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Lake Michigan - Racine WisconsinMike Collins, commonly known on the Lake as "Graybeard", of Stoughton, WI , is this years winner of the 1997 Salmon-a-rama and officially claimed the $25,000 savings bond that goes to the person who caught the largest fish during this nine day open Lake Michigan fishing tournament.
Collins wasn't sure if he had won the tournament until the weigh-in station closed at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 20th. Rumors of a 39.8 lb Chinook caught between Milwaukee and Port Washington were abound. He wouldn't have been so concerned, but there were two fishers attending the derby who had witnessed the catch. Fortunately for Collins the angler did not hold a Salmon-a-rama ticket and never brought the fish to be weighed in. One SAR Committee member said, "anglers are foolish not to make the $21.00 investment if they plan on fishing Lake Michigan during this nine day annual event". Collins's 37lb 4 ounce Lake trout is the largest fish registered to date during the history of Salmon-a-rama. The fish was caught 5.2 miles off of Racine, Wisconsin fishing on the "hills", a popular Racine fishing area. Chris Sturm-21.88 Chinook salmon - The Youth division is overall big fish.  Click on the photo for a larger view of Chris's winning catch.
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Mike Collins holding his 37lb 4 ounce Lake Trout to win 1997 Salmon-a-rama
The fish was caught during the "two in a boat" side contest as part of the tournament, "we had three fish on at the same time, said Graybeard, I guess the fish gods were with me because it was my turn to grab the rod". Collins had no idea the fish was the derby winner, as he played the big fish and then had to put the rod back in its holder as he to help his partner boat another trout.
The Lake trout put up a 20 minute fight. It was caught on a homemade fly , "a friend of mine, had showed me a fly called the "Predator" which he had caught 14 fish on the day before, said Collins," so I went home and tied a copy of it the night before the tournament." Ironically Collins friend witnessed the catch as he fished in his boat right next to him." I owe it all to Marc," he said, "he told me where to fish and what to use."
Salmon-a-rama is in it's 23rd year and attracted over 5,000 anglers from twenty five states and three foreign countries.
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A lake sturgeon tagged in Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin 19 years ago traveled over 500 miles before being captured recently in a commercial fishing net on Lake Erie.
The Commercial crew found the 5 ft. long sturgeon in one of their trap nets last month. They landed the sturgeon in Locust Point Reef Complex, Ottawa County, in 10 feet of water. After taking a photograph and noting information on a metal tag attached to the dorsal fin, they released the fish unharmed.
Wisconsin DNR records revealed the sturgeon was intially captured and tagged in Lake Winnebago in October of 1978. The sturgeon was recaptured by a commercial fisherman in Saginaw Bay, Michigan in November of 1994. It then measured 57.5 inches in length and weighed 45.8 pounds.
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Tracing the sturgeon's route shows it traveled from Lake Winnebago in Central Wisconsin, down the Fox River system, where it would have had to navigate 14 dams and locks into Green Bay on Lake Michigan. The Fish continued through the Straits of Mackinac to Lake Huron, down the east coast of the Lower Peninsula and into Saginaw Bay, where it was recaptured in 1994. It then moved through the St. Clair River, into Lake St. Clair, and down the Detroit River into western Lake Erie. The lake sturgeon is an Ohio endangered species and if caught should be returned to the water unharmed as soon as possible. |
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