Bay de Noc Angler/Young Angler

[The Bait Shop Guy]

The Bay de Noc Great Lakes Sports Fishermen is proud to host the first annual Angler/Young Angler (AYA) fishing tournament on Saturday, June 12th.

Entry fee is $150. It is limited to 50 teams consisting of one adult, and two young anglers 17 years or younger. Teams may weigh up to 5 walleyes, or up to 3 fish of any other species.

$7000 in prizes, including a new Lund Boat, motor, and trailer. First place team will also receive an invitation to the AYA championship on Lake of the Woods near Kenora, Ontario.

Entry forms are available at local baitshops, or can be downloaded from http://baydenocayatournament.com

More information on the AYA available at http://www.angleryoungangler.ca

Good luck to all the young anglers!:D


The following day, (Sunday, June 13th,) the BDNGLSF will be hosting it's annual Early Bird walleye tournament on Little Bay de Noc. Entry fee is $125 per 2-man team. Both must be current members of the BDNGLSF. Launch will be out of the Escanaba North Shore Boat Launch. Fishing will be from 7am to 4:30pm. Entry forms are available at local baitshops. Contact tournament director Neil Armatti if you have any questions (906) 250-4752.

[RudyG]

Glad to see this being cosponsered by BDNGLSF. I know they have done this on Lake Gogebic and really had good success with it. Good Times.

[The Bait Shop Guy]

They ended up with 18 teams competing in the inaugural Bay de Noc AYA tourney. After a windy start to the morning, things mellowed out, and the kids ended up with a great day to be on the water. All kinds of fish were brought in. Anything from gobys under 2 inches, to carp over 20 pounds! Smallmouth, pike, sheephead, salmon, and of course, walleyes, rounded out the mix. It was an international event, with a couple of the young fishermen being from Nova Scotia, Canada, and a foreign exchange student from Japan.

The third place team was lead by Mike Furmanski, fishing with his nephews from Canada. They had 24 pounds of fish, including the biggest walleye of the day (over 9 pounds.)

Second place was lead by Shawn Porath, fishing with his son and one of his friends. They had 35.52 pounds, anchored with a 20.35 pound carp that was the biggest fish of the tournament.

First place went to Jim McNeil, with his son and friend. They made the long run out to the islands and had a great day of salmon fishing. Their three largest salmon weighed in at 43.25 pounds, and was enough to win the boat and the invitation to fish the AYA championship on Lake of the Woods. Way to go guys!

All in all, a pretty good turnout for a first time event. I can only see it getting bigger in the coming years. Congrats to Lynn Hanisko, and all those who donated their time and money to put this event on.

I wasn't able to get any pictures as I was too busy running fish from the weigh station to the release pen. If you were there and took some pics, or have a story to share, please post them.