This event usually takes place in July, but the pandemic, as we all know, stopped life as we know it.

The Southtowns Walleye Association walleye tournament and the Sunset Bay Shootout took place earlier this year so tournament Director Mark Mohr opted to move his event to the time slot that was vacated by the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club. The event ran Saturday and Sunday, and was similar to the format of the now-defunct New York Walleye Association event called the Amera-Can.

Contestants are allowed to bring three legal-sized walleye to the scale each day. The winners were determined by the combined heaviest total weight of six walleye. Contestants paid a $500 entry fee and an optional calcutta fee. The prize structure was based on the number of teams entered. This year 35 teams entered.

The captains’ meeting was held at the outdoor pavilion at the Clarion Hotel located on Lake Shore Drive. All the boats launched at 6 a.m. from the Dunkirk Harbor with a deadline of 3:30 p.m. At that time all coolers had to be in line for the weigh-in at the Clarion Pavilion.

Photo by Gene Pauszek Pictured, from left, are: Dennis Alguire, Alicia Alguire, Danny Salansky, Bob Rustowicz, Gregg Shelvay and Tom Brunn, leaders after the first day of the Big Dawg Walleye Tournament on Saturday.

The first day of competition on Saturday saw most of the anglers reporting with their three-fish limit. The trick is to find three big fish, if you want to finish in the money. When the Saturday weigh-in concluded, Team Forever Fishing led by Captain Bob Rustowicz had the lead with three walleye weighing in at 18.52 pounds. Second place was taken by Dennis Alguire with a three fish total of 18.50 pounds. Alguire weighed in the heaviest fish of the tournament with a 9.48-pounder. Chuck Puhlman weighed in an 8-pounder on Saturday and Rustowicz had the third heaviest walleye at 7.58 pounds. Captain Denny Kenny finished with the third heaviest total on Saturday at 17.84 pounds. There were numerous other teams in the hunt with Saturday totals over 10 pounds.

History has shown us that with a two-day event anything could happen. The teams launched at 6 a.m. Sunday with a forecast of wind and rain. This event would not be canceled by the weather so most of the boats headed out. The teams weighed in according to their tournament assigned number. When the last fish was weighed, Rustowicz, Gregg Shelvay and Tom Brunn took first place with a total weight of 31.60 pounds, winning the first-place prize of $6,000. Dennis Alguire, Alicia Alguire and Danny Salansky came in second with a total weight of 30.64 pounds. Puhlman finished third with a 30.32-pound total. Nick Schmidt and Dennis Pillard took fourth place with 27.18 pounds and Pete Smith took the final spot with a total weight of 26.96 pounds. John Woelfle, Rob Ebersole and Vinny Costello finished tied with Rustowicz for the second-heaviest box of fish on Sunday at 13.08 pounds.