Free fishing weekend in Michigan, ice climbing and more. Get outdoors!

• Saturday and Sunday are one of two annual free fishing weekends in Michigan
• Other big outdoors events this weekend include the UP 200 dog sled race, which is back after weather-cancelation last year, and ice climbing
• Ice climbs, fat tire bike races and more also are planned. It’s a busy weekend. Get out there 

No fishing license? No problem this weekend in Michigan, when anglers can dip lines for free on both inland and Great Lakes waters.

Saturday and Sunday are the first of two free fishing weekends this year (the other is June 7-8). While daily license rates of $10 don’t apply, all other fishing regulations remain in effect.

Check out the Michigan Department of Natural Resources website for other details, including normal license requirements. 

The opportunity is the first of several this weekend to try your luck at ice fishing, including lessons from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit. Cost is $5.

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There’s also a two-day, $50 hard water fishing class that starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at Mitchell State Park in Cadillac and includes lunch.

If you’d rather just watch, see how the pros do it at the World Ice Fishing Championship that runs through Sunday on Tamarack Lake, about an hour outside Grand Rapids.

Other great ways to get outdoors this weekend include:

The UP is what’s up

• Learn how to climb frozen water around Pictured Rocks at the Michigan Ice Fest in Munising. The festival, which runs now through Sunday, also includes presentations and social activities. Registration is required and online.   
• Cheer from the sidelines at three dog sled races. The UP 200, which starts Thursday in Marquette and ends up back there on Monday, is an Iditorad qualifier. There's also the Midnight Run (Thursday through Sunday) and the Jack Pine 30 on Saturday.
• Ride a fat bike in one of the Polar Roll races happening around the peninsula. The Mass Start races begin on Saturday in Ishpeming. The Polar Roll Ultra starts on Monday in Marquette. 
• Head to Gladstone on Saturday to see the thrill of motor vehicles racing on ice at night. 
• Go to St. Ignace Thursday through Sunday to cheer at the Labatt Blue Pond Hockey championship.

Get lit on a trail

• February is filled with opportunities to traverse illuminated trails at night. Snowshoe on lantern-lit trails in Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Paradise and Mitchell State Park in Cadillac, or cross-country ski candlelit groomed trails at Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area in Metamora. 
• Don’t forget to check out the Enchanted Trail at The Highlands resort in Harbor Springs before the snow-packed pathway decorated with twinkle lights goes dark on Feb. 22.

Get sappy 

• Find out how to tap a maple tree and make syrup at a Blandford Nature Center workshop in Grand Rapids on Saturday. 
• Or mark your calendar for upcoming maple syrup-making events at the Wint Nature Center in Clarkston on Feb. 22, multiple dates in March at the Johnson Nature Center in Bloomfield Hills or add a side of pancakes to one of the sugarbush workshops happening at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter in March.