Carsonville man reels in top fish on last day of the tournament
Dennis Cook of Carsonville went from bombing on the first two days of the 19th annual Rogers City Salmon Tournament to accepting a check for $4,000 Sunday at the Lakeside Park band shell. Cook, along with crew members (Dad) Jerry Cook and Jesse Bruce on the “Cookieman,” didn’t fare too well on Friday and Saturday. Participants in this year’s event took a beating on Lake Huron Friday, and while Saturday’s conditions were much improved, Cook and his crew didn’t have much luck bringing any salmon with size on board their boat. That was until about noon Sunday.
“THAT’S WHEN the big one hit,” he said. The salmon was caught in 100 feet of water “straight out,” Cook said. The men weighed the Chinook several times. One time the fish registered 22.9 pounds on the boat scale, which would edge the leader Keith Burch of Mt. Morris and his 22.40 pound salmon by a half a pound. “We decided to get right in,” Cook said. The fish was officially weighed on the scale in Rogers City. “We were shocked it was 24,” Cook added.
While it was the lightest salmon to top the leader board in the nearly two decades of the tournament, it held up. In 1987, the second year of the tournament, Craig Mosher of Onaway had the winning salmon that weighed 25.45 pounds.
COOK ALSO earned top honors in the boat division Sunday with a total of 56 pounds. The next closest was 48.90 pounds. The winning captain wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his winnings. He would like to buy a bigger boat, but it won’t be enough. “It’s hard to say,” Cook said. This year there were 195 boats entered in the tourney, with 663 registered participants representing a variety of states. The three-day total weight of fish taken was 5,604.60 pounds with an average 7.77 pound weight per fish. Last year the total weight for the weekend was 8,652.12 pounds with an average weight of 9.51 pounds. The smallest weighed salmon last weekend was 1.30 pounds.
THE TOP 10 INDIVIDUAL winners after first place were: Keith Burch of Mt. Morris on “Unpredictable,” 22.40 pounds; Richard Pease of DeWitt on “The Irishman,” 19.95; Clayton Morrice of St. Johns on “Hot Pursuit,” 19.65 pounds; Charles Kanouse of Sterling Heights on “Power Trip III,” 19.45 pounds. Michael Mossner of Freeland on “Full Tilt,” 19.45 pounds was in sixth, followed by David Hija of Ocqueoc on “Emm J.,” 19.40 pounds; Curt White of Sault Ste. Marie on “Blue Ribbon,” 18.90 pounds; Charles Kanouse, III of Presque Isle on “Power Trip III,” 18.85 pounds; and John Stimson of Owosso on “Hot Pursuit,” 18.50 pounds. Jim Shepard of Onaway reeled in a Chinook weighing 18.50 pounds in 11th place, while Jim Schleben was the highest placer from Rogers City. His salmon weighed 17.65 poun
* The top boat division placers from the entire weekend were: Art Carson on “Direct Deposit,” 96.75 pounds; Dewayne Diment on “Unpredictable,” 92.80 pounds; Denis Dixon on “Power Trip III,” 89.95 pounds; Jim Musselman on “Plumber’s Helper,” 88.05 pounds, and Arthur Tulgestka, III on “Jean C.,” 86.50 pounds. * Top boat division winners Friday were Musselman, 39.15 pounds; Dixon, 31.85 pounds; and Todd Curtis, 30.35.
* Top boat division for Saturday: Diment, 44.40 pounds; Curt White, 38.95 pounds; and Martin Skiba, 38.75 pounds.
* Top boat division winners for Sunday included: Cook, 56 pounds; Musselman, 48.90 pounds; and Carson, 44.40 pounds. The 2004 prize money paid out totaled $10,045 for 1-50th places and $8,400 for three days of boat division winners. As the overall individual winner this year, Cook will have the top fish mounted and wins four entries in next year’s tournament.