Alaina Melander reported that the weather was great during the 23rd annual Salmon Classic Fishing Tournament in Silver Bay, that took place from July 20th-21st. There was a brief downpour, but it didn’t seem to get anybody down. I told her I have heard that fish bite better in the rain. She replied that she had no idea if that was true or not. She laughed and explained that she’s not really a fisher but she’s a really good organizer. I admitted I didn’t have any idea, either. If I had it all figured out, I’d be reeling in more fish.
Lots of fish were reeled in during the contest, including a king salmon weighing a bit more than 20 pounds. Chris Johnson’s catch took 1st in the division. Second place was nearly 11 pounds. When last year there were no king salmon to be found, it was good to see them back on the board.
Other divisions included coho salmon, which Ernie Fox landed in 1st place, and the lake trout division, won by Jeff Brown. There were 15 opportunities to make it on the leaderboard, with the top prizes in each division being $700 gift cards to Marine General.
Though kids 12 and under have their own board and are eligible to win fishing tackle and prizes, this year Max Klemmer and Cambell Conboy leaped onto the bigger board in a big way. In the Lake Trout division, they took 3rd and 4th place. I can imagine they’ll have wide eyes and wide smiles stepping into Marine General with their $400 and $300 gift certificates in hand.
“Nice local kids,” Alaina said of the two boys. “It’s always nice to see them there. They won some big prizes, so they were pretty happy.”
Alaina has been co-coordinating the event with Geri Sando since 2018 (with a little break in there while Alaina was busy having a baby.) The two make a great pair.
“She’s the best,” said Alaina. “She does everything I don’t want to do, and I do everything she doesn’t want to do!”
Geri and Alaina are like a well-fish-oiled machine when it comes to putting on the fundraiser for the Silver Bay PTO. This year, especially, everything went so smoothly they both thought they had to be missing something.
“It’s just been getting easier and easier the more that we keep doing it. The pieces just fall into place,” Alaina said. “And I just can’t let it go.”
Many of the participants are just as dedicated.
“We do have our loyal fisherman that will always be coming and they’re so fun to see,” said Alaina. “When you see the faces from years and years and years, they’re always smiling and so grateful that we do this. It’s good to see them.”
This year there were 240 fishermen and fisherwomen registered for the contest and 80 boats that were inspected each day before it set off into the big lake. Some eager early birds were ready at 4 AM, the earliest they could try out the early worm that might catch the early fish.
The number is slightly down this year and Alaina hopes it’s not due to the lack of salmon in last year’s tourney. “They were back this year!” she assures those who are thinking of attending next year.
The huge event is also a huge fundraiser for the organization. In fact, it brings in enough money to support the PTO throughout the year and carries into the next. The funds are stretched over a vast number of activities and initiatives to help the school, teachers, and students of all ages.
“You’d think that PTO is mostly geared towards elementary just because usually that’s how it goes. But since we’re a k-12 school we definitely can spread the love out a little more,” Alaina explained.
Donations are made to Robotics, the French Club, After Prom, IT Activity, playground equipment, a teacher appreciation week, amongst many other needs of the school.
“With the district being so low on funds right now we’ve been helping the teachers in their classrooms and the stuff that they need there, too,” said Alaina. “We all very much care about the school and how it works and how it benefits everybody because this is what we have so we like to take care of it and take care of the people in it.”
The event gets lots of support from businesses and sponsors from around the area. Some donate raffle prizes while others contribute to the silent auction. This year both Seagren’s and Julie’s True Value donated grills for the raffle. Andy Kosevich, who owns Tail Gunnar Charters, donated a half day charter. Russ Francisco, the owner of Marine General, contributed a large portion of the gift card funds.
“He’s extremely generous and he doesn’t really expect anything in return,” Alaina reported. “He says he just loves sponsoring us.”
Lovin’ Lake County, LP, Cooperative Light & Power, J&H Auto Repair and Towing, Baptism River BBQ Co., and a long-extended list of sponsors helped to make the event happen.
“We’re very grateful for the amount of sponsors and volunteers we get,” Alaina expressed. “That’s probably the only reason that we can still do this. Because we have the support.”
Despite the huge undertaking, Alaina and Geri plan to be involved for years to come.
“Overall, it was a really good year. We’re really happy with it,” she said. ‘We’re still going to continue doing it for next year. We’ll still be here.”
