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Local anglers reel in Fish for Freedom top prize

NIPAWIN — For two local anglers, a horrible pre-fishing session didn’t continue as they won this year’s Fish for Freedom. Marcy Armstrong and Shelly Hluchaniuk, both from the Nipawin region, caught three walleye with a combined length of 176.
Ladies Fish for Freedom 2018
Marcy Armstrong, left, and Shelly Hluchaniuk, right, celebrate their first place showing at the Fish for Freedom with their boat captain Murray Harrower. Photo by Devan C. Tasa

NIPAWIN — For two local anglers, a horrible pre-fishing session didn’t continue as they won this year’s Fish for Freedom.

Marcy Armstrong and Shelly Hluchaniuk, both from the Nipawin region, caught three walleye with a combined  length of 176.5 centimetres.

“We pre-fished two days ago, I caught zero,” Armstrong said. “Shelly caught one.”

Faced with poor pre-fishing results, the two friends, who’ve fished the tournament for more than a decade, decided to be optimistic going into one of the province’s largest women’s-only tournament.

“Can’t get any worse, it’s going to be good,” Armstrong recalled saying at the time.

“We said today was going to be a good day,” Hluchaniuk said.

The tournament on Tobin Lake was held Aug. 18, with 85 registered teams. There were 336 fish measured with only seven being more than 70 centimetres.

Armstrong and Hluchaniuk’s first fish, at 71.5 centimetres, was one of them.

At an undisclosed location – a fisherwoman never tells where – there was no indication of the size of the fish they caught.

“It was just, ‘oh!’ Got a good bite and I didn’t think it was going to be a big one, but it was,” Armstrong said. “Lucked out.”

There were no exciting stories about catching the second and third fish, measuring at 53.5 and 51.5 centimetres respectively.

The results of the tournament were announced at the Evergreen Centre.

“I actually got a text at home saying that it looked like we’re in first,” Armstrong said.

Hluchaniuk said she was shocked when she found out she had won.

This marks the first time the two have won the $2,000 prize.

Placing in second was Linda Reiber and Chantelle Morrison, with a combined length of 162 centimetres, while the third place winner, Carol Boxall and Betty Blue, fished out 160.75 centimetres.