The 2023 Munising Trout & Salmon Classic had a competitive and successful competition this year, with new records set for how much fish was brought in by the over 40 entries into the competition.
“It was incredible to see the overall weight brought in by the teams,” Classic Director Bromley Hall said. “In 2016 and 2017, we had about the same amount of fish caught, but on average some of these fish were a couple pounds heavier.”
Altogether, over 1,700 pounds of trout and salmon were filleted at the American Legion post, which is where the official weigh-in was set for this year’s tournament.
The largest catches came from Double Trouble, who broke 100 pounds in the trout division. The team becomes the first threetime consecutive winner in classic history.
“It was really the same as last year: rough ride out to the spot and just stuck it out,” Double Trouble Captain Jon Tyner said. “It feels good to do it.”
After Saturday, Double Trouble sat in second, over seven pounds behind Pumper II. Unfortunately for the opening-day leader, Pumper II registered 19.85 pounds on Sunday, the lowest of any team that cashed out in the trout division. Northern Drifter and Wave Dancer both slingshotted towards the front with an improved second-day haul, but it was Double Trouble’s 57.79-pound performance that put the Tyner-led crew on top.
“It was a slow start this year, but we kept moving to try and find the fish. We found a spot that had some smaller fish, but it took about an hour and 45 minutes to get to our fishing spot,” Tyner said.
In the salmon division, it was a dream scenario for team Slay & Filet, captained by Jesse Bianchi. The team had a father-andson combination, a team member celebrating their birthday and also featured multiple board members of the South Shore Fishing Association, a group that has helped organize and run a number of tournaments in the Central Upper Peninsula.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Bianchi said. “To get our boat in shape to win a tournament like this, it’s great. To have a former board member and three current board members is awesome for South Shore.”
The group was sitting in 16th after day one with just 13.69 pounds of all coho, sitting well behind opening day leader Off Duty. On Sunday, the group was able to find larger varieties for a steady two hours of fishing near the Au Train River. It paid off for Slay & Filet as the team brought in 42.23 pounds. The team practically doubled their Saturday totals, as their biggest fish was 13.44 pounds. It was just enough to stay in front of CJ Petoskey-helmed The Sinker, winning 55.92-51.47.
According to Don Bianchi, the weather had a big factor in larger hauls on Sunday.
“It was calm and overcast all morning, so you could fish the way that you wanted to fish,” he said. “We got to where we wanted to go and found the color (of the lures) we needed to be successful.”
Less boats were registered in the trout division, with payouts dropping to seventh place Lead Heads beat Live Wire 43.1839.77 to win the prize. Pumper II fell to fourth overall on the final weighin. In the larger salmon division, the payouts went to 12th place. Lucky Wire snagged the final payout by defeating Olivia Jean 36.55-34.85 for the money while day one leader Off Duty took 11th.
Money raised from the event goes towards equipment upgrades for the Munising City Volunteer Fire Department. After problems with the pandemic, the event was postponed and partially ran by the South Shore Fishing Association. This year, the department was back to running a full two-day tournament.
Munising Volunteer Fire Department Chief Red Anderson (left) presents the winning check in the salmon division to Slay & Filet. The team consists of Jacob Bosserd, Ross Anthony, Don Bianchi and Captain Jesse Bianchi.
