GB, Minnesota anglers combine to win tourney

Two couples from Green Bay and Minnesota paired up to win the Kewaunee Offshore Challenge fishing contest Sunday.

John Meyer and Ann Smith of Lake Elmo, Minn., and Mark Lee and Heather Last of Green Bay, hopped aboard John’s 27-foot Sportcraft Sport Fisherman and proceeded to limit out Sunday — 20 salmon and trout — despite a 5 a.m. start and spotty action for most.

A year earlier, they placed fourth fishing from Mark’s boat. The couples dock near each other in the Kewaunee Marina.

The team was allowed to weigh its 10 biggest fish and totaled 124.95 pounds. The catch included the day’s big Chinook, a 23.80-pounder, plus a 22.6-pounder.

Twenty-nine teams entered. Sixteen of them didn’t catch enough weight to want to go to the official scale. Of the 13 remaining teams, three managed to bring in 10 fish.

The winners said it was their best day of the year. Their tournament limit included eight “kings,” a big lake trout and a large coho salmon. They said they used J-Plugs, spoons and flies about two to three miles off shore.

Meanwhile, cold water near shore allowed pier anglers to score last weekend at both Algoma and Kewaunee. The best time to cast glow spoons, alewives or spawn was from midnight to 5 a.m.

The water then warmed from heavy rains before turning over again at midweek, and fish are likely to be scattered at multiple levels this weekend.

Comment on ‘kings’

Even though the public meetings are over, there’s still time to give your opinion on a multi-state plan to reduce Chinook salmon stocking by more than 60 percent next year.

You can add your input — and see some of the presentations and interaction at one of the meetings — online from this site: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/fishing/lakemichigan/LakeMichiganSalmonandTroutMeetings.html.

The direct email link to comment is dnrlakemichiganplan@wisconsin.gov.

Salmon-A-Rama

A 30.4-pound brown trout caught Wednesday was leading the lakewide Salmon-A-Rama fishing tournament earlier this week. The nine-day event ends Sunday. Local ticket outlets and weigh-in sites are at Accurate Marine and Howie’s Tackle.

Top “king” as of midweek was a 28-pounder, though two 29-1/2s were weighed at Howie’s over the weekend (no tourney tickets). A 27-pound lake trout was in the fourth spot in the Salmon-A-Rama.

K/D contest

Algoma BP, Lakeshore Lighthouse and the Kewaunee Marina have tickets and merchandise for the 34th annual Kewaunee/Door County Salmon Tournament.

This year’s top early-bird prize is a GoPro camera; get your tickets by Sunday night to be entered in the drawing. Sales will continue right through the nine-day contest, which begins July 23.

Bike rental

Algoma has bike rentals available at “The Porch” store at Stadium Diner, 205 Navarino Street. Whether used in town, or on the Ahnapee State Trail, they’re perfect for visitors to explore the area.

Bikes are available to rent at $6 per hour, $20 for four hours or $36 for eight hours. There are many local souvenirs available in the store.

Deadline near

Aug. 1 is the deadline to apply for fall wild turkey tags, upriver Winnebago system sturgeon spearing lottery and bobcat, fisher and otter permits.

Kevin Naze is a freelance outdoors writer. Email him at wildtimes@wizunwired.net.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: GB, Minnesota anglers combine to win tourney