Carsonville fisherman completes sweep of Rogers City?s biggest salmon tournaments
Dennis Cook of Carsonville may want to change the name of his boat “Cookie Man” to “Money Man” after winning both the Rogers City Salmon Tournament last month and the two-day Last Chance Super Tournament over the weekend. Fishing with the same crew, his father Jerry Cook and Jesse Bruce, and in the same location, about the middle of Lake Huron, Dennis Cook topped the leader board Sunday afternoon with three salmon weighing a total of 98.30 pounds.
“WE FISHED the same spot we fished during the big tournament and it paid off,” said Dennis Cook, shortly after receiving a check for $2,800. “We had the same lures. We just put two good days together and we were right there.” The largest of the bunch was just shy of 19 pounds. Cook’s take for the two tournaments was about $9,500, which included a $1,000 side-bet. In second place was 2003 Last Chance champion, captain Russ Pilette of Clawson. He has had some tremendous success over the years, collecting more than $10,000 in winnings. In third place was Jode Paull of Hawks on the boat “Fire Water” with a winning weight of 93.20 pounds. The rest of the top five include Eric Skaluba on “Spoon Feeder,” 89.25 pounds; and Gary Orr on “Black Cloud,” 86.30 pounds.
LOUIS WOJFOWICZ JR., on “Sea’s the Day,” 86.25 pounds was in sixth, followed by Harold D. Pease on “Chop Chop,” 86 pounds; Paul Kroll on “Hook’em Up,” 85.30 pounds; Art Carson on “Direct Deposit,” 82.70 pounds; and Mike Dole on “Castaway,” 81.35 pounds. Cook also weighed in the heaviest salmon (182.45 pounds) for the combined five days of the August and September tournaments. Next in line was Art Carson with a total of 179.45 pounds. Some anglers were reporting to Tourism Council officials that the fish were hard to find. The pa
“WE WANTED to see 100 boats in this competition (and) we’ll work at 100 boats next year,” said Tourism Council events coordinator Mark Schuler, speaking to the anglers before passing out the checks. “There were 61 boats. That’s 61 percent of what we want to pay you, so the take is less this year than what we would like to see you take home. “We designed the payout to make a profit. We don’t make a huge profit, this thing has been going down with the economy and so has the Rogers City tournament.”
Schuler said some changes are in store for next year, including the possible addition of a tailgate party at the close of competition on the first day. It’s so “you guys (anglers) can stick around and have a good time,” Schuler said on the loudspeaker. “I think it will work.” The Presque Isle County Tourism Council sponsors both events.