Manitowoc Salmon Derby winners and biggest fish, plus more news in the latest outdoors report

Northeastern Wisconsin Great Lakes Sport Fishermen held its 49th annual Salmon Derby July 5-7 at the Manitowoc Marina. Three-hundred sixty-two people registered to participate.

At the end of the three-day event, 1,295 fish were registered by participants, the highest number of fish registered since 2016.

The top fish and top fisherman in each of the five fish categories were as follow:

• King Salmon: 27.62 pounds, caught by Ken Olson;
• Brown Trout: 18.84 pounds, caught by William Sharpe;
• Coho Salmon: 16.24 pounds, caught by Brian Reed;
• Rainbow Trout: 14.36 pounds, caught by Zack Johanek; and
• Lake Trout: 21.04, pounds caught by Jerry Schaus.

The first-place Super Tournament winner was Captain Jerry Schaus and his crew onboard the boat Grandpa VI weighing in 93.9 pounds with their five fish.

As part of the Super Tournament, captains and their crews had the option to participate in a Big Fish competition. Captain David Seefeldt and his crew aboard the “She Said No” boat landed the largest single fish, a king salmon weighing 25.7 pounds.

The derby also hosted a free Kids’ Fish Derby July 6. Fifty children registered and participated in this event.

The fish were cooperative during this year’s derby with the following species being caught and registered: bluegill, sunfish, bullhead, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, yellow perch, sucker and goby fish.

Read last week’s column:Fireworks Over the Lake, a picnic and a tractor pull — the latest Manitowoc outdoors report

Clarks Mills club’s Picnic and Tractor Pull is July 20

Clarks Mills Sportsmans Club is holding its annual Picnic and Tractor Pull July 20 at the club grounds. Rain date is July 21.

The club is at 81 Sportsmans Lane, Clarks Mills, 1-1/2 miles west of County J on Clarks Mills Road.

The picnic and cornhole tournament start at noon. The tractor pull starts at 4 p.m. Weigh-in is from 1 to 3 p.m.

A cash raffle drawing will be held after the tractor pull with only 500 tickets sold. Any available tickets will be sold at the clubhouse until gone.

Food and beverages will be available throughout the event.

Maribel club’s fall hunter safety course begins Aug. 15

Maribel Sportsman’s Club will hold its fall 2024 hunter safety course from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 15 and 22, finishing up 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 24.

Pre-registration is required by calling me, Bob Schuh, at 920-682-3106. Cost is $10 per person and is open to both adults and children. Before registering, please make sure your child is big enough to properly hold and use a firearm and able to read at an 11- to 12-year-old age level.

Shoto club offers scholarships

Shoto Conservation Club is offering three $1,500 scholarships for the 2024-2025 school year.

Students must be entering their junior or senior year of college pursuing a career in the sciences or wildlife environmental field. Go to shotoconservationclub.org and click on annual scholarships. Deadline to apply is Aug. 31.

More Bob Schuh:Click here for more Scoping the Great Outdoors columns by Bob Schuh

Glacial Lakes Conservancy’s annual fundraiser features author Sept. 28

Glacial Lakes Conservancy’s annual fundraiser, “Flowing into Our Future,” will be Sept. 28 and feature keynote speaker Dan Egan, followed by a book-signing.

The event will be along the Sheboygan River AOC at the fieldhouse at Kiwanis Park, 726 Kiwanis Park Road, Sheboygan.

Included will be a canoe tour to the mouth of GLC’s Willow Creek Preserve, a conservation conversation with Egan, and a WordHaven Bookhouse partnership with book purchasing and signing with Egan.

The event will have a cocktail hour, raffle items and dinner. Space is limited. To learn more and purchase tickets, go to the GLC website, glaciallakes.org.

More about the keynote speaker: For many years, Dan Egan covered the Great Lakes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He now writes occasional long-form pieces about climate change for national media outlets, including the New York Times, and is a senior water policy fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences. He is author of “The Devil’s Element: Phosphorous and a World Out of Balance” and the New York Times best seller “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes.” Twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Egan has won the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award, John B. Oakes Award, AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award and J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award. A graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism, Egan resides in Milwaukee with his wife and children.

That’s it for this week, so have fun in the great outdoors.