The Luck of the Michigander

From the pubs to the dance floor to the ski hills, here are seven ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in northern Michigan

By Alexandra Dailey

Each year, people all over the North gear up for the holiday of green: St. Patrick’s Day. And for 2023, we’re all feeling extra lucky because St. Patrick’s Day takes place on a Friday—ideal for all the shindigs featuring stout and songs, merriment and mirth. Open up your calendars; here are seven can’t-miss events occurring across northern Michigan this St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Friday

1. LAKE ANN BREWING CO., LAKE ANN

Friday, March 17, 3-6pm

For some afternoon fun, head to Lake Ann Brewing Co.—known for its stellar weekly music lineups—to hear live music by Rigs and Jeels. Veteran musicians Dane Hyde and Rick Willey, accompanied by local singer and dancer Katie O’Connor, are ready to put you in the Irish spirit while you relax and enjoy a drink.

“The trio offers a fresh spin on classic Irish tunes and popular favorites,” says Matt Therrien, owner of Lake Ann Brewing Co. “Rigs and Jeels will be followed by The Jameson Brothers, and The Stone Oven will be offering corned beef and cabbage as well. We expect it will be a good crowd.”

2. ETHANOLOGY DISTILLATION, ELK RAPIDS

Friday, March 17, 3-7pm

Stop by Ethanology Distillation in Elk Rapids for some good company, good food, deep laughs, and great drinks. Event partner and Ethanology neighbor Ames St. Cafe will host an Irish food pop-up with grilled Reubens and traditional Irish side dishes, and local bard Jim Ribby is set to tell Irish stories in the oral tradition. Plus, starting at 7pm, professional comedians Ken Witzgall and Bill Bushart will take the stage to end the night with a laugh. (Note: There’s a $5 cover for the comedy show.)

3. SEASONS OF THE NORTH & BURT LAKE BREWERY, INDIAN RIVER

Friday, March 17, 7-10pm, $10/person

This year marks the first St. Patrick’s Day event that Seasons of the North Winery and Burt Lake Brewery of Indian River have ever hosted, featuring live music by Melissa Behring and Jake Tobias. “We’ve never hosted a St. Patrick’s Day event before,” says Sarah Kolb, event coordinator for the dual winery-brewery. “We wanted to give our offseason a little kick and thought this would be the perfect time to do so.”

During the celebration, Behring and Tobias will perform unique acoustic versions of classic rock and soul favorites while attendees enjoy light snacks, wine, and beer, with green beer upon request in honor of the day. Limited tickets are available at seasonsofthenorth.com.

4. TREETOPS RESORT, GAYLORD

Friday, March 17

Spend St. Patrick’s Day at Treetops Resort in Gaylord and ski over their giant green Treetops logo on the slopes, specially placed in honor of the Celtic holiday! Legends on the Hill—one of Treetops’ on-site restaurants—will feature Irish favorites all day with corned beef and great beers. After a day on the slopes, those 21 and up can dance the night away from 9pm to 1am at Hunter’s Grille with a shamrockin’ DJ.

5. KARMA TAPROOM, GAYLORD

Friday, March 17, 8-11pm

Gaylord’s downtown wind-down hotspot is Karma Taproom, and they’re ready to celebrate St. Pat. If you purchase a $10 St. Patrick’s Day mug, you’ll also receive a bracelet that gets you special discounts and bigger pours for the night, plus money for a taxi ride home after spending the evening with Karma. In addition, Darrell Boger will be performing live (rock and soul) throughout the night.

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Saturday

6. 2023 FIFTH THIRD LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUN 5K

Saturday, March 18, 9am

The 13th annual Fifth Third Leapin’ Leprechaun 5K is running a brand-new course this year! Starting on Lake Avenue in Old Town Traverse City, the race concludes at Brady’s Bar for a fun after-party, and all participants who are 21 and up get a free beer. (Cheers!) Each racer receives a T-shirt and accurate timing, and prizes are offered for top finishers and best Irish costumes. Bonus: The race course is stroller and dogfriendly. Register at leapinleprechauntc.com.

