DOOR COUNTY — A 35-pound salmon took the early lead and held on to win the in the 2021 K/D Salmon Tournament.

Cory Boellaard of Nekoosa registered his 41-inch, 35.65-pound beauty in Bailey’s Harbor the first Saturday of the tournament.

He says the monster hit a green Howie Fly about 100 feet down in 150 feet of water after the storms cleared midday. 

Weather was a factor, particularly late in the tournament as strong storms kept fishers off the water for long stretches of the final days.

Baileys Harbor and Sturgeon Bay were the hot spots for heavyweights this year, claiming 8 of the top 10 places in the unofficial standings (𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩). Six of the top 10 fish were taken the first two days of the nine-day event. 

The 50 heaviest salmon ranged between 25-1/2 and 35-1/2 pounds. It was the ninth time in the past 11 years that the winning fish was larger than 30 pounds. 

𝗞/𝗗 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁    #𝗨𝗻𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟭𝟬 

1. Cory Boellaard, 35.65, 7/24 @ BH

2. Austin Vance, 32.79, 7/28 @ SB

3. Bonnie Maggle, 32.15, 7/27 @ SB

4. Derek Christoph, 30.90, 7/31 @ BH

5. Kevin Kopatz, 29.98, 7/24 @ A

6. Jason McKee, 29.88, 7/23 @ SB

7. Kevin Cookle, 29.66, 7/24 @ SB

8. Krista Thuer, 29.11, 7/24 @ W.I.

9. Josh Przybylski, 29.07, 7/24 @ BH

10. Robert Keto, 28.92, 7/31 @ BH

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