A Look Back at the 30th Annual K/D Salmon Tournament

As a child, I often dreamt of becoming a pirate – to me, there seemed something magical about spending the majority of life adrift at sea. Perhaps it’s the pirate in me now as an adult that continues to be drawn to the “big water” and why I so thoroughly enjoy chasing game fish on super-sized bodies of water such as Lake Michigan. While my greatest passion in fishing is spent pursuing muskies, there are few finned adversaries in freshwater that I have not at some point in time enjoyed locking horns with, and near the very top of that list is the drag-screaming Chinook salmon.

Chinook salmon, also referred to as king salmon, are pound for pound one of the toughest and most exciting fish to have on the end of your line. Residents of Lake Michigan, kings are sought after by thousands of anglers annually here in Wisconsin whether on charters, private boats, or in tournaments such as the recently completed 30th Annual Kewaunee Door County Salmon Tournament.

The K/D Salmon Tournament is a nine day event headquartered out of the ports of Kewaunee, Algoma, Bailey’s Harbor, Sturgeon Bay, and Washington Island. The format is simple – pay your entry fee, get registered, then attempt to weigh-in the heaviest Chinook of the tournament and subsequently earn yourself a free mount of the winning fish, a custom-designed silver Chinook salmon ring (complete with diamond eye), and $10,000; of course, easier said than done.

My good friend and fishing colleague Captain Brett Jolly, who himself definitely has some pirate blood in him, is a salmon junkie of sorts as well. I was privy to fish a few days of the K/D last summer with Captain Brett and two of our good friends. While riding the rollers of Lake Michigan, interrupted frequently by the sweet sound of singing drags, it became evident this would become an annual event. Our plan for the 2012 K/D was to fish the entire nine days; unfortunately, “life happens” and we were relegated to fishing together only four.

The three of us arrived in Kewaunee Wednesday afternoon and set up camp; Jolly, who was guiding for walleyes on Green Bay, met us later in the day. Given the high winds and subsequent ‘small craft advisory’ Wednesday, we were unable to leave port and instead begrudgingly opted for the consumption of grilled brats and burgers whilst swapping fish stories.

2:30 AM Thursday morning the alarm on my cell phone pierced the silence of the camper and it was time to roll. It was a strange morning to be sure – if it could go wrong, it did. While we managed to hook-up with 16 fish in the morning alone, we landed only 5 of them. The kings would tear drag and get into another line or simply come off of the hook, sometimes within only 10-20 feet of the boat; to make matters worse, as is often the case, the fish that we were losing were big and in a tournament where you’re looking for just one truly large specimen, your odds shrink with each mishap.

Our final three days passed, a fishing dance of sorts involving dodging storms and playing the wind and currents. In addition to numerous king salmon, we were also fortunate to boat two of the largest trout I’ve seen in person. While there was no silver ring or prize money earned again this year, something of much more value was – good memories with great friends. Here’s looking forward to the 2013 K/D! I’ll see you on the water…

Tight lines,