7. ST. PATRICK’S DAY COMMUNITY CEILI, CADILLAC

Saturday, March 18, 2-4pm

Put on your dancing shoes and participate in a community ceili at Up North Arts with the Northern Lights Irish Dance Academy.

“Ceili, in Gaelic, means to gather, but in this case, we will be gathering to dance several group dances,” says Gina Dewery, owner of Northern Lights Dance Academy. “This is a free event for all ages to come and learn a real historic Irish folk dance.”

Dewey will teach attendees the dance steps while the Irish dance troupe dancers assist. As a special treat, the Northern Lights Irish Dancers will perform, and attendees can enjoy complimentary cookies and lemonade. “We also have prizes to win to boost the Irish spirit,” adds Dewey.

By Karl Klockars

“I wanted to create something that was extraordinary.”

That’s how Joe Short, founder of Short’s Brewing, describes the beers he crafted for their famed Imperial Beer Series, the collection of 13 craft beers released in 2007 that put Short’s—and the northern Michigan beer scene—on the global map.

It was in the early days of the American craft beer renaissance, and just a couple of years into the existence of the company, when Short came up with the idea for the series.

“It was a pretty ambitious project, [and] I knew that my time physically brewing beer was limited,” Short says. His beer was beginning to get a toehold in Michigan’s brewery landscape thanks to his flagship IPA, Huma Lupa Licious, but “because we are in such a remote area, we needed something that set us apart, something that would give people a reason to explore and seek us out,” he says. “I felt like I needed to really swing for the fences.”

That project started with a plan to brew a different imperial beer per month and concluded with an epic beer dinner at the end of the year, though the series became a baker’s dozen of extreme beers. (“There’s 13 because I brewed an extra just in case one didn't turn out,” Short says.)

The series required brewing over 200 gallons per month, as well as labeling and filling up to a thousand bottles by hand. Those 750ml bottles ended up carrying the Short’s name throughout America as aficionados and tourists took them home and even shipped them internationally to friends abroad who needed to try the boundary-shattering beers coming out of Bellaire, Michigan.

“The ones that went overseas were the ones that blew my mind the most,” Short says. “People would send us photos or write us notes saying that they were traveling abroad and went to a beer bar and saw a lone bottle of Ginger in the Rye or Peaches & Creme.”

And for a beer program that produced some of the craziest beers on earth (at the time), there was one simple rule Short followed through the entire process: “I really tried to make sure we were at least 8 percent ABV,” he says. Beyond that, as you’ll see below, the only limitations were those of imagination and fermentation.

The imperial series was also, fiscally speaking, something of a moonshot. “We didn’t have any financial resources. I think we made $25,000 or $30,000 that year and I spent it all on glass and labels,” Short says with a laugh. “You dream big and you try to make it work. I just knew that the payoff wasn’t going to be until way later—and by ‘later’ I didn’t mean like, 10 years away later, I meant like at the end of the year I thought I was gonna sell all these beers. It really took two or three more years to sell all these beers—no one was buying a case of these things.”

We recently sat down with Short for a look back on the entire series and to hear some of the origin stories and behind-thescenes tales that went into every single beer in the series—many of which are still being brewed to this day. Here, in Short’s words, is the tale of each beer.

Spruce India Pilsner

The inspiration was largely drawn from historical, early colonial brewing. As the pilgrimage was underway, settlers were building churches and breweries, and the Native Americans had shown them their tips and tricks for their own fermented beverages. And so they would use things like corn and spruce.

That first batch was done with oldgrowth pine. We clipped the tips in the winter time so they were all hard and crunchy—they probably didn’t have as much residue or oil in there as new growth would, but we emulsified it with the liquid wort and fermented it like normal. Let’s say it accomplished all of my personal objectives, but the beer itself was super polarizing, especially for newcomer craft beer enthusiasts back then.

Peaches & Creme

[This] one wasn’t necessarily like a beer of inspiration, it was more like a beer of technical components that sounded good, you know? The first two times [I made this], I did it with fresh peaches that Leah [Joe’s wife] and I had peeled by hand, and then we left for a weekend. I came back to check on it, and it [had gone] lactic—I’m sure that would have been a great sour beer.

