HOUGHTON LAKE’Marianne Morris of Mason was fishing with her husband in August of 2013 when he caught a tagged fish Houghton Lake Area Tourism Bureau’ Catch Us If You Can fishing contest. On July 29 she caught an 11 and one-half inch tagged perch in Houghton Lake (Roscommon County) and will be entered in the 2016-17 drawing.
Morris and her family have been fishing on Houghton Lake for around 20 years. ‘I have been more active fishing since the children have grown,’ she said.
‘Our up north neighbors know that is all we do in our free time. We like to wait for what we call the ‘walleye chop,’ a little wave action, on the water. We find that is the best time to catch fish.’
Morris caught her perch on a night crawler. ‘Sometimes we use leaches, but think the night crawlers work best,’ she said.
‘When I reeled the fish in, I thought this was going to be some good eating. Then I turned it over and saw the tag. My husband Phil has been bragging about catching a tagged fish all this time, and now it is my turn.’
Her catch was verified at contest sponsor Lyman’ on the Lake where she received a $50 gas card purchased from the Schmuckal Oil Shell station in Houghton Lake.
The April 2017 grand prize drawing will be at Spicer’ Boat City in Houghton Lake. The grand prize is $100,000 and Lund boat from Spicer’. There is a guaranteed major prize of $500 cash and $500 in prizes.
The second place prize is a Mark Martin Ice Fishing School valued at $500.
Anglers can bring their tagged fish in for verification at Lyman’ and H&H Fireworks in Houghton Lake, as well as Korbinski’ Marine in Prudenville, West Shore True Value Hardware at Higgins Lake, and Trail’ End Motel in St. Helen.
For more information on the contest, please contact the HLATB office at 1-989-422-2002, 1-800-676-5330 or email info@visithoughtonlake.com. Contest rules are found on www.visithoughtonlake.com.
