MANITOULIN—It’s mystery weight week at the Manitoulin Expositor Salmon Classic, with the winning weight, and winning fish, to be announced this Saturday, August 6. The winner will take home a 15,000 BTU Broil King vertical smoker courtesy of Jake’s Home Centre in Mindmeoya.
Kevin Boyd of Hanmer claimed the week one prize of $1,000 for his 21.69 lb chinook salmon—the same fish that is also topping the Salmon Classic leaderboard. Mr. Boyd hauled in his lunker from the waters surrounding Providence Bay.
“There’s a lot of big fish starting to show up with coho up to 20 pounds coming in to the weigh stations,” Salmon Classic organizer Dave Patterson shared. “I can also say that many of those fish are being caught at a depth of between 75 and 85 feet off the south shore of Manitoulin.”
“The North Channel continues to produce the most fish with Clapperton and Heywood Islands being the top spots,” Mr. Patterson continued. “They started off at around 10 and 12 pounds in the North Channel, but they’re consistently getting bigger with 16 pounds-plus becoming more the norm.”
He said that fish seem to be hitting all types of different lures, from spoons to plugs, with Lyman plugs proving popular. Purple has been the hot colour this week, with green being the colour of choice the week before.
“Ask Rob (Little) at Wally’s Dock Service in Little Current or Blaine (Williamson) at Up Top Sports Shop in Mindemoya what the hottest lures are and don’t forget to check the leaderboard every night at www.fishmanitoulin.com,” Mr. Patterson added.
The awards for top fish will be handed out in a ceremony in Providence Bay on Sunday, August 14. Stay tuned for more details.
As always, tickets are just $60 for the duration of the derby, that ends on August 13, and can be purchased at www.fishmanitoulin.com or at the following locations: The Expositor Office in Little Current, Up Top Sports Shop in Mindemoya, The Recorder Office in Gore Bay, Trail Side Sports in Espanola, Moxy’s Bait and Tackle on Regional Road 55 near Whitefish, Ramakko’s Source for Adventure on Regent Street South in Sudbury.
