Sunny Skies and Stout Salmon

This is the 44-inch, 24.56-pound Chinook that Jeff Gunnlaugson caught on July 28 off Rock Island. Submitted photo.

More sunny skies and a fourth straight calm start to the day had K/D Salmon Tournament anglers marveling at weather that allowed even those with the smallest of fishing boats to get out and try their luck on July 28. Cold water near shore also attracted some pier and shore fishing entrants, with the lure of the full moon too great to pass up.

Tuesday’s action saw 15 changes in the top 40, including two lead changes in the same day. Mark Fissore of Pittsburgh, Penn., started it off early in the morning with a 23.68-pounder after launching out of Rowleys Bay aboard The Big Rig II, a 19-foot Alumacraft. Fissore was on the reel for about 20 minutes as the brute took out about 800 feet of line after smacking a mirage Howie Fly set 75 feet down in 120 feet of water off the northeast tip of the peninsula on the Lake Michigan side.

“I was kind of nervous,” Fissore said. “They were telling me not to lose it. I’ve been known to kind of horse ‘em sometimes, but this time I didn’t.”

The group he was with, including his wife and father-in-law, caught only two fish, but one of them was the biggest Fissore’s ever caught in 12 years of fishing here.

Around 6:30 pm, the leader board changed in a big way. Fishing with his dad and brother off Rock Island, Jeff Gunnlaugson reeled in a 44-inch, 24.56-pound Chinook. He said the fish hit a green J-Plug about 80 feet down in 145 feet of water.

The K/D Salmon Tournament runs through Aug. 2. For more information visit kdsalmon.com.

K/D Unofficial Top 50 (through Tuesday, July 28)

1. Jeff Gunnlaugsson, WI, 7/28, 24.56

2. Mark Fissore, BH, 7/28, 23.68

3. Brad Hendricks, SB, 7/26, 22.44

4. James Lindgren, WI, 7/27, 21.57

5. Kevin VanBoxel, SB, 7/25, 21.45