Hammond Bay Angler launching new ?Great Lakes Fishing Tournament? in July

Plans are in place for a new fishing tournament based out of the Hammond Bay Refuge Harbor, which has the potential to bring a big payday for a captain and his or her crew. The Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association (HBAAA), who has given northeast Michigan a legal voice during negotiations with the state and tribal fishing groups for parts of the three past decades, will be hosting the first annual ?Hammond Bay Area Great Lakes Fishing Tournament? July 27. The HBAAA has been pro-active in its approach of promoting quality fishing in northern Lake Huron, along with finding a better way to raise money for the organization.

?We were looking for a way to have an effective fundraiser that would be good for us and good for the area, all in one,? said Dave Smrchek, HBAAA board member. ?We decided that a fishing tournament would be consistent with that.? Bruce Grant, who is the owner of the Manitou Shores resort, said HBAAA has been looking at starting a larger tournament for quite a few years. There are already tournaments conducted in Presque Isle County, but none that bring out the ?big guns.?

THERE WILL be payouts to the top three placers. If the tournament were to reach the 50-boat limit, first place would earn a crew $25,000. A full tournament would net the runner-up $7,500 and third place a check worth $5,000. First place is based on 50-percent of the registration monies. Second place will be 15-percent, while third place prize money will be 10 percent. The one-day tournament entry fee will be $1,000 per boat with a limit of four anglers, including the captain. The winner of the tournament will be the boat with the greatest total weight of three Great Lakes salmon or trout. The species include: Chinook salmon, lake trout, brown trout, pink salmon, Atlantic salmon, and steelhead. ?If we did it right, we could promote northern Lake Huron and Presque Isle County,? said Smrchek. He said Lake Huron has received some really bad press over the last two to three years.

?THE HBAAA hopes that the tournament will bring anglers to northeast Michigan, so they can find out for themselves that there is a quality fishery here,? said Smrchek. ?Our experience is that there is a lot of really good fishing,? said Smrchek. ?Maybe they are not the biggest fish in the world, but certainly we have a healthy fish population and good numbers. We just wanted to do something that would focus everybody?s attention on that.? Inspections will take place at 4 a.m., with boats being released at 5 a.m.

Anglers will need to be back by 2 p.m. for final weigh-in. A pig roast will follow the awarding of the prize money, which is included as part of the registration fee. People are invited to watch the final weigh-ins at 2 p.m. and purchase any additional dinners that are available. ?We had to do something that would get people?s attention,? said Smrchek. ?That is why we priced the tournament the way we did and offered the prize money that we are offering. We want to have people look at our fishing in northern Lake Huron and say, ?Maybe there is something up there worth going for.? ?

THE TOURNAMENT will become

HBAAA?s primary fundraising mechanism. The organization has raised more than $100,000 to protect the rights of all anglers. They also have been putting money back into the community with the purchase of equipment for the ?Salmon in the Classroom? program in Rogers City. They also have proposed the project to school officials in Onaway and Posen. HBAAA also has been involved with the Ocqueoc River Commission. There has been a lot of positive feedback, and with an ad in the magazine Great Lakes Angler, which has a circulation of 40,000, the phone will start ringing off the hook. The publication just came out last week.

Brochure information on the tournament is available on the Rogers City Chamber of Commerce website. In the meantime, HBAAA is preparing for their annual banquet at the Belknap Township Hall a week from Saturday.