I finally caved and bought IQF [individually quick frozen] peaches which were easier to process and easier to keep sterile versus the fresh whole ones that were probably full of so much bacteria. I think the music prevalence in craft beer is just as important as the beer itself, so having the Peaches & Creme inspired by a Beck song just kind of helps tie that thing together in a nice little bow.

Publican Porter

It’s pretty boring. Actually, the best part about that beer is the story about the publican, or the tavern keepers, or the purveyors of public houses. The publican is essentially the bartender at a portside tavern, and porter also was a style that was born from mixing fresh beer and stale beer together. I don’t even think roasted grains came until later. But I did want to do a stylistically accurate porter, but then I wanted to bump the alcohol to make it imperial. So that’s really the best, straightforward porter recipe that basically just amplified the alcohol in it.

Bloody Beer

Growing up in the bar scene, I first learned that people would pour tomato juice in a Miller Lite or a Bud Light. I thought that was odd, but it wasn’t uncommon, so I filed that away in my memory bank. That’s definitely the most technically advanced brew of the mix—something truly experimental and imperial. So being a big Bloody Mary fan, I sort of reverse-engineered a Bloody Mary into a beer.

We used Roma tomatoes, blanched them all, pulled the skins, and then emulsified them in five-gallon buckets until they were all poured into the fermenter. Once the beer was close to being done, I pulled a couple of gallons out to use for the spice, and that’s where I added the horseradish, the peppercorn, the celery seed, and the fresh dill. [Then] I sterilized it in just a small solution of the beer itself and then poured that back into the fermenter. And it did turn out really good. That one is really a technical masterpiece.

Abnormal Genius

I don’t know why I decided sunflower seeds went with honey, but I had read a lot about honey and mead, and there’s a lot of powerful elements of honey. I think the “Abnormal Genius” name was taken out of a kind of a conversation I’d had with somebody about my thought process [and] how it doesn’t make a lot of sense if you hear me talk about it. But then, after you see and experience the result, it makes sense to you—so I coined that “the abnormal genius approach.”

This was just a combination of being inspired by all the powerful properties of honey and then balancing that with something else that would also make it like a golden ale made sense. So you have the sweet and then sort of the salty and the nutty part of the beer … but it definitely was not my favorite beer.

[This was] the one beer that I don’t feel tasted right to me … but I’d never really brewed with sunflower seeds before, and nuts can get weird. But I’ve also had people tell me that was their favorite one.

The Woodmaster

That came from being inspired by a guy named Bill Sohn. Bill still does a ton of woodworking for us, so I call him the Woodmaster. Bill and Pat Sohn are important because without meeting or knowing them, Short’s wouldn’t exist today. Way back in the 2000s, I was dating Bill and Pat’s daughter for several years and through that time, Bill and I became good friends. I always tested all my homebrews on him.

I made the choice to leave college after my third year to really pursue this brewing thing, and when I came home, I learned about this old hardware store for sale. I was in between brewing jobs, [and] I needed to decide if I was gonna find the next brewery to work at or see if it was worth exploring going out on my own yet.

I knew that the brewpub [I was working at] was not going to last, and I’d just packaged an Imperial stout that I had made [there that] was probably one of the best beers I’ve ever made. So we had cracked one of these in his woodshop and we’re just admiring it, and I told Bill that I found this building that was for rent and some brewing equipment online for like $25,000.

I was working on my business plan thanks to a book that Bill had bought me called Starting Your Own Business, and we kind of just took a couple of sips of that stout, and he said, “Why don’t you call those guys who have that equipment and tell them you want it?” And that’s how this started. We’re still very good friends.

Aorta Ale

That one was inspired by a guy named Mark Mueller, who got me into mountain biking and kicked off my physical fitness regime. I was a young brewer at the time without any real health regime outside of picking up 50-pound bags of grain. He had an issue with his heart, and long story short, he had surgery and he’s still with us, and it was a beer to honor him. [He was] a regular at the pub. He was always drinking Huma Lupa Licious, which was an IPA, so a red ale inspired by the heart, the hoppiness, the Imperialness, the whole story—just to acknowledge a friendly local.

