Grand Haven, Michigan Offshore Challenge Fishing Tournament Weekend

Sometimes I think that I have too many hobbies.  Fishing has always been part of my family.  I started on a boat when I was 2 years old with dad taking me out to babysit me.  I first mated as soon as I could see over the bow from the helm and started running the rods as soon as I could net a fish.  My whole teenage years I spent most days on the water first mating on the Trout Scout and Fishbuster Charters in Alpena, Rockport, and Presque Isle, Michigan.  Boredom was never a word in my vocabulary because time on the water was always new and fresh everyday, especially on the Great Lakes.

Paul Retherford the Fisherman

Fast forward to now, I occasionally run boats for people, mostly my brother’s boat http://www.catchabunch.com.  I earned my 100-ton Masters of Inland Waterways when I was out West volunteering with AmeriCorps*USA.

I have had the pleasure in being part of fishing teams my whole life.  My boats have placed first in almost every salmon and lake trout tournament on Lake Huron shoreline.  It has been nice seeing all the wonderful ports and being part of a unique class of people on the water.

Grand Haven Offshore Challenge was my first tournament on Lake Michigan.   We had a solid team with all people who I fished with.  The competition is tough with a ton of long timers in the area.  There are a lot of teams that fish the whole circuit up the shoreline.  All that I could hope for was that we fished our game.

The first day we caught our twelve fish and only had fourteen hits.  The second day we had 15 hits and only caught nine.  That put us out of the money since we didn’t get our twelve fish.  We only needed three more fish and twelve pounds to finish 4th!  It was a bummer, BUT we landed every fish that we had on the line.  We missed all of the others.  On our boat we don’t get false releases since we use heavy rubberbands for releases.

So here are a few images that I took with my Canon S500 in the underwater casing.  I love this camera for the boat since it can get wet, dropped, and still perform.  I have had this camera now for like 10+ years or more and it is still doing great.

lake michigan fishing tournament offshore challenge catch a bunch team

grand haven offshore challenge fishing tournament morning start line

Check out Catch a Bunch Fishing Charters on Lake Michigan in Grand Haven, Michigan

salmon fishing out of chinook pier on catch a bunch in grand haven, michigan

Fish Lake Huron out of Alpena, Michigan on Trout Scout V with Captain Ed Retherford

running out to the salmon fishing grounds in grand haven, michigan

beautiful days on the water on lake michigan and the great lakes

Come and see my photography at www.paulretherford.com