The greenback walleye run was at its peak during tournament week as phenomenal weights were recorded at the previous weekend’s St. Georges Voyageurs Walleye Classic and many teams were on big fish during pre-fishing excursions. It came as no surprise when numerous huge walleye were brought in at the day one weigh-in as the top ten teams were able to bring in bag weights over 20 lbs. Baudette, MN anglers Kent Christianson and Cory Ney took command of the standings at the end of the day with a massive 26.89 bag anchored with not one but two 10lb master angler walleye. The larger of the two ‘greens’ also captured big fish of the day. A very close second for heaviest fish was a 29″ 10lb monster caught by the Winnipeg/Ste. Agathe team of Garther Cheung and Bryan Maloney who sat in fourth with 22.51lbs.
Dave Randash and Ed Pickutowski out of Minnesota and the team of Chris Oakes and Robert Melanson representing Balmertown, ON were within striking distance of the over three and a half pound leader margin going into day two. A steady south-east wind on day one quickly changed to a blistering west wind by mid morning of the second day. The giant rollers that anglers have come to expect on Traverse Bay had many boats rocking on the water. The fish apparently were also getting tossed around by the waves as many teams could be seen scrambling around to get onto a school. Adjustments to further out into the lake or further into the river paid off for some and left others searching for a big bite right to the end.
The strategy of hunkering down on proven grounds was key for the Red Lake, ON/Winnipeg team of Bill Spence and Brian Benes who brought in over 22lbs each day to capture third place for the competition. Chris Blayden of Winnipeg and partner Tom McNair from Ontario climbed three spots to finish in 4th place after bringing in another solid 20lb bag. Mark Chapman and Leslie Morrison out of Baudette, MN rose from 10th place after day one to round out the top 5 after weighing in 19.16lbs on day two.
3rd Place – Spence/Benes
4th Place – Blayden/McNair
5th Place – Chapman/Morrison
Randash and Pickutowski brought in a second consecutive 23lb bag anchored by a 9.48lb walleye that was good for big fish of day two. They sat atop the standings throughout the earlier flight weigh-in well into the second wave of boats. As the teams came in, none could come close to knocking them out of the hot seat. The title was seemingly only in doubt as team #48 and day one leaders K. Christianson and C. Ney came to the scale. Anything approaching 20lbs would seal the win for them but their limit of walleyes came in at only 18.55lbs which put them in second place.
2nd Place – Christianson/Ney
The 2014 Champions and members of the well-represented Fargo-Moorhead Walleyes Unlimited club were still taking it all in at the awards presentation at the Papertown Inn, “It will all probably sink in tomorrow. We had an amazing two days of fishing,” beamed Pickutowski. Randash spoke to the crowd up on stage, “Thank you to all our Canadian friends for sharing this wonderful resource”. Tournament organizer Craig Stapon also awarded the Canada/USA team competition title to the American side who have been dominating this event the last few years. The challenge is on for the home team in 2015.
