2001 Grand Prize winner of the Chantry Chinook Classic Dave Melenson from St. Thomas and Derby Chair Ken McClement hold up the 26.54 pound chinook salmon caught by Melenson just 4.5 hours before the scales closed for this year's derby. In the background can be seen the 17 foot Wilker boat which was part of the $25,000 prize package for the biggest salmon. 

Derby Insider Report:

The weather was great, attendance was up and there were lots of fish around. The Lake Huron Fishing Club earned enough money from derby entrants to keep their two hatcheries open and enough to help fund another great derby in 2002. Over 3000 entrants had a good time fishing from Lake Huron ports between Point Clark and Pike Bay, lots of big trout and salmon hit the scales and everyone was happy, right? Well, everyone was pretty happy but perhaps there was a little pathos felt and even a tear or two shed by the spectators at the awards presentation Saturday.There is always a story or two behind the scenes in every derby. The Chantry Chinook Classic that finished last Saturday was no exception.

Here is one story from behind the scenes:
On the second day of the sixteen-day derby, Steve Bisbee from Elmira had a stroke of good fortune. A big Chinook salmon took his lure and put him in first place for the grand prize. The salmon weighed 25.74 pounds, a respectable weight for July in Lake Huron and big enough to take him to the winner’s circle, still in the lead, when the derby finished… perhaps. For that day and the next thirteen days, derby anglers were trying anxiously to find a fish bigger than Steve’s, unsuccessfully. In his own words: “Everyone was so pleasant and friendly, I made lots of new friends, even the conservation officers asked me if I had all the proper safety equipment on board. It was really great and except for the first day and the last day, I led the derby. It was wonderful and I want to thank everyone for being so nice to me, I’ll never forget it” 

Steve Bisbee tells "the voice of the derby" Gary Byers how well he was treated while leading the sixteen day derby from the second to the last day.

On the sixteenth day, which is traditionally only a half-day because the derby weigh stations close at 1:00 pm, everything changed. At 5:30 am Saturday, Steve Ridley from Sauble Beach was fishing off Sauble Beach when a big salmon struck his lure. Ridley is a charter captain who was without a charter that morning so he chose to fish with his mother Dorie instead. Ridley was using a Lyman lure down 60 feet in 70 feet of water when his fish struck and twenty minutes later, when Dorie netted the fish, Ridley was the new leader of the derby. Steve Bisbee’s reign was over but no one knew because the weigh stations didn’t open until 11:00 am. Ridley has caught plenty of big salmon from his charter boat and he told me he didn’t really think his fish was big enough to take over first place. Well it was, it weighed 25.84 lbs but it didn't lead for long. At 8:30 am, in 100 feet of water off Kincardine’s famous “Green Patch” where so many anglers go, a boat with three adults and two youngsters had just hooked a rainbow trout. Suddenly another rod popped up and a new derby winner entered the scene. Dave Melenson from St. Thomas grabbed his rod and hung on. At the other end of his line was the grand prize fish for the 2001 Chantry Chinook Classic. It was a 26.54 lb. Chinook salmon, big enough to bump out the three-hour winning fish caught by Steve Ridley and push Steve Bisbee down to third place.

Gracious in defeat, grateful for his good fortune, Steve Bisbee didn’t take home a new boat and outboard motor but he took home friendship and best wishes from pretty well everyone at the Awards ceremony. As he told master of ceremonies Gary Byers the story of how well he was treated, a tear or two glittered in his eye. He said he was happy to have shared the hospitality of the area and considered himself a winner, still.

The Chantry Chinook Classic salmon Derby grand prize winner was Dave Melenson from St. Thomas with a 26.54 lb. Chinook weighed in at the Kincardine weigh station. He won a 17 foot Wilker Galaxie boat, Mercruiser motor, Northtail trailer and Walker downriggers package worth approximately $25,000. 

Derby trout leader and winner of a Pricecraft aluminum boat,15 hp motor, Springbok trailer and Walker downriggers worth approximately $7,500 was Art Kampf from Guelph with a 20.16 lb Brown weighed in at the Pike Bay weigh station on day #3 of the derby.

Saturday there were 132 salmon weighed in and 20 trout for a derby overall total of 2984 salmon and 563 trout. There were 3013 entrants registered in the derby at the final count. 

TOP 25 SALMON (prize winners)
1. 26.54 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Dave Melenson from St. Thomas 
2. 25.84 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Steve Ridley from Sauble Beach 
3. 25.74 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Steve Bisbee from Elmira 
4. 24.84 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Ken Chambers from Elmira 
5. 24.44 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Andrew Fedko (sr.) from Kincardine 
6. 24.30 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Ed Daer from Wingham 
7. 24.10 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Rick Dwinnell from Kincardine 
8. 23.84 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Sherrie Kunkel from Harriston 
9. 23.80 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Ken Clark from Sarnia 
10. 23.72 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Manfred Werle from Hanover 
11. 23.70 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Ron Krulicki from Kincardine 
12. 23.69 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Patti Gazel from Tiverton 
13. 23.62 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Jeff Merkel from Stratford 
14. 23.62 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by R.T.Baird from Southampton 
15. 23.20 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Brent Schwindt from Waterloo 
16. 23.08 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Brian Claydon from Cambridge 
17. 23.06 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Patrick Daly from Kitchener 
18. 22.98 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Derek Mitchell from Port Elgin 
19. 22.90 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Ken Heipel from Clifford 
20. 22.80 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Pete Kellendonk from Plattsville 
21. 22.72 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Brad Weatherall from Port Elgin 
22. 22.72 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Bill Wyatt from Walkerton 
23. 22.66 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by Marty Miller from Kincardine 
24. 22.52 lb Chinok Salmon caught by Steve McNay from Kincardine 
25. 22.44 lb Chinook Salmon Caught by E.W.Leonard from Woodstock 

TOP 5 TROUT 
1. 20.16 lb Brown Trout caught byArt Kampf from Guelph 
2. 17.18 lb Brown Trout caught by Carl Stewart from Allanford 
3. 15.56 lb Rainbow Trout caught by Myra Walden from Ripley 
4. 14.08 lb Rainbow Trout caught by Cody Gillespie from St Thomas 
5. 14.00 lb Rainbow Trout caught by J G Parfrey from Thamesford 

FISH CLOSEST TO 18.00 lbs 
The fish closest to 18.00 lbs award ( Because this is the 18th annual Chantry derby) went to Brian Wall from Kincardine who caught an 18 pounder! This fish was weighed in on Day # 9, at the Kincardine weigh station. 

The 18th annual CFPS Chantry Chinook Classic was a success. Almost two hundred prize packages, with a total value of approximately one hundred thousand dollars were handed out in Port Elgin this afternoon at the derby windup ceremonies. The majority of those present made a commitment to return for the 19th Chantry Chinook Classic in the year 2002.