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Category: On the Water

  • DNR Holding Winter Whitefish Guide Reporting Meeting

    In a few short weeks, anglers from Wisconsin and beyond will head to Green Bay to participate in a unique, world-class fishing opportunity. Before ice angling for whitefish begins, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will host a public informational meeting Dec. 19 at the Green Bay Public Library for Green Bay ice fishing guides […]

  • Fund for Lake Michigan Makes Pledge for Dam Removal

    In a major boost to improve the Milwaukee River, the Fund for Lake Michigan is pledging $250,000 toward the long-anticipated removal of the Estabrook Dam. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to regain miles of free-flowing river,” said Vicki Elkin, executive director of the Fund. “The dam removal aligns perfectly with our mission to improve water […]

  • EPA Reports There Are Too Many Nutrients in Nation’s Lakes

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the results of a national assessment showing that nutrient pollution is widespread in the nation’s lakes, with four in 10 lakes suffering from too much nitrogen and phosphorus. Excess nutrients can cause algae blooms, lower oxygen levels, degraded habitat for fish and other life, and lower water […]

  • Flame Retardants Are Polluting Great Lakes

    The International Joint Commission has made a series of recommendations to the governments of Canada and the United States with regard to the development of a strategy to address polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the Great Lakes. PBDEs have been widely used as flame retardants since the 1970s and have been deliberately added to a […]

  • Join Jingle, Jingle, Mix & Mingle Gala at Door County Maritime Museum

    On Dec. 11, 5:30–8:30 pm, the Door County Maritime Museum’s (DCMM) Merry-time Festival of Trees culminates with the popular Jingle, Jingle, Mix & Mingle Gala. Guests will enjoy live seasonal entertainment, heavy hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Thyme Cuisine, along with a live and silent auction and tree raffle drawing. The gala offers a fun evening at […]

  • Lighthouses – What is the Fascination?

      By Bob Desh A variety of towers have played essential rolls in the nation’s maritime history. Signal towers, watch towers and light towers in a wide variety of shapes and sizes once dotted America’s coastlines, including here on the Great Lakes. No matter their original purpose, these historic maritime towers continue to fascinate. The […]

  • Maritime Speaker Series Begins with the ‘Niagara’ Wreck

    The Door County Maritime Museum’s popular Maritime Speaker Series returns with four monthly programs beginning Dec. 8 and continuing until March 2, 2017. All programs begin at 7 pm. This year’s series begins with a program presented by former Door County Maritime Museum Executive Director Bob Desh that will not only serve to conclude the […]

  • Weather Wizard: Fish Karma

    To introduce someone to fishing is always an exciting undertaking. Sharing your passion and, in turn, having a shared adventure is one of life’s great pleasures. Last week, on a cool crisp fall morning, I had such an opportunity. I would be joining both a newbie, and a veteran angler. The instructions for the novice […]

  • An Icy Resolve for Whitefish

    On a bitterly cold morning last February, I strolled onto the ice off Frank E. Murphy Park in Egg Harbor to check out a couple of ice shanties that were about a quarter-mile offshore. I was hoping to find someone inside the shanties for a story we have been talking about doing for this publication […]

  • The Winter Whitefish Economy

    The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute has some great information on whitefish on its webpage, but it comes to an abrupt and ultimately unsatisfying end with this sole “Fun Fact:”  “There is a popular ice sport fishery for lake whitefish in Green Bay.” Hmmm. No links to anything to prove such a sweeping statement. […]

  • History and Future of the Lake Whitefish

    It was 1857 when a few New Englanders wanted a taste of lake whitefish. Carl Miller and Henry Brown went to Lake Ontario and took male and female whitefish out of fisherman’s nets. They impregnated an estimated one million eggs and brought them back to Lake Saltonstall in Connecticut. The next year, they brought 10 […]

  • Great Lakes/Great Books Announces 2017 Book List

    Write On, Door County is partnering with the Door County Maritime Museum to present Great Lakes/Great Books, a monthly book club featuring books with a Great Lakes focus. Books of fiction, nonfiction and poetry that have the Great Lakes as subject matter or as settings will be discussed with a facilitator from Write On. The […]

  • Weather Wizard: Lake Michigan Surfing

    With all modesty, I’ve posted many surfing pictures of myself on social media over the last few years. The picture posted from late October with a headline simply reading “Lake Michigan, October 26th,” seemed to garner an unusually high number of comments: “You’re crazy,” “Brrr…,” and my favorite, “So cool, pun intended, but why?” It’s […]

  • Cairns: Environmental Art or Vandalism?

    Editor’s note: Prompted by an Oct. 12 agenda item for a meeting of the Door County Airport and Parks Committee, contributors Paul Burton and Megan Lundahl share their perspectives on environmental art. The agenda item in question was the issue of building cairns at Cave Point County Park. Lundahl, a Door County supervisor, initially requested […]

  • Restoring Dunes Lake: Pilot Project Proves this Hidden Gem Desperately Needs Help

    All the way down the twisting Geisel Creek, a heavy machine droned incessantly through the cedar and aspen forest – sometimes amplified and sometimes muffled by that forest as our kayaks headed toward the source of the sound, a hydraulic dredging machine that for the last three weeks has been clearing out a two-acre section […]

  • Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. Len Villano.

    Northern Door Storytellers Guild Holds Twilight Tours, Tunes & Tales at Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

    As night descends over the Door Peninsula, the lamp shines at Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. As its beam brightens the night sky, the voices of past keepers whisper in the dark, echoing their stories. For two weekend evenings, the Door County Historical Society invites guests to delight in the tales of the keepers through story, song, […]

  • Many Tours, Cruises Offered during Autumn Door County Lighthouse Fest

    Reacting to the popularity of the Door County Lighthouse Festival each June and a positive response to last October’s first installment of an abbreviated Autumn Door County Lighthouse Festival, the Door County Maritime Museum (DCMM) is again offering some of its most popular tours Columbus Day weekend. Reservations are now being taken for these nautical […]

  • Heroes of the Storm: U.S. Life-Saving Stations Rescued Many People in 130-Year History

    Bob Desh retired as a captain after a 36-year career in the Coast Guard, then served as executive director of the Door County Maritime Museum. He is also a former executive director of the Foundation for Coast Guard History and presently serves on the Museum Exhibit Advisory Panel for the National Coast Guard Museum, scheduled […]

  • Door County Maritime Museum’s Tower Campaign Still Raising Funds for Construction

    The Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society has been actively engaged for nearly a year in a fundraising campaign to both construct a 10-story museum tower addition and expand the current facilities in Sturgeon Bay. The campaign has reached out to more than 2,000 individuals, corporations, foundations and small businesses. Nearly half of […]

  • Door County Maritime Museum Holds Autumn Lighthouse Fest with Tours

    Reacting to the popularity of the Door County Lighthouse Festival each June and a positive response to last October’s first installment of an abbreviated Autumn Door County Lighthouse Festival, the Door County Maritime Museum (DCMM) is again offering some of its most popular tours Columbus Day weekend. Reservations are now being taken for these nautical […]