Ginger in the Rye

The name was inspired by The Catcher in the Rye, but ginger is a great, great brewing ingredient. It adds a lot of personality, and rye is another one of those ingredients that isn’t super common because it’s very difficult to brew with, but it does produce some real earthy, bigger elements on the maltier side of things. And then you cut through that with a slice of ginger, which is the refreshing component. I felt like those two were kind of a good fit. It sounded like a cool name and sounded like it could be very imperial-worthy.

Soft Parade

We kinda shot ourselves in the foot on that one. Over the course of time, that beer confused what our regular offering is by being “Imperial,” and it was always kind of imperial. The Double Soft Parade that we brewed last year was the same as the Imperial, which is, I think, two or three times more fruit and maybe a little beefier malt bill to just amp it up a couple percent. The fruit was the same makeup; the Imperial just used way more of it. And fruit is an agricultural product; it has elements of nature that make it “good” or “not good” in some years. So, our most recent claim to fame with Soft Parade is that we really found a great fruit supplier that was better than years past, so the flavor is a lot better than it was.

This was a “double our pleasure, double our fun” kind of beer that’s already pretty much double everything.

Carob Stout

I’d never used carob before, but I thought it would be cool to do something different, something that was unusual but would still complement a stout. Carob has a kind of chocolatey nuttiness to it, without the oil and the sugar. So it was really easy and simple to use. It did add some flavor, some nuttiness, some earthiness, some dryness. I wouldn’t mind trying that beer again. [It was] another classic style that was amplified, and we used it like tea. We made some big muslin bags and steeped it in there.

Good Feller

So, Good Feller is essentially a double IPA that took our Stellar Ale and Hanging Frank [now known as Controversi-ale], which were two regular IPAs but they used exclusive hops. Stellar Ale was all Amarillo, Frank was all Simcoe. So “Frank” and “Stellar” [became] “Feller,” became Good Feller. Just an imperial version of two really awesome independent IPAs joined at the hip with a fun name.

Black Cherry Porter

Like so many other ones, this was really just a beer that sounded like it was a good combination of style and adjuncts. And being a local product is always nice too.

I don’t know how many people know this part of the story, [but] it still kind of pisses me off. A friend of mine, his family owns this orchard, and he says, “Oh man, just come get these cherries off the tree, they’re just falling on the ground going to waste.” I was like, “Great, I’ll just come fill up a bunch of tubs and help you with this cherry problem that you have.”

So, we spent hours just filling up hundreds of pounds of containers full of cherries, and my friend’s dad comes out— the real owner of the farm—and charges me for these cherries! … We ended up buying the “free” cherries that were offered to me and we made the beer with it by mashing them with my bare feet.

Black Licorice Lager

That beer is inspired just because I simply love black licorice. I love black jelly beans, [and] I thought it would be a cool beer if it tasted like black licorice. It was made with anise and I think even fennel, and then I used vanilla and some mint. It came out a little mintier than expected, so that one I actually would like to try again. That beer and the Bloody Beer both won medals, which is a point of pride, especially for those two styles. I wanted to age a batch of black licorice lager in Absinthe barrels—I thought that would have been cool. I just don’t know where to get an absinthe barrel from.

Where to Find the Imperial Beer Series

Want to get your hand on some of these beers? Good news: Some are available regularly, while others still make occasional appearances.

Short’s recently debuted their “Classic Stache Pack,” which featured the return of Aorta Ale and Black Cherry Porter. The Peaches & Creme is regularly sold in their “Dessert Island” variety pack alongside their Key Lime Pie and Strawberry Short’s Cake beers. And, of course, Soft Parade has become one of their most popular offerings.

And if you can source an absinthe barrel, we know someone who might like to talk to you.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

By Craig Manning

Six years: That’s how long it took for Loco Boys Brewing Company, Traverse City’s newest craft brewery and restaurant, to evolve from the germ of an idea into a fullfledged business. As of February 5, though, this new establishment is officially up and running, slinging from-scratch Mexican food and unique beers from its space in the old Impres Salon building near Slabtown.

Loco Boys is the brainchild of Mike Mohrhardt, a born-and-raised Traverse Citian who hit the road and moved to Mexico shortly after completing a bachelor of arts in business marketing from Michigan State University. Drawn south of the border by his grandmother’s Mexican heritage, Mohrhardt wanted a chance to fully immerse himself in Mexico’s culture. He ultimately ended up in Los Angeles, where he fell in love with craft beer.

