CUPSFA History
Humble
Beginnings
Our first organizational meeting was held at the Hiawathaland
Snowmobiler's clubhouse in 1989. This meeting was organized by Ron Laitinen and others who were tired of paying dues to a downstate organization
that did not support our efforts to acquire fish for Lake
Superior.
That organizational meeting created a group of
fisherpersons that would promote the enhancement of the watershed and fishery in general and would not be dedicated to any one facet
of sport fishing.
Since that meeting , CUPSFA
has grown to be a 200+ member fishing organization with ties to all forms of
fishing enhancement within the Central Upper Peninsula. We also have a group of members in the
Munising area that have their own project meetings and raise funds for their
own projects. Our association is
incorporated and is an associate member of the Michigan United Conservation
Clubs (MUCC).
What We Do
The association has worked on many projects including
cleaning the lower Carp River of unwanted debris and working to reroute the
river back into it’s main channel from the Ski Hill to
Lake Superior.
We were also involved in making a handicap accessible site at Mattson's Lower Harbor
Park. Our club also promotes the enhancement of
opportunity for fishing and boating access.
Since inception, we have been involved with other
local organizational committees. We have
attended meetings in Marquette for the
development of a small boat launch at Little Presque Isle and are involved with
the Deer Lake area of concern (AOC) in
Ishpeming. We have also represented the
wishes of over five hundred fisherpersons living in the Upper Peninsula at the Deer Lake
access meeting in Alger county.
We have worked together with the Department of Natural
Resources to enhance the handicap accessible fishing opportunities within our area. The
association has worked hard to acquire funding which included substantial
donations from the Kiwanis and MGH. Our
club helped to fund the handicap sites built at the Dead
River and Harlow Lake,
while DNR personal acquired the permits and designed and built the
projects. We are always looking for more sites and
opportunities to enhance fishing access for the physically challenged.
Over the years, we have had numerous donations in the
form of money and labor. Wilderness Sports in Ishpeming worked with us to fund
fish plants for Lake
Angeline. We also worked with the DNR to enhance the
food base by planting smelt in Lake
Angeline. Cleveland Cliffs Inc. has also donated money
and labor for club projects.
We are also very grateful to Lindberg and Sons for the
donation of time and equipment to dredge the area adjacent to the handicap
accessible fishing site at the Chocolay River. This site would have probably never gotten
the needed attention if someone like Lindberg and Sons hadn’t come forward on
this project. The club paid for the
removal of all debris. Restoration work adjacent to the affected area was done
by club members. A second dredging was
done by the Army Reserves during the following year and the DNR came in and
stabilized the bank after the dredging.
At that time the club laid topsoil and reseeded the area of
disruption. The club also paid for
concrete pads for the stabilization. We now try to clean the area from time to
time.
We have also tried to hold a seminar for educational
purposes at least once every two years for walleye fisherpersons. We also have had one or two seminars on fly
fishing and one on European style panfishing. We hold in-house (for members only) seminars
on occasion with presentations by members.
We hold an annual fish boil/fund-raiser at the
Negaunee Elks Lodge every summer during Pioneer Days. We are grateful for the donations from
Joseph’s Super Value, Jim’s Jubilee, Buck's Restaurant and Wilderness
Sports.
We have worked with the DNR to remove unwanted species
(suckers) from Teal
Lake on two occasions. We
have also worked with the Lake Michigamme Landowners Association and DNR
in transporting walleyes for the enhancement of Lake Michigamme.
We have on an annual basis taken the lead in working with the DNR and other
local organizations to bring about the free fishing weekend Kid's Fishing Day.
Our Hope for the
Future
Donations of time and money from businesses, local
fishing organizations, State and Federal
Departments, and fisherpersons like yourself,
keep the fishery and water resources of Michigan
alive for our sons and daughters and the future generations of fisherpersons. Only
by working together and with everyone’s dedication, can we hope for a future fishery in Michigan. We view ourselves as team players in an
effort to enhance fishing opportunities within the Central Upper Peninsula for
the present and for the future.