The festival had 350 people register to fish the nine day tournament, compared to the 240 boats that were registered for the tournament last year. Tournament officials changed how people registered for the tournament this year.

Thirty-one fisherwomen on Thursday participated in the 31st Jack Daniels Ladies Classic, the same number of teams who participated last year, according to Michigan Brown Trout Festival President Peggy Donakowski.

Tournament officials are still taking registrations for the Walleye Extravaganza on Saturday and the Super Tournament on Sunday. As of 8 p.m. Thursday, 35 fisherman have registered for the Walleye Extravaganza and only 10 fishermen have registered for the Super Tournament, but those fishermen are keeping an eye on the weather.

“It’s different, but it’s good we can have at least a fishing tournament, give ’em a little something — fishermen and fisherladies have been waiting to get back on the water — so they’re fishing and they’re fishing hard,” Donakowski said.

News Photo by Crystal Nelson Long time Michigan Brown Trout Festival volunteers Ernie Butterfield and Roger Barc load fish into the cooler Thursday at the marina in Alpena.

Alpena resident Jamie Smigelski, who fished in Thursday’s Ladies Classic, said her family has fished in the tournament for years, and that it was something that was “constant” during this time.

While the fishing has remained strong, attendance at the festival has changed. There is not a beer tent or special events at the festival this year to draw the public in and only two of the festival’s usual food vendors chose to come this year.

Fewer members of the public are attending the festival this year. Donakowski said they are having a lot of people driving through, many wear their mask, sit on a bench or a picnic table and munch on kettle corn, which was among the few food options to choose from.

While the weather overall has been pretty good, Donakowski said the water has been pretty rough.The bass tournament last Saturday was delayed by an hour and she said the lake was choppy on Wednesday.

Questionable weather is also in the forecast for this weekend, when the Walleye Extravaganza and Super Tournament are planned.

Courtesy Photo Kelsey MacNeill, Niki Halleck and Yvonne Spitzer are pictured after winning Thursday’s Ladies Classic with a total weight of 82.2 pounds. The boat was captained by Rick Konecke of Wipe Out Charters.

“We’ll see what happens as the weather declines for the weekend — whether they’ll start (fishing) late and bring them in later,” she said.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.