Fishing In Gladstone Michigan-Salvaged Boat and Re-Introduction of Native Fish Species

 Fishing is a great past time and I have been getting into it more each year. Perhaps someday I might try my hand at small scale commercial fishing operation on the weekends (I hear they don't make any new commercial fishing licenses in Michigan but you can buy them from people retiring.) Ok...not like a serious commercial fisherman but just more along the lines of sitting on the back with ice tea working on my lap top in hopes something bites. I could think of worse place to have an office view than from an anchor. 

Ok...don't laugh....I'm stuck with this! It was a cheap dinghy I bought from a Chinese vender (Some of their products are good while others are bad but this one definitely didn't hold up to my expectations. I try and buy American but we sort of stop producing products in some markets.)

It worked well for a year and then It must have been on gravel or something because it had like 20 different holes all over one side. I thought, "Well, its junk now...but maybe I can play with it and see if I can salvage it." I'm looking for a boat anyway and well my buddy has a diving boat but hasn't upgraded yet to sell me his old one he promised 😖.

I tried everything from patches to rubber sealant and nothing worked. Then I gave it a last ditch effort and smeared caulk on it. Well....it was more like...waterproof silicone but it worked awesome. I patched the holes and now throw it in the back of my car just in case I want to go fish. 

It has three separate air pouches so with luck the silicone will hold. If not....well....the other two air compartments will help me limp home. I'm also a good swimmer. :)

Total cost to salvage with caulk $7....all the other junk I tried $70. 

Notice environmentally friendly electric trolling motor. FYI it lasts like 3-4 hours.

There are some ideas to re-introduce the Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus in the Manistee river which isn't too far away. I guess this fish hasn't been around since the 1930's. This is also why we need infrastructure development in the Great Lakes to protect against invasive species that whip out the local diversity in native fish. You might want to support politicians (either side) that help support wildlife development and infrastructure improvements (I think its best we choose politicians that understand these issues and are able to solve them effectively).  See Fish Distributions and Habitat Associations in Manistee River, Michigan, Tributaries: Implications for Arctic Grayling Restoration