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The BackCast Podcast is a seasonal production of the Lovells Township Historical Society - home to Michigan’s only trout fishing museum. If you like rivers, fly fishing, fun stories and/or a little history; then join us as we converse with folks on all things trout fishing!
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 01, 2022
Tuesday Nov 01, 2022
For this episode; Richard and I have the pleasure of sitting down with Greg Corace. Greg is a forestry and wildlife ecologist. Greg began working at the Alpena-Montmorency Conservation District in 2019. Greg has a Bachelor's of Science (Zoology) and a Master's of Science (Biology) from Northern Michigan University and a Ph.D. (Forest Science) from Michigan Technological University. Greg was also a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana. Over the last 20+ years, Greg has conducted forest planning, applied research, management, and inventory and monitoring on public and private lands in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For more information on Greg and his past work, visit his ResearchGate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Greg_Corace You may also view some of Greg’s “non-academic articles here: http://www.alpenamontcd.org/articles-of-interest/germination-and-soil-scarification
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Monday Oct 24, 2022
This week, Richard & I are joined by Kristin Thomas. Kristin is an aquatic biologist with Michigan TU. Among a variety of impressive projects; Kristin has most recently been involved with the placement of large woody debris (big trees carefully placed in the river by a helicopter). This map link shows the project area.
Friday Oct 14, 2022
Friday Oct 14, 2022
This week, John and Richard sit down with expert gunsmith and gun fitter Dell Whitman.
Dell is an upland bird hunting enthusiast, focusing mainly on grouse and woodcock, while also pursuing western and southwestern upland birds. He trains his own bird dogs and owns both flushing and pointing dogs, including a French Brittany and a field-bred English Cocker Spaniel. Dell is an Orvis pro staff member and a technical writer for Shooting Sportsman magazine. Dell enjoys camping, fishing, gardening, beekeeping and shooting 28 GA and 410 GA shotguns.
Want to learn more about Dell – search on… D. C. Whitman Custom Gunsmithing, 8455 Maple City Hwy., Lake Ann, MI 49650. Dell does have a Facebook presence, but not a dedicated website.
Friday Oct 07, 2022
Friday Oct 07, 2022
Our guests this week are Jon Chizmadia and Andy Pokorski. Jon and Andy are two of the leaders involved with running the Michigan TU Youth Camp. The camp is an amazing opportunity for young people to be exposed to all aspects of fly fishing and cold water conservation. Amazingly, there are times when some of these spots go open.
Jon has offered his TU chapter email address so that interested parties (either as participants or volunteers) may contact him directly. jonchizmadia@kvctu.org
We hope you’ll find this conversation as enjoyable and inspiring as we did. Learn more about the camp at this link: https://www.kvctu.org/2022/01/15/2022-michigan-youth-conservation-trout-camp/
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Greetings everyone. While our museum season has closed for regular Saturday hours; we have about six more guests before The BackCast Podcast goes into hibernation. We’re not going to show all of our cards, but suffice it to say we’ll be finishing in a very strong way.
Our guest, this week, is Ethan Berger. Ethan is the owner/operator of Wing and Hook. I’ll let Ethan best describe his perspective; “Though I thoroughly enjoy a day on the water by myself or in the woods walking behind my dogs, I have a love for getting other people in the outdoors and being able to share my passion with them. Whether it's floating down one of the many rivers Northern Michigan has to offer or walking into a cover in search of upland birds, I love to see the excitement people show when they hook into a beautiful fish or get to experience a flush of a grouse or woodcock right from under their nose.”
Richard and I had a great time chatting with Ethan and we hope you’ll enjoy listening.
Friday Sep 16, 2022
Friday Sep 16, 2022
Our guest this week is Robert Thompson, or RT. We’ve had the pleasure of knowing RT for many years and we’re very excited to share this conversation with you. RT is not only an angler, but also an exceptional film maker. The title that many in the Au Sable watershed are familiar with is a film called The River. The film was shown in Grayling, at the Rialto, the night before Opener. RT has also made some other great films including Spey Daze, The Brothers Brown, Summers (a very neat film about Robert Summers and more. You may visit RT’s site to learn how you can view these amazing works! You may also rent titles on his Vimeo site.
Thank you to everyone that stopped by last week. We exceeded our funding goal and even got a little more, so Thank You! We have a couple of pieces left which will be available this weekend and next, then they’ll be gone. So, if you still have a desire to help fund future year’s scholarships; we’ll appreciate the help. We did have a couple of supporters from out of town ask if we would be posting any “leftovers” on line. We will, it won’t be everything, but a few nice pieces for your consideration. Those will go up on Sunday (18th) or Monday (19th). It’s kind of an experiment, so please bear with us. Finally, we’ll close for the season on Saturday Oct 1st.
Friday Sep 09, 2022
Friday Sep 09, 2022
When working at the museum; the most frequent topic we get questions on is when and where will the Grayling be re-introduced? To that end; Richard and I are delighted to sit down with Tom and Nicole Watson. Nicole’s doctorate thesis surrounds the reintroduction efforts in Michigan. While you won’t get specific current status; you will get a real feel for the logistics behind this important initiative! Nicole has done a whole bunch in a short time – her contributions to outdoor enjoyment go way beyond just fishing or hunting. She has led groups of women in their quest to become outdoors women – super cool! If you have a hankering to move to learn more of the far north this one may be of particular interest!
No need to mark your calendars now – just come on out. From 10a until 3pm; LTHS will host an art sale at the Township Complex - Saturday September 10th. The proceeds of this sake will be used to fund our annual scholarship to Kirtland College. We have some great pieces that we are certain you'll want to take home!
Friday Sep 02, 2022
Friday Sep 02, 2022
On this episode of the BackCast Podcast, John & Richard sit down for a great conversation with Vic Johnson. Vic has a number of books to his credit, including Eight Points of Light, Fiberglass Fly Rods the Evolution of the Modern Fly Rod From Bamboo to Graphite, Fenwick: Fenwick's History and Rods, Including the Development of the First Graphite Rod and others.
John Randolph (Editor Emeritus of Fly Fisherman Magazine) has offered this in praise of Vic’s work, “…reading of your history of fly lines, birth and death of Fenwick, fly rods, and more. Your research on all these subjects is the best ever written on the broad histories of our sport. I wish I had read them 30 years ago when I began my Editor/Publisher work at Fly Fisherman magazine. No one has done a better job in this area of research/writing on our sport.”
We agree and we’re certain you’ll enjoy all the various aspects of this special conversation!
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend our Art Sale on September the 10th. The proceeds will provide this year's funding for our scholarships. We have some amazing pieces that we are certain you'll want to take home!
Friday Aug 26, 2022
Friday Aug 26, 2022
We have a special guest for you this week. John and Richard sit down for a chat with Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto. Cameron, through his website, has become the go to source for modern fiberglass information, reviews and products. He’s always available for consultation and as you’ll hear; he is a true fiberglass evangelist. You can learn more about Cameron and discover the buzz around modern glass by visting his site. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did!
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend our Art Sale on September the 10th. The proceeds will provide this year's funding for our scholarships. We have some amazing pieces that we are certain you'll want to take home!
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
This week John and Richard sit down with Tom and Alexis Brodhead of 406 Fly Lines in Livingston, MT. Tom and Alexis give us a little insight as to how the area is recovering from the Spring floods. We also hit on current fishing conditions along with a couple of their new product offerings. If you’re looking for a classic fly line for your classic rod – visit their website https://406flylines.com