A retired Alpena Public Schools teacher who taught for 33 years, Steve Speaks is been exploring the wilds of Northern Michigan since first visiting the area from his native central Ohio in the late 1950’s.

As soon as the opportunity presented itself, Steve and his wife Ann moved to Northern Michigan in 1960 and have called the area home ever since. They raised their five children—Ray, Scott, Stephanie, Heidi, and Sarah—here and enjoy showing their eleven grandchildren (number 12 is on the way in February, 2009) the wonder that Northern Michigan has to offer. Steve and Ann have lived in the same house for their entire tenure in the area and built a cottage in the early 1980’s on Presque Isle Point as their retreat from the “city life”.

For Steve, fishing on Lake Huron occupies most of the spring through fall, with occasional fly-fishing jaunts on the upper reaches of the Thunder Bay River and the main stream of the Ausable River, upstream of Mio.

Winters usually find Steve ice fishing on Grand Lake with trips to the Fletcher Floodwater. This past year, Steve fished Lakes Erie, Huron, and the Wisconsin side of Michigan, not to mention the Tanneycomo Trailwaters near Branson, Missouri and the White River in Arkansas.

Steve says, “It’s a tough life, but somebody has to do it.”

Steve’s favorite kind of fishing is fly-fishing, but he spends most of his time trolling for Brown Trout and King Salmon. His favorite hunting is spring turkey hunting because the turkeys talk back, and as a teacher for thirty-five years, he got used to that!

Steve’s plans for the future are to avoid work, fish as much as possible, and enjoy his grandchildren.

Besides hunting and fishing, his hobbies include photography, camping, building, and travel. (Steve and Ann have visited 47 states, with Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama yet to go.)

Steve has worked as True North Radio Network’s Outdoors Reporter since 1976 and we couldn’t imagine life at the station without him and his canine sidekick, Sadie.