Fishing for BIG Wins

The time has come for many tournament anglers to look back on the great fishing season just past. The tournament won, the fish that got away when you came ohh-sooo-close to putting the winner in the boat (yes, it happened to me and, no, I obviously haven’t gotten over it), the boat issues, or all the fun had with your tournament partner and fellow anglers.

A lot of people see tournament fishing for the elite, best of the best anglers but that is often not the case! Many non-tournament anglers can get involved in these events, adding a little competition to their angling and testing their skills against some of Northeastern Ontario's finest anglers. Check to see if there is a tournament being held on your home lake or a big fish event that takes place over a longer duration.

I encourage you to challenge yourself and add an extremely fun element to your fishing. These styled events are great for those who are the self-proclaimed “king of their lakes” or for those who want some added excitement included on their day out. The following is not only a recap of some of the highest paying events in the region, but also some of the most fun.

The Manitoulin Island Salmon Derby

Let’s start with an event for both families and competitive anglers. The Manitoulin Island Salmon Derby had its inaugural year as a new format to the Bass and Pike Classic that had been ran in previous years. Many anglers and their families participated throughout the three week period which started on the August Long Haweater weekend, and runs through to the end of August. The top prize payout was very impressive, with first place taking home $12,000! Here are the results and the winners:

Salmon Series

Place	Name	Fishery	Weight (lbs)	Payout
1	Reinhard Roick – Ottawa	South Baymouth	22.75	$12,000.00
2	Kevin Boyd – Hanmer	Providence Bay	21.69	$4,000.00
3	Neil McNally – Massey	Gore Bay	20.08	$2,000.00
4	Ian Anderson – Kagawong	Gore Bay	20.04	$1,000.00
5	John Henderson – Katrine	Meldrum Bay	19.69	$500.00

Heaviest Trout

Place	Name	Fishery	Weight (lbs)	Payout
1	Don Hysert – Tehkummah	South Baymouth	16.44	$2,500.00

Weekly Prize – Heaviest Salmon or Trout

Week	Name	Fishery	Weight (lbs)	Payout
1	Kevin Boyd - Hanmer	Providence Bay	21.69	$1,000.00
2	Neil McNally – Massey	Gore Bay	20.08	$1,000.00
3	Reinhard Roick – Ottawa	South Baymouth	22.75	$1,000.00

If the $12,000 that Reinhard took home for one fish isn’t enough to get your thoughts stirring then I don’t know what will. The event is already scheduled for next year, starting July 29 and running until August 27 in 2017. Check out the Fish Manitoulin website for details.

Mattagami River First Nation Walleye Events

Moving from a single bite event I would like to swing to the other side of the field with the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail. This is where the best walleye anglers in the North come to compete against one another. To stay consistently at the top of the leaderboard in this series, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication. This is why the Angler of the Year award is so sought after and respected. This year’s Angler of the Year Champion is Miguel Tailleur from Kapuskasing, who had a fantastic season with consistent results overall.

Some of the top events this year were held out of Mattagami First Nation (MFN) near Gogama, on the infamous Mattagami River. The First Nation community is host to both spring and fall events held on the first weekend in June and second weekend of September. This year both events brought a large number of anglers to test their luck against one another during two excellent times of the year.

Spring MFN Walleye Tournament

Place	Name	Weight (lbs)	Payout
1	Dan Hein & DJ Germain	26.35	$10,000.00
2	Matt Guacci & Denis Perrier	25.38	$7,500.00
3	Jeff Vipond & John Labine	24.54	$5,000.00
4	Mike Joliat & Mike Waker	24.37	$2,300.00
5	Jamie Robinson & Terry Bernath	23.76	$2,070.00

Mattagami Fall Classic Walleye Tournament

Place	Name	Weight (lbs)	Payout
1	Perry Caverson & Denis Martin	22.50	$7,000.00
2	Jody Villeneuve & Chad Vis	20.88	$3,000.00
3	Dan Hein & Didier Germain	19.99	$2,000.00
4	Sebastien Lizotte & Jonathan Morin	19.40	$1,000.00
5	Eric Belanger & Luc Belanger	18.48	$750.00

The MFN Fishing Group organized an excellent event and brought the youth of their community into the action through daily interviews and live feeds for fans to tune in and follow. This addition to the tournament is proving that the MFN and their volunteers are here to stay and will be sure to make their events some of the best around.

Top 50 Pike

A staple to Northeastern Ontario communities is the Top 50 Pike Event which hosts events across the lower portions of the region including St. Charles, Chelmsford, Azilda, Sturgeon Falls, Lavigne and Callander Bay. This year was another action-packed and fun filled season for anglers of all talents from aspiring pros to weekend warriors. Events took place on some of the best pike waters in Northeastern Ontario. These pike hotspots include four tournaments on Lake Nipissing (West Arm, West and Northwest Bays, Cache Bay and Callander Bay) Vermillion Lake and Whitewater Lake. All events had excellent showings with a very loyal group of anglers.

This year’s top anglers include:

Title	Anglers
Overall Anglers of the Year	Mike Desforges & Clint Hurd
Overall Team of the Year	Andrew Poitras & Felix Duguay
Overall Rookie of the Year	Barry Bennett

The biggest event on the Top 50 Pike schedule is The Classic, which all anglers strive to qualify for at the end of each season. This year Vermillion Lake in Chelmsford was host. This would upset no anglers as it is a water body from which anyone could come away victorious. Many from the field were from the Greater Sudbury and North Bay area’s, so they knew this waterbody well. The potential for a total prize purse of $10,000 was very appealing to many, and anglers left it all on the water that day. The Mainville’s took The Classic title and put another notch in their belts as some of the best anglers in the North.

The Classic

Place	Anglers	Total Length (cm)	Payout
1	Andrew Mainville & Robert Mainville	384.10	$10,000.00
2	Mike Patry & Shawn Davidson	383.20	$5,000.00
3	Clint Hurd & Mike Desforges	375.20	$2,500.00
4	Jason Paquette & Chris Pawlowicz	357.60	$1,500.00
5	Marc Branning & Neil MacDonald	354.60	$1,000.00

A BIG congratulation goes out to all that participated in the events throughout the region this year. It takes a lot of time, dedication, hard work and money to compete at the level many tournament anglers do and this shouldn't go unnoticed. Tournaments bring a large group of individuals together to compete and many people don’t realize the impact fishing events have on local communities.

The majority of anglers competing visit local bait and tackle shops, restaurants, gas stations, hotels, motels, lodges and campsites which are all great benefits to local economy. Keep an eye out this spring for dates and events to be listed by the great groups that fish Northeastern Ontario. Who knows – 2017 could be the year you win your first tournament!

More Regional Tournaments

Temiskaming Smallmouth Bass 

Nickel City Bass

North Bay Bassmasters

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