The 46th annual Two Rivers Fish Derby, held at Walsh Field in Two Rivers July 19-20, is in the history books.

They had 306 fishermen who caught 455 fish over the day-and-a-half tournament for a total of 3,342.4 pounds.

Sixteen boats were in the Super K on Saturday with “Grandpa V!” taking first place with 69.7 pounds. “Liquor Box” took second place with 69 pounds and “On a Big One” took third place with 60.5 pounds.

The overall winners of the derby and first in their category were the following:

• First place — Bret Fischer with his rainbow trout at 12.6 pounds;
• Second place — Matt Krause with his coho salmon at 7.2 pounds;
• Third place — Andrew Sharpe with his brown trout at 13.6 pounds;
• Fourth place — Chris Kulpa with his king salmon at 21.9 pounds; and
• Fifth place — Dave Seefeldt with his lake trout at 15.5 pounds.

Bonus anterless harvest authorizations go on sale Aug. 18

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has revealed bonus antlerless harvest authorizations for the 2025 gun deer season will be available for purchase online through the Go Wild license portal and at license sales locations starting at 10 a.m. Aug. 18.

Bonus authorizations are sold at a rate of one per person per day until sold out or until the 2025 deer hunting season ends.

Bonus authorizations are $12 each for Wisconsin residents, $20 each for non-residents and $5 each for youth ages 11 and younger.

An online queuing system will be used to manage volume in Go Wild. All users entering the site between 9:45 and 10 a.m. will be randomly assigned a number and staged in a virtual queue. Users will be arranged randomly regardless of the actual time they enter the system. There is no advantage for customers who enter the site before 9:45 a.m. Users who log on after 10 a.m. will be added to the end of the existing queue in the order of arrival.

To complete their purchase, hunters will need to know the deer management zone and unit in which they intend to hunt, determine whether they will hunt on public or private land, and have a deer hunting license approval.

Because of realignment of the Northern and Central forest zones, changes have been made to some deer management unit borders for 2025. The DNR encourages hunters to consult the new maps before buying their licenses.

The first three days of bonus sales are management zone-specific, and the fourth day is open to all zones, as follows:

• Aug. 18, 10 a.m. — Forest zones (Northern and Central);
• Aug. 19, 10 a.m. — Central Farmland Zone;
• Aug. 20, 10 a.m. — Southern Farmland Zone; and
• Aug. 21, 10 a.m. — All zones available.

The number of antlerless harvest opportunities will vary by deer management unit in accordance with local deer population levels. This allows for greater harvest opportunities where deer are abundant and a more conservative harvest where deer are fewer in number.

A listing of bonus antlerless harvest authorizations available for purchase in each deer management unit can be found on the DNR’s Antlerless Deer Harvest Authorization webpage.

As a reminder, a minimum of one Farmland Zone antlerless harvest authorization is included with each deer hunting license purchase in all Farmland Zone units. Some units will offer more than one antlerless deer harvest authorization with each deer license.

For more information regarding deer hunting in Wisconsin, visit the DNR’s Deer Hunting webpage.

Waterfowl Hunters Expo is Aug. 22-23 in Oshkosh

For those interested in waterfowl, the DNR is again partnering to host the Waterfowl Hunters Expo Aug. 22-23 at the Sunnyview Expo Center in Oshkosh.

The Waterfowl Hunters Expo is open to waterfowl hunting enthusiasts of any age. The expo will feature hands-on exhibits for attendees to try and buy the latest in outdoor products, and presentations from industry experts, habitat managers and waterfowl scientists.

The event is family and dog-friendly, setting the stage for hunters to come together and experience everything waterfowl.

The Waterfowl Expo is also the home of the state Waterfowl, Turkey and Pheasant Stamp competition, as well as the state duck- and goose-calling contests.

More event and ticket information is available on the Waterfowl Hunters Expo website.

Lakes Association’s next meeting is Aug. 28

Manitowoc County Lakes Association will hold its next meeting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 28. The meeting will be in room 300 of the Manitowoc County Office building, 4319 Expo Drive, Manitowoc.

Jason Breeggemann, DNR senior fisheries biologist, will provide a general overview of fisheries management activities in Manitowoc County. This will include a summary of spring surveys completed in 2024 and 2025 and a regulation update following the results of the spring hearing regulation change proposals.

The Manitowoc County Lakes Association will protect and enhance the quality of area lakes and watersheds for the benefit of all.

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