Redneck Engineering Wins at the Sucker Festival

Omer — What’s the best way to celebrate the arrival of spring in Northern Michigan? I traveled to Omer, home of the Sucker Festival, to find out.

Omer is known as the smallest city in Michigan and it certainly lives up to the name. You might even miss the Sucker Festival if you don’t know where to look.

Turn right just after you cross over the river and follow the signs to the party. On the banks of the river itself are a collection of RVs, pop up tents, bouncy castles, and fishermen, all there hoping to catch suckers.

White suckers are not any fisherman’s favorite fish. If anything, they are seen as a nuisance, eating your bait when you’d rather catch steelhead, brown trout, or frankly anything else.

But they are predictable and consistent. Every year, they run out of Lake Huron up the Rifle River to spawn in huge numbers. And while they aren’t fish you fillet and fry, they taste great pickled or smoked.

The Sucker Festival is as much about hanging out and getting outside as it is about fishing. After a long cold winter, it’s nice to be able to walk around in the sun.

And even though it barely topped 50 degrees, I saw plenty of people wearing shorts, T-shirts, and muck boots. There were tables of people selling fishing gear, vintage beer signs, and handmade crocheted stuffed animals.

It felt more like a family campout with 300 strangers than it did a true festival, but that was part of the appeal. There were no lines, no overpriced drinks and no $30 hamburgers. Everyone was friendly, offering fishing advice, extra gear, and a kind word.

Usually fishing in such close quarters can cause fights, but I was shocked to see that everyone shared the riverbank without incident. Although there was a competition, no one took it too seriously. Everyone was there to have fun.

The best part of the Sucker Fest was the redneck engineering on display. Scattered along the riverbanks were a series of dip nets, giant nets attached via pulley to a wooden pole sticking out into the river.

Families built these and then operated them for months, pulling out suckers destined for the smoker. Next to the dip nets were handmade shacks, usually just a place out of the wind near a wood stove.

These fishermen even set up shoots attached to tanks filled with water so that they could keep the fish fresh. It was incredible the set ups people built just to catch “trash” fish.

The Omer Sucker Festival isn’t fancy. It isn’t refined. It’s not the place to find artisanal crafts or secondhand clothes.

But in spring, it’s about the most fun you can have on a weekend. Bring an RV and your fishing poles.

Sit back on a riverbank waiting for the suckers to bite or take a load off at camp. If you’re looking for a way to welcome in spring, there’s no better place than Omer.