Shown are Team Yeah Baby members, from left, Dylan Cruickshank, Joshua Bean and Patrick Murphy. The team won first place for the Finns Bar and Grill's Fishing Tournament, and Bean with the heaviest single fish prize. Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette

SKANEE — It was a day of firsts for Finns Bar and Grills’ 2024 Fishing Tournament in the Skanee area Saturday.

The new bar owners hosted the tournament for the first time and a first-time participant won two top prizes.

Buck and Cassie Marcotte bought Finns Bar and Grill last September and have been working diligently to offer one of the area’s favored events to the community. They had to ensure there would be enough employees available to host the event, bought high end scales to weigh the fish and had to arrange the prizes and planning for the date. While the preparation had been a lot of work, they both have enjoyed the time they spent on it.

“This place means everything to us to throw events like this and hear everyone’s stories,” Buck said.

The tournament came a few weeks after a tragedy occurred on Keweenaw Bay where two fishermen drowned. Buck said the entire community was hurt by that event because everyone knew the victims.

“You’ve got to keep them in your thoughts and memories,” Buck said. “And events like these can keep this community together.”

A great deal of the community did gather together, with 19 total boats consisting of 65 fishermen participating. The tournament itself took place in the Lake Superior waters from Gay Stack to Big Bay Lighthouse.

Each team had to decide on a name and could consist of two to four fishermen with a skipper per boat. The fishermen could begin fishing at 5 a.m. and had to finish by 4 p.m. During that time, the target fish to be taken were lake trout and all species of salmon.

The winners would be decided on the top three hauls of the team’s heaviest five fish and the single heaviest fish of the entire contest. These fish had to be weighed in by 6 p.m. and from the time the contest ended to the weighing of the fish, the participants and the gathering community enjoyed food, drinks, bean bag toss and each others’ company.

The winning prizes were $650 for first place, $480 for second place, $325 for third place, and the fisherman who pulled in the heaviest single fish won $170. Aside from the cash prizes for the contest was a raffle. The raffle prizes included gift certificates from Nite Owl Cafe and the host bar itself. Peninsula Boom & Equipment sponsored the event and also donated two $500 gift certificates from Woodland Firearms & Supply.

When 6 p.m. rolled in and all the weights were tallied, Team Big Tuna III came in third place and Team SB 2.0 came in second. Team Yeah Baby came in first place with the heaviest load of fish consisting of two giant king salmon. The winning team was made up of Patrick Murphy, Dylan Cruickshank and head of the crew Joshua Bean. This was Bean’s first time participating in the tournament due to having obligations overlapping with the date. This year though, he was finally able to join in with a day of fun, excitement and a return to memories.

The team’s name came from one of Bean’s father’s sayings he would say after anything exciting happened: Yeah baby! Some of Bean’s earliest memories were of fishing, and the team keeps the spirit of his father strong with every fish they pull as they shout, “Yeah baby!” The team not only won with the entire catch’s overall weight, but also the heaviest of all the fish in the entire contest pulled in by Bean.

It was still somewhat dark out when the first and largest fish began pulling the line on their boat.

“As soon as I grabbed the rod, I knew it was going to be a nice fish,” Bean said. “We all knew it was going to be worth something.”

The fight for the king salmon was hectic with the crew having to move the other poles from tangling with the one holding the fish. The boat driver had to maneuver constantly to keep pressure on the fish and avoid snapping the line. The action taking place in the near dark only made things more difficult, and when the salmon neared the boat it began another wind of fight. Despite the chaos, Yeah Baby landed the fish and made a memory of a lifetime.

The winning king salmon weighed in at 20.53 pounds. Yeah Baby was delighted to win the tournament and the largest fish.

“It feels great to win and good to know that the time we put in pays off,” Bean said. “It’s great to be top dog for the day when you’re going up against unbelievably great folks and best the fishermen in the area.”

When the prizes were distributed and the tournament officially concluded, the bar enjoyed fried trout and salmon provided by the anglers who wished to give their catch away. The night ended with grand fishing stories of the day and a smile on everyone’s faces.

The Marcottes are looking forward to hosting and growing the tournament next year.