“June 2017 is when I first put the idea together in my head for [Loco Boys] as a business,” Mohrhardt says. “I was living out in California at the time, and was involved in the entertainment industry and looking to shift gears. My wife and I loved visiting breweries up and down the coast of California, and I started thinking of starting my own.”

A Long and Winding Road

While Mohrhardt hadn’t called Traverse City home in the better part of two decades, he had a few aces up his sleeve in the form of his family members. “My dad was involved in Timber Lanes from its inception, into it becoming Lucky Jack’s,” Mohrhardt says. “And then my brother, Chris Mohrhardt, was involved with Incredible Mo’s and Pangea’s Pizza. So I started having conversations back and forth with them about this idea, and we put a business plan together and started the journey.”

That journey ended up being a lengthy one. Step one was moving from California back to northern Michigan, which Mohrhardt and his wife did in late 2017. Step two was finding an appropriate space for a brewery, which was easier said than done in the midst of Traverse City’s economic boom, which was followed by the pandemic, which stalled years of growth in the world of Michigan craft beer.

Loco Boys Brewing eventually found its home in the former Impres Salon building at 901 West Front Street in Traverse City. Two years, a big renovation, some struggles with liquor licensing, and a few other hurdles later, the 3,800-square-foot brewery opened its doors.

Perhaps above all else, Loco Boys Brewing is a love letter to Mohrhardt’s heritage. The name, he says, is both a play on the phrase “local boys” and a tribute to his Mexican grandmother, who appears in the form of a big mural on the brewery wall. Other elements of the business, from a tap list of original beers heavily influenced by Mexican and California brewing styles to a scratch kitchen that focuses on authentic Mexican cuisine, also pay homage to the Mohrhardts’ heritage and to the years that Mike spent living in Mexico and Southern California.

Assembling the Crew

While the family is pulling in a lot of their past to make Loco Boys what it is, Mohrhardt is quick to note that the brewery’s X-factor is really its collaborative nature.

To lead the establishment’s beer and food programs, Mohrhardt tapped Andy Largent and Bryon “Fig” Figueroa, two well-known and well-seasoned northern vets in their respective fields.

Largent comes to Loco Boys off a lengthy stint as head brewer at The Filling Station, and before that, from brewing and distilling jobs at Stormcloud Brewing Company, Grand Traverse Distillery, Right Brain Brewery, and North Peak Brewing Company.

Figueroa, meanwhile, was the owner and chef at Lake Leelanau’s beloved Fig’s Breakfast & Lunch until that establishment closed its doors in September 2019. For the past few years, he’s served as head chef at Northport Pub & Grille, which opened in summer 2021.

Scoring both of those key team people for his crew, Mohrhardt says, was crucial for setting Loco Boys on the path toward success.

In Largent—who is not just an employee, but also a co-owner in the business— Mohrhardt was looking for a brewer who could capably make great beer in any style. Largent’s background, which ranges from the experimental bent of Right Brain to the Belgian-style expertise of Stormcloud, made him a no-brainer choice.

In Figueroa, meanwhile, Mohrhardt saw a chef who could bring his vision of a Mexican-centric menu to life with authenticity and flare.

“When Bryon and I met for the first time, the first thing I said to him was, ‘Hey Bryon, how’s your mole game?’” Mohrhardt says with a laugh. (Pronounced MOE-lay, mole is a term used in Mexican cuisine to describe a type of sauce.)

Mole appears twice on the current Loco Boys menu—first in an appetizer called Mole Bravas, which tops crispy potatoes with a mole poblano sauce; and second in the restaurant’s flagship entrée, Enchiladas de Mole Poblano, described as “pulled chicken in corn tortillas, scratch mole poblano, with steamed rice and refried beans.”

“ That’s one of the dishes that I’m most proud of,” Mohrhardt says of the enchiladas. “Mole is tough, because there are so many different variations of it. If you’re from the Oaxaca region in Mexico, I think there are seven different moles of Oaxaca, and every other region of Mexico has their own take on mole, too. It’s always very ingredientdriven. There’s anywhere from 25-30 ingredients that go into it. So it’s a pretty intricate dish, and it takes a bit of time to develop that right. We went through a lot of tests to recreate the mole I love, and Bryon just really nailed it.”

