A ruffed grouse forages in northern Dickinson County. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo, flie)

IRON MOUNTAIN — A new episode of the Wildtalk Podcast produced by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources focuses on Grouse Enhanced Management Sites, or GEMS, in the Upper Peninsula.

GEMS are bird hunting locations that offer walking trails. Each site also has a parking lot with area information posted.

GEMS somewhat nearby include the Gold Mine about 10 miles north of Iron River; the Ralph site about 1.3 miles west of Ralph; Blue Bill Creek about 20 miles southwest of Watersmeet; the Bill Rollo Memorial about 7 miles south of Gwinn; the Cedar River site about 4.5 miles northwest of Cedar River; and Garden Grade, about 5 miles northeast of Garden.

Tom Seablom, western U.P. district forest manager for the DNR’s Forest Resources Division is one of the podcast guests. He has worked in both Iron and Dickinson counties. Among other topics, Seablom weighs in on how forest management can be tailored to “the wings of thunder.”

The podcast site is at https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/managing-resources/wildlife/wildtalk-podcast.

A map and listing of the state’s 19 GEMS sites is at https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/Publications/pdfs/ArcGISOnline/interactiveMaps/gems/.

Registration is open for the DNR’s Becoming an Outdoors-Woman fall weekend workshop, which is set for Oct. 11-13 in Marquette County. Class information and registration materials are available online at Michigan.gov/BOW.

BOW participants stay and take their classes at the Bay Cliff Health Camp, a universally accessible facility overlooking Lake Superior in Big Bay.

A limited number of partial BOW scholarships are available to help low-income participants with the cost of registration. The scholarship application deadline is Sept. 4.

The DNR reported this Upper Peninsula activity:

Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers in Keweenaw Bay and Huron Bay had most of their success during trolling trips in the last week. Anglers found lake trout all through the water column but most recently near the bottom. Most fish were caught with spoons during those trolling trips. Some anglers also found luck while jigging for lake trout. Jigging anglers were using cut bait for most of their success.

Traverse Bay/South Portage Entry Canal: Anglers were mostly fishing for lake trout and salmon. Some anglers had success catching salmon, however not many were able to find them. During the successful trips, anglers were fishing with spoons and flies and were fishing mostly in the lower half of the water column. Those targeting lake trout found luck trolling and jigging. Those jigging were mostly using jigging spoons and cut bait while those trolling mostly used spoons.

Marquette: Anglers reported catching good numbers of lake trout when jigging or trolling around White Rocks and out towards Granite Island this week. There were reports of a few Chinook and coho salmon caught around Granite Rock as well. Lake trout were still being caught consistently with the most successful boats making their way out towards the Clay Banks west of Granite Rock. Watermelon along with green and orange Spin-n-Glos or green/silver flasher fly presentations all worked well for lake trout. Chartreuse and silver jigs were hot around the northeast side of White Rocks especially with a little cut bait. Trolling between White Rocks towards Granite Rock or Clay Banks in 130 to 160 feet of water was a popular combination for success. The steelhead were caught on a Dancing Anchovy Moonshine UV and Bloody Nose.

Au Train: Lake trout were still being caught by anglers jigging in approximately 160 feet of water north to northeast of Au Train Island, especially with cut bait. Most anglers trolling reported lake trout being caught when trolling in 130 to 180 feet of water north to northwest of the Au Train Island in the flats or out towards the Laughing White Fish Clay Banks. Wonder bread, multicolored glow spoons or green/silver flasher flies were good color combinations. A little bit of cut bait jigging or trolling with orange or chartreuse cowbells seemed to do very well at deeper depths.

Ontonagon River: Fishing efforts on the river were good over the past week. Angler reports show that walleye were caught in fair numbers throughout the day, with early morning hours yielding the best results. Occasional catches of rock bass were also reported. Anglers leaned towards jigging, rather than trolling, as their preferred method.

Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay: Lake trout were reportedly being caught in fair numbers, while the occasional coho salmon was also caught. Anglers had the most success in finding these fish when trolling deeper waters.

Black River Harbor: Reports show that common catches consisted of lake trout in low numbers. Anglers had the most success when trolling in deeper waters.

Les Cheneaux Islands: Anglers in Hessel were actively targeting perch in the marina and within the channels.

DeTour: Anglers were trolling in the flats and around the lighthouse mostly picking up good numbers of pink salmon and lake trout, with a few Chinook and Atlantic salmon mixed in.

St. Ignace: Boat anglers caught lake trout and the occasional Chinook salmon off the west side of the Grand Hotel off Mackinac Island.