to the finish line and weigh in must be caught on the day of the tournament, during tourna-ment hours.

8. Teams may not fish closer than 10 feet from another team. But no more than 30 yards away from their teammate from the time of inspection to the time their bucket is sealed.

9. Participants may drill as many holes as they wish. Competitors can fish any open hole

as long as they maintain the 10 foot rule.

10. Hole Blocking is prohibited. Definition –the use of unattended shelter or other equip-ment to block the ice from other competitors whether there is a hole near said equipment or not.

11. All equipment brought onto the ice at bucket check must be with the team at all times, you may not leave fishing equipment in one location of the lake and go to another location to fish without said equipment. As this would constitute hole blocking.

12. Participants must fish and travel within the designated tournament area.

13. Pre-fishing or “practice” fishing on the lake the day of the tournament is prohibited.

14. At least one (1) team member must be 18 years of age and must attend the Michigan Ice Open Tournament rules meeting and regis-tration on Friday night- times and location will be posted in the schedule.

15. There will be mandatory fish shelter and equipment inspections before participants are allowed to proceed onto the ice. Inspections be-gin between 6: a.m. and 7 a.m. (have everything open and ready for the inspectors.)

16. This is a one day – total weight tourna-ment – designated species are Crappie and Sun-fish/Bluegill. Each team can weigh up to 8 Crap-pie and 8 Sunfish/Bluegill (no Rock Bass) for a Total of 16 fish. If there are more than 8 of either species in a team’s bucket the team will lose their overall biggest fish. First tie-breaker will be the number of total fish caught. Second tie-breaker will be coin flip.

17. Teams must return to the official tourna-ment finish line by 2 p.m. on Saturday, with all fish culled and big fish marked with zip ties given at rules meeting, in order to have Official buckets sealed. All sealed buckets will be left in the hands of the tournament officials to be transported to the weigh-in location. All of the team’s fish must be in your possession at all times during tourna-ment hours. Weigh-in time will be posted in the schedule. If you have not passed the finish line by 2 p.m. your team will be disqualified.

18. Cars and Trucks WILL NOT be permitted in-side the tournament area during the event. Snow-mobiles and ATVs can be used when possible. Tournament officials will make the final decision if ice conditions are satisfactory for Snowmobile and ATV use during the event. (If you have transporta-tion break down, mark it with a team number so officials know which teams equipment it is.) Team mates can pull each other. A team will be disquali-fied if anyone other than their team mate tows

them during tournament hours. If a team’s equip-ment breaks down and their team mate cannot pull them tournament officials will help to have equipment taken to shore after the tournament. You will not be disqualified for leaving broken ATV or snowmobile on ice to fish.

19. Unsportsmanlike or unethical behavior is grounds for disqualification.

20. Any entrant who has been disqualified in any Ice Fishing Tournament whether it is the Michigan Ice Open or similar event must contact the tournament director prior to entry, to verify if that entrant will be allowed to fish. If you have been disqualified for the intent to defraud the tournament or any of the anglers you will not be allowed to fish the Michigan Ice Open.

21. If a team witnesses a violation to any of the above rules, it is the obligation of that team to notify a Michigan Ice Open Tournament offi-cial immediately of said violation.

22. The decision of Michigan Ice Open Tourna-ment officials is final. Remember this is about fun, enjoy and be safe.

THESE RULES are subject to change, the Michigan Ice Open Committee reserves the right to amend and introduce rules.

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2014 Michigan Ice Open

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MAP TO VICTORY PARK

Michigan Ice Open

January 31- February 2, 2014

* Parking at Victory Park for tournament participants.

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TOURNAMENT BOUNDARIES MAP

The 2014 Michigan Ice Open will be held in this area of Upper Hamlin Lake, with boundary lines as marked. Boundaries are subject to change due to ice conditions.

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Michigan Ice OpenHamlin Lake - January 31-February 2, 2014

Gold Sponsors Best Western of LudingtonHungry Howie’s PizzaLittle Caesars Pizza of LudingtonNader’s Lakeshore Motor LodgeOakview Medical Care Facility

Silver SponsorsOld Hamlin RestaurantCountry Veterinary ClinicLudington Beverage Company

Bronze SponsorsHobby Crest ResortMurphy Well Drilling

Youth Fishing School sponsors

Hamlin Fire DepartmentHamlin GroceryLudington Paint and GlassJohnson and Johnson Paint

Drilled Hole Sponsor

An event brought to the area by:

Platinum Sponsors

Frontier Communicationswww.frontier.com

Thin Ice Sponsors

StearnsMotorInn

Stearns Motor Inn www.thetikilounge.com

Baymont Inn & Suites www.baymontinns.com

Dreamweaver Lureswww.dreamweaverlures.com

Mac’s Rod Shop

Larsen’s Landscaping www.larsenslandscaping.com

Lowe’swww.lowes.com

Walmartwww.walmart.com

Ludington Area Charterboat Association

www.ludingtoncharterboats.org

The Angler Magazine West Michiganhttp://coastalanglermag.com/westmichigan/

Hamlin Grocerywww.hamlingrocery.com

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A look at 2013 Michigan Ice Open

Winners, scenes from out on the ice

Youth Fishing School

Children learn how to fish as part of the weekend tournament.

Sean Carlin and Andy Lightfoot show trophies they won for the 2013 Michigan Ice Open Tournament.

Above, a tournament participant catches a fish during the week-end tournament.At left, participants count their fish.

Daily News file photos

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Save the date

July 17-20, 2014

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Your Daily News provides you with a full catch of news, sports, entertainment and much more. And of course Outdoor Writer Brian Mulherin will bring you the latest fishing reports, tips and hot spots each week in Saturday’s Outdoors. And he doesn’t even mind if you use the paper to wrap your fish when you’re done.

Pick up your copy at area news stands or call 845-5183 for convenient home delivery.

FREEFISHWRAP

LudingtonTournament.com

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