The Sporting Life

The difference between a profession and a passion is often a matter of money. Sally Downer made her living as a registered nurse, but if she had her way about it, she’d have spent her career raising English setters.

As a child, Andrea Ketchmark spent more time on the water than in the woods. She got her first taste of hiking at Wildwood Preserve, a crown jewel of Toledo, Ohio’s, Metroparks system, but it wasn’t until she moved to Colorado for college that she discovered a love for the trails themselves.

Fly fishing for trout is a dramatically visual sport. Watching a faux mayfly made of feathers and thread as it drifts downstream and disappears into a swirl on the surface is exactly what flips many an angler’s switch.

At 77, Karen Eppinger doesn’t fish as much as she used to, which used to be as much as just about anyone.

Terry McBurney is a collector. And a historian. And because of that, he also is a storyteller. For the last 16 years, McBurney has written a monthly column for Woods-N-Water News, an outdoors publication out of Imlay City that is largely hunting- and fishing-oriented.

There’s a kind of contentment in accepting a harsh climate, and it’s one of the things I think best sums up the Danish concept of hygge. Hygge can be loosely translated to mean a coziness or contentment and often includes warm touches like candles and comfort food, but it’s more than that. Hygge is the idea of being happy with what you have and finding the joy in simple things.

The way Bob Batchik tells it, it all started when he and his wife moved into a home with a wood-burning fireplace. He’d sit by the hearth carving wood shavings from kindling to get the fire going, and once it was burning well, he’d continue carving the sticks into small figures — often fish — that eventually went into the fire, too.

Solo kayak journey 1,000 miles along Lake Superior’s shore.

At modern-day dragon boat festivals, it’s common to paddle casually out on the water and scatter flowers on the surface to honor those whose...

Josh Greenberg, author and owner of Gates Au Sable Lodge, one of Michigan’s iconic trout fishing outfitters.