While mole is one specialty that Mohrhardt expects locals will be trying for the first time at Loco Boys, there are also a few more familiar options on the menu. One example? A La Hora Que Sea (translated roughly to “any time at all”), a breakfast burrito that Fig’s fans will recognize from Figueroa’s old Leelanau restaurant.

Golden Stouts and Mexican Lagers

A similar approach of balancing Mohrhardt’s vision with the ideas of his collaborators also drives the Loco Boys beer program. On that side, Mohrhardt once again had a few checklist items he knew were must-haves for the menu. Case in point is Dirty Over the Shoulder, a golden milk stout that boasts all the rich, sweet, creamy, and coffee-tinged flavors of a stout beer, but that pours with a golden hue more associated with IPAs or amber ales.

“That was a type of beer I tried and really liked in my time in California, and I remember asking Andy if it was something we could brew here,” Mohrhardt says of the golden stout. “And it’s quickly become the beer on the menu that everyone has to try. My uncle, who is a Miller Lite drinker, came in, and I said, ‘Ok, you’ve gotta try this.’ He took one sip of it, his eyes lit up, and he said, ‘I’d probably order that.’”

For the most part, though, Largent says he’s had free rein to design a well-rounded beer menu that ranges from Mexicaninspired recipes (a Mexican lager, a habanero chocolate porter) to familiar staples (a variety of IPAs, an English brown ale). For his part, the brewer is excited about exploring the Mexican influence a bit more in the future— ideally, in tandem with Figueroa.

“Bryon and I have talked about doing something with the mole he’s been making and putting it in a beer,” Largent says. “We’re definitely going to do some collaborative projects where we get some of the stuff from the kitchen into the beer.”

After a pause, Largent laughs and adds: “If we have time. We’ve been extremely busy these first few weeks. But that’s a good thing.”

Find Loco Boys Brewing Company at 901 W Front St. in Traverse City. (231) 252-2378, locoboysbrewing.com

By Deb Dent

It’s officially fish fry season here in northern Michigan, with many local establishments featuring specials on fish on Fridays during Lent. (Check out the sidebar for inspiration!)

But if you want to DIY your own Friday dinner, you can’t have a fish fry without the fish. And thanks to the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had this year, winter fishing has been challenging at best for local fishing charter services. From bad ice to canceled reservations to unusual fish behavior, it’s been a perfect storm…without the cold and snow they need.

C.A.R.M.A. Sport Fishing Charter Service

Captain Randy J. Cornell of C.A.R.M.A. Sport Fishing Charter Service, based out of Cadillac, says that the warmer weather has absolutely had a negative impact on his business.

“It is difficult to adapt to warm weather when ice fishing,” he explains. “This winter we have gone from no ice to not enough safe ice, and good ice with 4 inches of standing water on top of it. It’s an odd situation for guiding. We can’t get out on the ice because it isn’t safe, and we can’t put a boat in the water because there is too much ice.”

Cornell also points out that considering the safety of the ice is different from the perspective of a professional guide and that of a fisherman. “A full-service guide than to carry enough gear for one to five or six clients. That is typically three rods per client, a couple of augers, a pull-behind two-person flip-over fish shanty, or a six-to-eight-person hub style-shanty, two heaters, propane tanks, and all the tackle and bait. It takes a vehicle to get it all on the ice, and if there isn’t 8 to 10 inches, it isn’t safe enough to withstand the weight of all the clients and the gear.”

The real challenge, he feels, is that there is no real feasible alternative to ice fishing when the weather won’t cooperate. And with most clients booking their trips up to a year in advance, it’s very difficult to try and reschedule them.

“Poor ice conditions, lack of ice, days of rain caused complete cancellation of our ice guiding in December and January,” Cornell says. “We lost every booking we had because of weather. A weather cancellation is a total loss, and sometimes you lose the client completely.”

Compared to previous years, C.A.R.M.A. would have 15 to 20 guided trips during this season. As of late February, they had only two.

