08/12/2026
YOU ASKED FOR IT SO HERE IT IS!! 2026 BTD stats and reports!
First up a HUGE thank you to BTD chairperson AL BLOM!! Him and everyone involved did a tremendous job with everything!! It is SO MUCH WORK! We don't make much profit from this event so its a gift to the community and we love doing it! Also included is WDNR Fisheries Biologist Tammie Paoli's report on the BTD. I have also attached the donation letter that was sent out to the generous donators. We appreciate you!!
2026 GLSF BROWN TROUT DERBY STAT SHEET - FISHING:
2026 379 FISHING TCKETS SOLD
2025 403 FISHING TICKETS SOLD
2024 262 FISHING TICKETS SOLD
2023 330 FISHING TICKETS SOLD
2026 - FISH STUBS IN THE DRUM 634 --- 340 ON SATURDAY, 304 ON SUNDAY
2025 - FISH STUBS IN THE DRUM 757 --- 498 ON SATURDAY, 314 ON SUNDAY
2024 - FISH STUBS IN THE DRUM 436 --- 251 ON SATURDAY, 185 ON SUNDAY
2023 - FISH STUBS IN THE DRUM 415 --- 218 ON SATURDAY, 197 ON SUNDAY
2025 - 118 BROWNS, 421 CHINOOK, 189 RAINBOWS, 29 WALLEYE = 812 TOTAL
2026- 117 BROWNS, 396 CHINOOK, 68 RAINBOWS, 53 WALLEYE = 634 TOTAL
WI DNR AND FISH & GAME SAMPLED OVER 800 FISH
“BIG FISH BOARD”
2024 MONEY PAID OUT BIG FISH BOARD $7,550
2025 TOTAL MONEY PAID OUT ON THE BIG FISH BOARD $10,870
2026 TOTAL MMONEY PAID OUT ON THE BIG FISH BOARD $11,575
2026 379 FISHING TICKETS SOLD AT $30 $11,370
2025 403 FISHING TICKETS SOLD AT $25 $10,075
2024 262 FISHING TICKETS SOLD AT $25 $6,550
INCREASE IN MONEY FROM FISHING TICKET SALES 25 TO 26 $1,295
MAJOR FISHING PRIZE WINNERS
The winners of the big fish were: Jake Hart who weighed in a 21.08 pound brown trout, Ethan Laird had a 22.09 pound chinook, Rich Seaberg caught a 10.90 pound rainbow and Mark McDougal had a 9.87 pound walleye. Major fishing prize winners were: $1,000 gift certificate at Nestegg Marine - Cade Furnstrom (Menominee); $750 gift certificate at A&K Bait & Tackle - Bill Marklein (Menominee);$500 certificate at Lakeside Power Sports - Cael Alexander (DePere); $250 gift certificate at Wind Rose North - Jason Kukuk (Menominee) and $100 gift certificate at Wind Rose North - Mickey Cole (Daggett). Fifty other fishing raffle prizes were won by anglers who registered fish
2026 GLSF BROWN TROUT DERBY STAT SHEET-RAFFLE:
2026-15.57 POUNDS OF TICKETS @ 396/POUND=6,165 STUBS IN THE DRUM
2025- 16.75 POUNDS OF TICKETS @ 396/POUND = 6,670 STUBS IN THE DRUM
2024- 16.43 POUNDS OF TICKETS @ 396/POUND = 6,506 STUBS IN THE DRUM
50/50 RAFFLES INCOME (4 @ $250 = $1,000.00
RAFFLE PRIZES (CERTIFICATES 5 @ $200 BOUGHT 4 GOT ONE FREE) $1,800.00Feldsteins, Windjammers, Brother's Three, A&K, Wind Rose North, Nerats
Colonel K's, Marinette Farm & Garden, Walter Brothers
MAJOR RAFFLE PRIZE WINNERS
A general raffle was also held which had a total of 68 prizes. Major prize winners were: Half Hog Package - Linda Sieminski (Menominee), $500 - Sandra Kuntze (Daggett), $750 - Tim Wienger (Wausaukee), $1,250 - Brittani Peterson (Menominee), $2,500 - Robert Williquette (Marinette), and $5,000 grand prize - Barb Sullivan (Menominee).
Tammie's report:
The 45th annual M&M Great Lakes Sportfishing Club Brown Trout Derby on Green Bay on July 25-26, 2026 with registration in Menominee, Michigan was a huge success. According to the club, 363 fishing tickets were purchased (down from 405 last year). Overall success was high with hundreds of happy anglers with coolers of fish. The club provided the attached leaderboard.
Saturday’s weather was mostly overcast with wind out of the SW and breezy at times. Sunday brought hot, humid and calm conditions for anglers. Compared to last year, Chinook numbers were up and brown trout and rainbow trout numbers were down. Some anglers commented that winds leading up to the weekend brought in a lot of cold water with some areas having surface temps in the upper 50’s. Most locations had temperatures in the mid 50’s down 10 to 20 feet, which may have affected the trout catches.
Wisconsin DNR Peshtigo fisheries staff Ron Rhode and Devin Bort worked it all day on Saturday and Ron Rhode and Tammie Paoli worked on Sunday. US Fish & Wildlife Service (New Franken office) fish biologists Allen Lane and Kevin Pankow worked both days and collected a vast amount of biological data, including many heads that have a microscopic metal coded wire tag to determine later where and when a fish was stocked.
Below are the numbers of trout and salmon that were processed by the two agencies, not necessarily what was registered by anglers. The Derby allowed one fish per species per day per angler to be registered but we tried to work up the entire catch brought in, even if not officially registered at the Derby. We appreciate the patience of anglers who stood in line at registration at busy times. This event is a great opportunity for the two agencies to sample a large number of fish in a short period of time.
2025
2026
Brown Trout
135
103
Rainbow Trout
215
65
Chinook Salmon
475
614
Coho Salmon
0
5
Lake Trout
0
1
The winning brown trout was a 32 inch, 21.08 pound brown trout. The 2nd place brown trout was 34.2 inches and 19.95 pounds. Brown trout averaged 26.3 inches and 10.5 pounds.
The top rainbow trout was 10.90 pounds, followed by 2nd place of 10.75 pounds.
Of the 614 Chinook salmon inspected, unclipped (naturally reproduced) fish dominated the catches at 452 (74%). Clipped (stocked) Chinook totaled 162 (26%). The winning Chinook salmon was 22.09 pounds, which was down from the top Chinook last year (23.3 pounds).
Several dozen walleye were registered and inspected for floy tags. Information from a metal jaw tag on a 29.8 (9.05 pound) walleye was forwarded to Michigan DNR. One yellow floy-tagged walleye was registered (27.2 inch) that was caught north of Chambers Island. It was originally tagged in April 2025 in the lower Menominee River by Wisconsin DNR when it was 26.7 inches.
Next year’s Brown Trout Derby is scheduled for July 24-25, 2027.
