Les Cheneaux Slammin' Salmon Derby Aug. 19

The Fifth Annual Islander Bar Slammin' Salmon Derby is this Saturday, August 19, and offers $3,000 in prizes to anglers who catch the largest fish. This is the only salmon fishing tournament offered in the Les Cheneaux Islands this year. The tournament committee will pay seven places for the top seven fish caught and will award more money for each place than in previous years. A $1,000 cash prize will be awarded to the angler who catches the biggest fish.

The tournament is only one day, starting at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, and ending at 4 p.m. An awards ceremony will follow the end of the tournament at the Islander Bar on Pickford Avenue in Hessel.

The derby is open to Chinook or King salmon only, with prizes for the seven largest fish and the largest combined weight recorded by a fishing boat.

Tournament coordinator Bill Mudloff of Cedarville said the committee wanted to offer prizes to more people who place in the tournament, so they dropped the mystery weight prize in favor of adding two more places this year.

Mr. Mudloff said fishing has been great in the Les Cheneaux Islands and Straits of Mackinac, with anglers catching salmon at the west and east entrances to the Les Cheneaux Islands, at the yacht entrance between Government and Boot islands, and near Mackinac Island off Mission Point.

"Mackinac Island has been very productive for fishermen," he said.

Elsewhere, on the outside of the Les Cheneaux Islands, Mr. Mudloff received a report of an angler catching an 18-pound salmon 60 feet down, in 120 feet of water.

He said he and other local anglers have been marking bait fish in the deep water around the islands, so there appears to be an ample food source for the salmon, compared to the previous two years, when alewives virtually disappeared from the screens of fish finders.

Anglers are also catching many lake trout, while inside the islands people are catching a lot of pan fish like yellow perch and sunfish.

"Pan fish catches have been unbelievable," Mr. Mudloff said. "It's incredible how much fishing has turned around here since the cormorant control started."

The Islander Derby is limited to 60 boats to keep the event manageable and to avoid conflicts with other tournaments.

There are no fishing boundaries, however, all boats will be inspected before they leave the marina.

Tournament boats will leave from and return to the Hessel Marina. Fish can be weighed at the marina as they come in.

A$550 prize will be awarded to the angler who catches the second largest salmon; $450 for the third largest; $350 for the fourth largest; $250 for the fifth largest; $100 for the sixth largest, and $100 for the seventh largest. A $500 prize will be awarded to the crew of the boat that catches the six largest salmon in the tournament.

Anglers must register for the event by Friday, August 18, and all boat captains are required to attend the Friday night captains' meeting at the Islander Bar in Hessel at 7 p.m.

It costs $100 per boat to enter the contest.

Fish tags will be provided, and each boat captain is responsible for tagging the six largest salmon caught by the crew before they arrive at the dock. Six rods are allowed on each boat.

Additional rules, regulations, and safety precautions will be reviewed during the captains' meeting.

Participants who come into shore during the tournament and are not finished fishing will have their coolers sealed until they leave the dock again and return to fishing.

Anglers can register by calling the Islander at (906) 484-3359.