After two years of preparation, Mitchell’s Bay has celebrated its first open bass tournament drawing many Anglers, volunteers and community members together for two full days of good bass fishing. Starting out Thursday night Anglers gathered at Mitchells Bay Park to register for the tournament, enjoy a pig roast social, followed by a meeting to prep for the tournament.
A total of 30 entries (60 Anglers) registered in this years’ tournament. The top five winners received cash rewards.
The day started early at 7 a.m Friday as Anglers went out from the Mitchells Bay channel until weighing time came in the afternoon. The first load came back at 3 p.m followed by second at 3:30 p.m.
Mitchell’s Bay Open Bass Tournament Co-Chair, Carol Ann Belangersaid this year’s tournament was a huge success.
“The first place team received $5,400 dollars and the rest followed down from there. It was such a great first tournament for us. We gave one hundred percent of the fees the Anglers paid through registration  back to them in prize money”.
The Committee is hoping as the tournament continues to grow so next year they can reach 120 entries with up to$ 50,000 in prize money. “Were really trying to build the tournament and make it an annual thing. Everyone who took part in this year were just phenomenal and the Anglers were quite good”.
Top 5 Open Bass Winners: Two Day Tournament Weight
1st Place: Brad Coon and Chad Wetzell                        40.65 LBS
2nd Place: Matt King and Jason Coll                            39.67 LBS
3rd Place: Dave Demers and Chris Cherman                39.06 LBS
4rth Place: Rick Damphouse and Todd Mcbride          38.74 LBS
5th Place: Chuck Hasty and Jeremy Tetrault                 37.53 LBS
Belangerhas been working alongside Tom Beaton as Co-Chairs and said they did a lot of preparation to make this tournament possible.
“Two years ago we saw the need for a major tournament because we live right on lake St. Clair. Lake Saint Clair is known across the world for fishing and in particular Bass Fish. We spent the year going to researching tournaments, attending, watching how they were done before coming back to the Mitchell’s Bay Area Association and putting our ideas forward to plan for this tournament”.
Belanger also said they began looking for sponsors very early to ensure this year would be a success.
“We had excellent support from sponsors. Far surpassed what we thought we were going to get. Part of it I think was because of the dedication we put in to care of the fish as number one in the tournament”.
This was a catch and release tournament. Anglers were only aloud to bring in five fish all alive. It was mandatory for all Anglers to have boats with live wells due to focus surrounding the care of the fish.
When the Anglers were brought in, the fish were taken very quickly from the Anglers boat to the scales, weighed and then taken very quickly back to the live release boat so they could kept in the same temperature of water. As soon as weighing was complete, the live release boat took all the fish into deep water to release them. “It’s expensive to have a live release boat but that is what is needed if you’re going to run a class tournament of this nature”.
A group of ten students involved in the YMCA leadership program also volunteered for the tournament acting as leaders in the community as they prepare to travel to Gwadamala next Spring .
“We partnered with Big Brothers Big sisters and we rented three  charter boats and took them out fishing, provided boxed lunches and a BBQ brought them on stage, gave tee shirts and provided them with their own fishing rods and reels. We noticed that many of the good tournaments all had a cause and that’s what we wanted to do with ours. It was the kids. It was worth a million dollars”.
Belanger also mentioned the generousity of Dean and Sidney Franklin from the Tri-Bay Bass Association. “They really supported us and lent us their scales this year so we could use them in the tournament. We’re wanting to raise enough money in this tournament so we can buy our own scales for future tournaments. It’s so good for us”.
In closing Belanger said she would like to recognize the hard work, dedication of all of those involved in the weekend.
“We could not of hosted this tournament without the support of the Mitchells Bay Marine Park. They were on board from the very beginning, same with our volunteers and staff of the Marina were outstanding. You can’t run a successful tournament without the support from your Marina. The class of the Anglers were also just outstanding. They were supportive of us and us them. It was just a joy to be there”.