The warmer temperatures this season also have an influence on the behavior of the fish themselves, according to Cornell.

“We usually have had the fish set up in the winter patterns along the weed lines [feeding grounds] that are still green and producing oxygen in the lakes. The bait fish and water insects live in the oxygen rich areas, and the predator fish migrate to where the food is, providing excellent opportunities to zero in on active fish. The inconsistent weather and lack of ice this year has allowed the weeds to not die off with any significance, and the fish are scattered everywhere.”

Cornell says that this dynamic means that one day you’ll find a spot where you’re really catching fish, and the next day they will be completely gone from that area, forcing you to start the process of searching for them all over again.

He believes that the weather is the biggest factor in determining fishing success. “Warm and cold fronts, high- and low-pressure systems, and the wind that accompanies them are the biggest conditional circumstances we have to adapt to as fishermen.”

All in all though, Cornell tries to keep a positive attitude despite the weather-related challenges. “I try to focus on the fishing as the adventure and just enjoying being outside doing what I enjoy doing. Catching anything then becomes the bonus to the day!”

Storm Hawk Sport Fishing

According to Captain Brady Anderson of Storm Hawk Sport Fishing in Traverse City, the biggest hurdle this season “has been the need to be flexible to what the conditions allow.” When taking his clients out on guided ice fishing expeditions, Brady generally targets winter fish like walleye, perch, pike, lake trout, and panfish. He says we’re lucky to have such a diverse fish population in a winter like this one, because it makes it a little easier for him to switch gears and focus on a different type of fish if needed.

But the fish aren’t the only tricky part of the equation. Often, because of the fluctuating temperatures, Anderson and his clients are forced to seek out different lakes in the area where the ice is safer and more solid. Some areas aren’t freezing much at all, or at least not up to normal winter levels. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the Great Lakes have been experiencing recordlow ice cover. As of February 13, only 7 percent of the total surface area of the Great Lakes was frozen, compared to the 35-40 percent norm for mid-February.

Due to the weather this winter, Anderson feels that the demand for guided ice fishing trips has been less than in years past, and most cancellations are because of the poor ice conditions. Ultimately though, he says the season has been decent so far, and that the Storm Hawk team has been keeping themselves busy.

When asked if he thought the warmer weather this season will affect the fishing come spring, he answers with some optimism.

“The warmer winter has me excited for the fishery,” Anderson says. “With less pressure on the lakes, it may help give the fish a little break from being targeted. It’s unfortunate for now, but long term I feel it will be a good thing for our lakes. It will also be great for our baitfish population in Lake Michigan since alewives spawn in the spring and have thrived in the past when we have had mild winters.” Learn more at carmasportfishing.com and stormhawksportfishing.com.

Friday Fish Fry

Need to skip the meat on Fridays this March? Here are a few local establishments offering a fish fry and/or specials on fish on Fridays during Lent:

• Sleder’s Family Tavern, Traverse City: all-you-can-eat fish fry

• J&S Hamburg, South Airport, Traverse City: all-you-can-eat fish fry

• Randy’s Diner, Traverse City: allyou-can-eat fish fry

• Lil Bo, Traverse City: fish fry from 5-9pm

• Jolly Pumpkin, Traverse City: fried fish and chips special

• Dillinger’s Pub, Traverse City: allyou-can-eat fish fry

• Sacred Heart Church, Elk Rapids: fish fry from 5-7pm, eat in or take out

• Knot Just a Bar, Omena: all-youcan-eat fish fry

• Brady’s Bar, Traverse City: fish fry special all day

•Curly’s Bar & Grill, Cadillac: allyou-can-eat fish fry

Fine Points of the Law

Natalia Harrell, 24, was arrested last July in Miami for allegedly shooting and killing Gladys Yvette Borcela, 28, as they rode in an Uber. Since then, she's been in the custody of the Miami-Dade Corrections Department -- along with her unborn child. Now, Michael O'Brien, the father of the child, has filed a petition claiming the baby has not been charged with a crime and is having its due process rights violated, NBC Miami reported. "I don't want the baby to be born prematurely or low birth weight," O'Brien said. "The conditions (in the jail) are terrible and I feel she's not getting the prenatal care she should be getting." He seeks the baby's immediate release. Officials replied that they are reviewing the care Harrell has received "to ensure that all prenatal care being provided in our custody is appropriate."

