The Blue Door Off-Shore Challenge fishing tournament is Saturday, with a 5 a.m. shotgun start at the Kewaunee pier heads.

Each team can weigh their heaviest five fish for a shot at cash and prizes, and at least one of their fish must be a trout.

The weigh-in will be at Salmon Harbor Marina starting at 2 p.m. There will be burgers and brats for sale at the scales as well as beer and soda.

Door Prizes and payout will be held at the Blue Door, one hour after the final team weighs in. Follow along this weekend on the Blue Door’s Off-Shore Challenge Facebook page.

Meanwhile, tickets are available for the 35th annual Kewaunee/Door County Salmon Tournament running July 22-30. Each ticket-sales location will have an early-bird buyer prize drawn, along with one grand prize chosen from all K/D outlets.

Pick up your tickets — $25 for the entire event or $13 for a one-day chance — at Algoma BP, Kewaunee Marina or Lakeshore Lighthouse.

Fish update

Salmon and trout are moving closer in on Lake Michigan, with some catches just a mile or two off shore, but many anglers targeting the three- to six-mile range.

There was a very large die-off of round gobies in recent weeks. Haven’t heard anything solid, but in 2008, it was due to the VHS virus. A few alewives also are washing up, but that’s normal after the stress of spring spawning and what can be rapidly changing nearshore water temperatures.

Meanwhile, smallmouth bass season opens on the Ahnapee and Kewaunee rivers this weekend. Also, yellow perch can now be kept on the rivers and on Lake Michigan, with a five-fish daily bag (15 on Green Bay waters).

Goose banding

In late June, when adult Canada geese are moulting and flightless, DNR wildlife staff partner with members of the Green Bay Duck Hunters Association and other volunteers to corral and band birds.

This year’s efforts begin in just 10 days, starting in Kewaunee County on June 26, and wildlife biologist Joshua Martinez is looking for large groups of birds that they may not yet be aware of.

“Our goal for 2017 is 800 birds with a rough distribution of 300 in Kewaunee and Door counties and 500 in Brown and Outagamie counties,” Martinez said.

The annual effort is part of an ongoing study to determine the migration patterns of locally raised Canada geese.

If you know of any large groups of goslings that are in areas that aren’t annually trapped, you can reach Martinez by calling (920)-662-5139 or emailing [email protected].

Federal funds

Wisconsin is set to get more than $34 million in federal funding derived from excise taxes paid by the hunting, boating and angling industries on firearms, bows, ammunition, sportfishing tackle, some boat engines and small engine fuel.

The funding supports critical state environmental conservation and recreation projects and each state gets awarded an amount based on a formula that takes into account the size of the state, amount of water and number of licensed hunters and anglers.

Wisconsin is slated to get more than $11.3 million in Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration funds, trailing only Alaska, Texas, California, Florida and Minnesota, and just ahead of Michigan.

Wisconsin is scheduled to get more than $23 million in Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Funds, trailing only Alaska, Texas, California, Pennsylvania and Michigan, and just ahead of Minnesota, Tennessee, Georgia and Arizona.

DMAP video

A new 6-minute promotional video on the Deer Management Assistance Program is available to view.

The video touches on the importance of deer hunting traditions, land stewardship, passing on to generations, and habitat management and data collection.

Footage and interviews were conducted at workshops and a deer hunting camp last year. Check it out at http://bit.ly/2t37Ts6.

Kevin Naze is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be reached at [email protected] or (920) 883-9792.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin: Kewaunee salmon and trout tourney June 17