Youth reigns in Shanty Days Fishing Tournament

Algoma soon-to-be seventh grader Tru Sullivan landed the heaviest fish of the weekend in the Shanty Days Fishing Tournament, a 24.06-pound chinook.

Minnesota anglers Paulette Schrader and Dianna Mollenhauer were next at 23.88 and 22.33 pounds, followed by Roger Aho of Capt. K’s at 21.28. Fishing alone, Aho said it was the biggest salmon he’s ever landed solo.

Sam Brown of Capt. K’s had a pair of trophy browns, the largest at 15.54 pounds, and his dad, Doug, had the heaviest coho salmon at 11.59 pounds. Minnesota angler Seth Dilorenzo topped the rainbow category at 11.35 pounds.

In the kids shore/small boat category, eight-year-old Amya Lukes of Algoma won the bullhead (1.40), perch (0.77) and pumpkinseed categories. Ryan VanErt had a 6.25-pound pike, Estella Marrero a 0.51 warmouth, Gwen Preiss a 0.23 rock bass and Sam Wiese a 10-inch, 0.86 bluegill.

Walk for lakes

We’ve seen rowers, paddlers and sailboat owners cruising our Lake Michigan shoreline to raise awareness for Great Lakes causes.

Next weekend, Milwaukee County Park Department employees Alyssa Armbruster and Julia Robson are beginning a 332-mile hike from Milwaukee to the shores of Lake Superior to highlight the lakes as valuable natural resources and to raise awareness for the importance of conserving fresh water.

Calling it the Walk to Sustain Our Great Lakes, the two young women have a Facebook page and have reached out to farmers and commercial fishermen to get their take on local issues.

A documentary will be produced with hopes that it will eventually be shown in schools to educate kids about the importance of healthy lakes.

You can learn more or follow along at www.facebook.com/WSOGL.

Recreation meeting

A public open house meeting to gather information on outdoor recreation opportunities and needs will be held from 4-7 p.m. Aug. 22 at Stone Harbor Resort and Conference Center in Sturgeon Bay.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources staff want help identifying future outdoor recreation opportunities in northeastern Wisconsin, especially on state properties. Staff will provide a brief project overview at 4:30 and 6 p.m.

To learn more about this process, visit dnr.wi.gov/topic/Lands/RecAnalysis.

3D archery

The Kewaunee Trap Club’s Annual 3D Archery Shoot will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 26 and 27.

This year’s shoot will consist of two 25-target courses. All of the targets will be Rinehart 3D targets, with shooting brackets for abilities ranging from beginner through advanced.

Food and beverages will be available at the club, located about seven miles west of Kewaunee at E 3075 County F. Watch for signs.

For more information, call Dennis at 920-255-3500, check out “Kewaunee 3D Archery” on Facebook or visit www.kewauneetrapclub.com.

Boating facts

Water-based recreation is huge in Wisconsin and plays a pivotal role in the economies of many cities here.

It’s not just fishing, either. Pleasure boating has been gaining in popularity for years, and recent data suggests that more than one in three Americans went boating in 2016.

The Recreational Boating Participation Study estimated that about 142 million individuals went boating, involving about 36 percent of U.S. households.

Half of those were children under 18, and an estimated 17 million individuals were first-time participants.

The mean age of the first fishing experience was 10; 90 percent of anglers and 94 percent of active anglers had their first fishing experience before age 18.

Almost all active boaters say they spend time with friends or family while boating (95 percent). Enjoying nature (94 percent) and relaxing (93 percent) are also nearly universal boating experiences.

Kevin Naze is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be reached by emailing wildtimes@wizunwired.net or calling 920-883-9792.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin: Youth reigns in Shanty Days Fishing Tournament