Dave Richey OUTDOORS

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — It’s been said that the best efforts of Department of Natural Resources biologists often go unnoticed. Frequently, these people work out of the public eye, and their greatest skills are ignored by most sportsmen.

That’s one thing that cannot be said about Stan Lievense of Traverse City. This kind old gentleman of 92 years was a dear friend of mine for more than 45 year, and he went to sleep last Sunday afternoon and never woke up. Esophageal cancer and the results of an auto accident last year weakened him to the point where he couldn’t recover.

Stan, born in 1918, was a die-hard angler, lure inventor, and a longtime employee of the Michigan Department of Conservation and later, the Department of Natural Resources. He began work as a fisheries biologist in 1940, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and rejoined the DNR again after his military discharge.

One of Michigan’s most popular anglers and lure inventors died Sunday afternoon at 92.

Lievense was known as possibly the best fisherman within the DNR, but much of his work may have gone unnoticed except he had an uncanny ability for drawing media attention. One thing he was proud of was the way he handled the plantings of brook, brown, lake and rainbow trout in inland lakes around the state. He managed, through trial and error, to determine which “two-story” lakes were best qualified for supporting a warm-water fishery for bass, bluegills, perch and pike in the upper levels, and trout in the depths.

He and other anglers pioneered angling methods designed to coax deep-water trout into biting, and many of the lakes around northern Michigan benefitted from his trout plantings. A few of the lakes he worked on include Duck and Green lakes at Interlochen, Crystal Lake at Beulah, Higgins Lake near Roscommon, and countless others in both peninsulas.

Trout were not the only game fish he planted. He worked with hatcheries statewide, and made abundant use of their hatchery rearing policiies. At heart, he was the anglers’ best friend: he found areas through hard work and laying down boot leather, and decided what these other lakes needed, and in rolled the hatchery trucks.

Stan served the state DNR from several posting but the Traverse City area was his favorite location, and when he retired from the DNR in May, 1972, the salmon craze was underway. He soon took a position with the Michigan Travel Bureau in Lansing, but he didn’t spend much time in the office. He He became Michigan’s Fishing Ambassedeur. He began studying the waters from areas where he’d worked as a fisheries biolgist, and began leading outdoor writers to new hotspots that produced a wealth of free publicity.

We chased brown trout, lakers, bass, muskellunge, walleyes and other game fish in both Peninsulas. These trips were taken during all four seasons, and I’m reminded of a an ice fishing trip he organized for splake at Copper Harbor, as far north as you can go in this state. These game fish proved to be willing biters once me and another gent got into our shanty and watched the fish in the crystal clear water. We determined what anglers needed  to do, and once they did it right, many of them caught fish.

He planned media fishing trips, and all were exciting trips.

Lievense planned these trips to promote tourism, and he was amazingly successful.
And, as much as he liked to fish, one longtime habit defined this man. He loved to invent fishing lures, and one — the Jig-a-Do — was invented. Burke Lures of Traverse City bought manufacturing rights to the lure, and it became an instant hit. I’ve used it often on Grand Traverse Bay for smallmouth, and in works well in lakes and streams for bass.

Stan also invented the Stanley Streamer and several other lures, and to his dying day, he would keep trying to invent lures that worked as well as his first ones. After time, and large sales, Stan kept trying. His work with fish and fishing lures led to enshrinement in the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin.

Stan, beginning in the 1950s through the 1970s, was an outdoor writer. His articles appeared in Outdoor Life, Field & Stream and many others. Has was an animated platform speaker on fishing issues and methods, and wrote numerous state booklets that have been distributed to Michigan anglers.

His major commitment to fish history and angling techniques made him a favorite of outdoor writers. He  was always good for a story when everything else had fallen apart. and a quick phone call grabbed his attention. He would work with anyone, and if they paid attention to his directions, they would get one of the best stories of their career.

Color spectrum and water temperature fishing were two of his long suits.

His two specialties — color spectrum fishing and water temperature fishing — were bold new and innovative steps for most anglers. He and I worked together on the water temperature preferences, which he knew by heart, and his color spectrum theory has been proved many times over by every lure manufacturers that came to understand which lure colors produced best at certain depths.

Stan Lievense ran a long and wonderfully productive race, doing grand things in educating the public about how to catch more fish. He’s now fished around his last bend, and for those of us who knew and loved him well, we bid him a fond farewell. He was a one-of-a-kind person, and the likes of him are seldom found in this day and age. He will be missed.

And for the members of the Fisherman’s Luncheon, which occurs the first Monday of the month at the Traverse City Holiday Inn (except in July) at noon,we shall toast his memory. Good-bye, old friend, until we meet again up yonder, go with God.

Title: The Passing Of An Angling Legend.
Tags: ((Dave, Richey, Michigan, outdoors, Stan, Lievense, angler, biologist, lure, inventor, speaker, writer, old friend))

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