Saturday marked the first day of the regular and high-stakes tournament, and anglers were on the water around 6 a.m. to test their luck at catching record walleye, salmon, steelhead, lake trout and brown trout.

Alpena resident Marshal Suszek brought in a 25-pound lake trout for the high-stakes tournament, the second biggest fish of the weekend.

“It didn’t seem big at all, and then once we got it up to the boat, we were like ‘holy cow,'” Suszek said. “It took two of us to lift it up from the backside of the boat.”

He said he enjoys the risk of the high-stakes tournament.

News Photo by Blace Carpenter Michigan Brown Trout Festival volunteer Jim Lemkie talks with tournament judges on Saturday.

“It’s just fun,” Suszek said. “You’re fishing with a bunch of other anglers from Alpena and friends and family, and it’s just something you get into ’cause there’s a higher reward.”

Harrisville resident James Hart and his team were on the water for around six hours on Saturday for the start of the regular tournament. He said the water was a little choppy at first, but eventually settled and made for great fishing.

Their biggest was a 14-pound lake trout, which kept him on the board until being bested by a 16-pound lake trout from Shawn Szatkowski.

“It’s like pulling in a barn door, pretty much,” Hart said about reeling in the lake trout. “It’s just dead weight.”

Fishing Tournament Director Brad MacNeill says the week-long competition has come a long way since the first tournament in 1975.

The event was created after anglers noticed a large population of brown trout in the region. According to MacNeill, it was because the Department of Natural Resources dumped a bunch of them near South Partridge Point Road.

“Four or five gentlemen got together and decided to make a tournament because the fishing just exploded after that first initial plant,” MacNeill said.

He says the tournament has had its ups and downs over the years, but is glad to see how much it has grown.

“It’s been expanding and growing,” MacNeill said. “Our salmon fishing was really good in the late ’80s and early ’90s. We would have upwards of 130 boats in a super tournament or a lady’s tournament.”

This year, 224 teams are competing in the tournaments.

There are seven tournaments left in the week:

~ Regular tournament now through Sunday

~ Youth Offshore Tournament on Wednesday

~ Ladies Classic on Thursday

~ Amateur Shoot-Out on Friday

~ Kids Tournament now through Friday

~ Two-Day Super Tournament on Saturday and Sunday

~ Walleye Extravaganza on Saturday

The tournament will conclude on Sunday with an awards ceremony from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Veolia Big Tent.

Blace Carpenter can be reached at bcarpenter@thealpenanews.com. This story was produced by the Michigan News Group Internship Program, a collaboration between WCMU Public Media and local newspapers in central and northern Michigan. The program’s mission is to train the next generation of journalists and combat the rise of rural news deserts.