Irony Police in Glemgormley, Northern Ireland, pulled over a Mini Cooper on Feb. 27 and asked the driver for proof of insurance, the Irish Mirror reported. After cagily searching around for the document, the driver admitted they didn't have insurance -- even though they were sporting a bumper sticker that cheekily asked, "My brakes are good!! Is your insurance?" The car was seized and the driver was issued a penalty for the lack of coverage.

New World Order

Tired of your John Hancock looking like a child's scribble? Priscilla Molina of Los Angeles can help with that. The Associated Press reported that Molina's business, Planet of Names, will make over anyone's signature for between $10 and $55. People seeking her service are "not happy with their signatures. They don't relate to who they are. They don't give the message they want to convey to the world," Molina said. She designs up to 300 custom signatures per month, and offers a range of styles, from elegant and artistic to ... illegible.

My Kindom for an Editor

First it was a misspelling of Georgia O'Keeffe's name in New York City's new Grand Central Terminal. On Feb. 26, according to the Associated Press, the state's Department of Transportation installed a new sign in Queens to identify the Jackie Robinson Parkway, established in 1997. Robinson was the first African American player to compete in major league baseball. But the DOT forgot the C, spelling the baseball great's first name Jakie. The sign was quickly replaced with the correct spelling.

Unconventional Weaponry

In a puzzling attempt to draw attention to the climate crisis, three people defaced a woolly mammoth at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria, Canada, on March 1, the Times Colonist reported. A woman allegedly used her hands to paint the mammoth's tusks pink. A group called On2Ottawa has claimed responsibility for the vandalism; the painter, "Laura," says in a video posted online, "If the government does not enact a citizens' assembly to tackle the climate and ecological crisis in the next one to two years, then we will be traveling to Ottawa to demand one." The waterbased paint was cleaned off the tusks and three people were arrested.

Oops

More than 40 high school students from the Barr Beacon School in Walsall, England, were stranded in the U.S. for four extra days after a ski trip to New Hampshire, the New York Post reported. It wasn't weather that shut down their travel, but the fact that the Kancamagus Lodge in Lincoln, New Hampshire, "accidentally" shredded 42 of their passports. Fortunately, head teacher Katie Hobbs, who was not on the trip, was on top of the situation and had the group move to New York City, where the British embassy was preparing emergency documents. In the meantime, the kids toured the city and took in the sights. "The silver lining is that they can have an amazing experience," said one parent. The lodge had no explanation for the destruction of the passports other than it happened by mistake.

Perspective

Hicham Argani, a police officer in Boxtel, Netherlands, was patrolling his neighborhood when he spotted an unidentified object in the sky, the Daily Star reported on March 1. He posted on Instagram about the "suspected 'spy balloon'" hovering over the Selissen district and followed it in his car. Finally, he decided to pull over to get a closer look at it -- which was when he realized the UFO was a blob of bird poo stuck to his windshield. Argani updated his post with his findings and an all-clear: "Boxtel is safe!"

Compelling Explanation

A Peruvian man, 26-year-old Julio Cesar Bermejo, is being detained in Puno after police discovered a mummified human in his possession, People reported. Officers approached three men drinking in a park on Feb. 25 and noticed the remains inside a cooler delivery bag. Bermejo told them that he had brought the mummy to the park to show his friends; it had been in his family for decades. He said he named the remains "Juanita" and it was his "spiritual girlfriend." However, officials say the mummy is actually that of a 45-year-old man, and they've turned it over to Peru's Ministry of Culture.

Repeat Offender

Rodolfo Santillan just can't stop burglarizing cars. On Feb. 21, he broke into a work van in Chicago while wearing an ankle bracelet for two pending car burglary cases, CWB Chicago reported. A passing police officer stopped and charged him with misdemeanor criminal trespass, and he left the police station at about 4:40 p.m. Two hours later, police were called to another van, where workers said they had found Santillan inside. He was also caught on video taking tools from a nearby car. Santillan was held without bail for violating bond in the previous cases.