News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Ayla Manley, left, Margie Manley, center, and Kelsie McConnell ready their fishing poles on Wednesday for the Truly Ladies Classic — which takes place Thursday — during the Michigan Brown Trout Festival in Alpena.

ALPENA — Margie Manley has fished in the Ladies Classic during the Michigan Brown Trout Festival in Alpena for more than two decades and she is eager to hit the water again today.

She said spending time on the boat — the Bolton Barge — and catching fish is a great deal of fun.

But being able to do so with her daughter Ayla Manley is icing on the cake.

Margie said for many years — each July when the tournament rolled around — she would leave her kids with a babysitter to fish, and when the boat returned to harbor, they would all be on the breakwall waving and cheering their mother on.

Now, Ayla is an adult and part of the team that hopes to finish toward the top of the leaderboard at the tournament’s end.

Fishing for the women’s tournament begins at 6 a.m. today and boats must be back in the harbor by 4 p.m.

The winners will be presented their prizes at the award ceremony on Sunday in the big tent at 6 p.m.

“It is a lot of fun and good family time,” Margie said. “It is wonderful being able to fish with my daughter and we go out and have a blast. We try to catch a lot of fish and it is just a great time.”

Over the years, Margie said, the best result the team has had was a fifth place finish. She said on one other occasion, the crew caught a steelhead that was large enough to end up on the leaderboard at the end of the week-long Brown Trout Tournament.

Ayla — who has moved out of town — said she cherishes the memories of watching her mom come back from a day of fishing and watching the fish being weighed. She said her father had a boat, so she has fished on Lake Huron since she was a young child.

The family time and making new memories during festival time is what she treasures now, and she hopes when she has children they too will have the passion for fishing that she and her mother have.

“I live out of state now, so it is a lot of fun to come home for the festival,” she said. “I love spending time with the family and I always look forward to Ladies Day. One day I hope when I have kids I will be able to bring them back here and share these things that are so special to be with them.”

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