Clawson man?s earnings from Last Chance tourney top $10,000
Russ Pilette of Clawson says it?s no secret why he has placed first in three of the six Last Chance Super tournaments he?s entered in Rogers City, and second another year. ?We run J-plugs up tight,? Pilette said, following the awards ceremony Saturday afternoon under sunny skies at the Rogers City marina. ?We fish anywhere from 15 to 25 foot of water this time of year.?
Pilette and his crew reeled in 109.20 pounds of Chinook salmon during the two day tournament, exactly one pound ahead of a crew from Hawks. Pilette won $3,000, taking his total prize earnings to more than $10,000, while the Hawks fishermen, led by Harold King, split a check of $1,500.
BOTH PILETTE and King were able to bring in salmon weighing 25 pounds each, which helped them take the top slots, but Rick Colonna of Millersburg, on the boat ?Sure Bet,? weighed in the biggest salmon of the weekend at 30.65 pounds. Colonna finished in ninth place on the leader board with a total weight of 81.75 pounds.
It proves that the person who gets the heaviest fish won?t necessarily be cashing the biggest check on Monday. Colonna earned an additional $100 prize from Foster?s Bait and Tackle of Boyne Falls. The tournament, conducted annually the weekend after Labor Day, is the last opportunity for anglers to net some hefty cash jackpots. More than $8,500 was available for the top 10 finishers.
PILETTE GOT his 25-pounder as his day was just starting Friday. ?It was still dark out. We just got three lines set and the first rod went off and in the dark they usually don?t fight that well. She came to the boat and we netted it within five minutes,? Pilette said. ?We did a lot of high five?s. Any time you get something over 20, it?s a good fish.?
Pilette fished with crew member Jon Sheppard, also of Clawson. The Hawks team challenged for the top spot, especially with a 25.85-pound salmon, the largest fish from Saturday. Captain Harold King on the boat ?Kingfisher,? along with crew members Dave Fessler and Duane Paull, weighed in a total of 108.20 pounds. They got their biggest fish early in t
?ABOUT TWILIGHT we had about four rods go off at one time,? said Fessler. ?We had four fish on. We landed three of the fish and this is one of the rods that went off.? All three commended tournament organizers on how well the weekend went. Taking third was captain Rob Burkhard on ?Riptide? with 108.15 pounds of salmon.
In fourth was Harold Pease (103.50 pounds) on ?Chop Chop,? squeaking by Karl Klingshirn at fifth (103.30 pounds). ?The numbers were up a little bit,? said tournament organizer Dave Smrchek. ?I thought that was great considering the economy, which is down all over the place.
?FISHING WAS a little bit slow, but that was the weather, which is typical of fall fishing, but they caught some really nice fish, bigger fish than I expected.? Smrchek also said anglers caught more fish than he expected. There were 80 boats registered in the tournament. ?All the fishermen were great to work with,? he said. ?The crew I had helping me was just great. Without them it wouldn?t have got off the ground.? Harley Witt had his name drawn in a raffle that won him free entries in both the Rogers City Salmon tournament in August and the Last Chance tournament next September.