Indian Country Sports

Steve and Anne Koski have developed their harborfront outdoors store into destination. It deals with archery, hunting, fishing, canoes, kayaks, skating, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. Skate sharpening and gun and bow setup are among the services provided.
Indian Country Sports is an excellent place to stop for detailed information about the area's outdoor recreation opportunities, plus licenses, bait, nautical charts, plat books — everything but USGS maps. Visit indiancountrysports.com for area reference maps, details about gear and equipment offered, and fishing notes about area lakes and bays. The site has many links to other websites on weather, area attractions, and Great Lakes shipwreck and maritime subjects.

Lake trout fishing is a specialty. If it's Saturday and the tourism office is closed, this is also the place for info on reaching the high point at Mount Arvon, on cross-country skiing on the Pinery Lakes Trails, and on scenic highlights on the improved Big Bay Road through the rugged highlands of Huron Mountains and the Yellow Dog Plains. Practical Stormy Kromer hats are on hand.

In building their current store with friends' help, the Koskis also erected a landmark for the L'Anse harbor—a full-scale, working lighthouse. The tower and beacon rise 44 feet above street level. The Coast Guard recognizes the lighthouse (lat. N 46-45.28, lon. W 88-27.23) as a private aid to navigation. The light, visible for five miles, is recognized by its pattern of one second on, 2 1/2 seconds off.

Steve, an avid hunter, fisherman, and outdoorsman, is the son of one of the area's last commercial fishing families. He grew up rooted to the area, especially the Big Lake. As a marketing major at Northern Michigan University, he thought about L'Anse's overlooked waterfront and downtown. It had been hurt by the decline of commercial fishing, by its location a half mile from highway traffic, and by competition from Houghton's nearby shopping. As motorists passed the Holiday gas station, he felt, they wondered where L'Anse really was anyway.

After college, Steve bought the waterfront sporting goods store where he had worked, and turned down an opportunity to relocate on the highway. He became involved in local politics, and set about making the store and L'Anse's waterfront into attractions for local people and visitors, too.

17 S. Front at Baraga, at the harbor and a block west of Broad Street (the street that leads down the hill from U.S. 41 to downtown L'Anse). (906) 524-6518. Open year-round. Mon-Sat 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fri to 6. Wheelchair accessible.

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