This month, people from all over Michigan will be coming to Charlevoix to compete in the sport of bass fishing at the 2007 Johnson Outdoors Northern Championship Bass Tournament.
Sponsored by the Competitive Anglers Tournament Trail, based in Kalamazoo, the event will take place from Wednesday, Sept. 12 to Saturday, Sept. 15. The tournament will be based at the city boat launch at Ferry Beach on Lake Charlevoix.
"We're an amateur, semi-professional trail," said Jerry Bastian, president of the tournament. "Bass fishing is the second-largest growing sport next to NASCAR."
Practice days for the tournament are Sept. 12 and 13. Registered anglers fishing from now until the official practice day will be automatically disqualified from the event.
The actual competition spans over two days, Sept. 14 and 15. Bastian said approximately 150 participants in 75 boats will be fishing Lake Charlevoix's waters for the highest weighing bass. Lake Michigan will be closed to the competition in order to ensure fairness. Those with the highest total weight for two days receive the grand prize of a $25,000 Nitro/Mercury boat package.
The package and other awards will be presented at the city ramp on Saturday.
Chamber of Commerce President Jacqueline Merta, who invited the tournament to Charlevoix, is anticipating additional revenue for area businesses from tournament participants.
"I think it will be a revenue-generator for Charlevoix's business community," Merta said. "The tournament will be headquartered at Charlevoix Inn & Suites and participants will also be staying at other accommodations throughout the city."
She said this additional revenue will improve the shoulder season. The shoulder season is a time of year when the local economy is slower than during the peak tourist season but not as slow as the off-season. She said this is usually during the months of September, October, May and June.
Bastian said the tournament will be "catch and release." All boats have live wells pumped full of water and contain a chemical called Rejuvenade. Rejuvenade, he said, preserves the life of the bass and the protective antibiotic layer of their skin.
The fish are weighed and released into the water.
"We take care of the fish better than anyone else out there," he said.