A couple of friends got together for a day of fishing on the Boundary Dam reservoir on Sunday and finished around 5 p.m. with $1,500 in official prize money to show for their efforts.
Ralph Smart of Estevan and Rom Hedges of Antelope, Mont., finished well ahead of their nearest challengers in the 2013 Walleye Classic at Boundary Dam, thanks mainly to the fact they landed two fish that weighed in at well over four pounds each.
Their five fish total in the catch and release tournament came in at 15.82 pounds, relegating the team of Cody Degelman and Mychal Toth to second place with their 8.78 pounds of fish caught in the one-day event that began in the early morning on the first official fishing day in the new season.
The tournament had been placed in jeopardy with recent water releases from Boundary to accommodate possible flood conditions in southeast Saskatchewan, but those fears were allayed and recent spring runoffs left the lake level more than adequate for tournament needs as 48 boats containing two-person teams went out in the water in two flights.
"We had 50 entries, but two teams were no-shows," said Estevan Wildlife Federation president Mike Halirewich, who credited a team of over 20 volunteers for making this year's event a smooth success.
Smart and Hedges not only collected the $1,200 in first place prize money in the tourney, but they also picked up the $300 cash prize for bringing in the largest fish, a 4.4 pound specimen.
Degelman and Toth received $900 for their second place finish and the Estevan father and son team of Mark and Josh Michel received $600 for their third place finish with a total catch of 8.58 pounds.
Finishing off the list of cash prize winners were Joel Campbell and Richard Panchuk with $400 for fourth place with 8.10 pounds of fish, followed by Brad and Darren Frater who received $300 for 7.80 pounds and finally, Alen Nicholson and Nick Bennett who picked up $200 for 7.78 pounds of fish.
This year's winning team compared favourably with most of the main prize winners of the past except for last year's winning combination of Dave Fawcett and Lorne Garland who brought in a total of 17.56 pounds.
The fishers were pleased with the weather conditions as temperatures soared and winds remained calm. And while the Boundary Dam waters proved to be a bit murky due to the recent churning caused by the runoff and release actions, it didn't seem to bother them, or the fish.
Local and visiting sportsmen and women will next be able to turn their attention to the upcoming Bass Master challenge, the annual bass fishing tournament slated for these same waters on June 15.
Halirewich said the catch and release tournament was a big success on the fish survival front as well. He said only one fish was lost in the whole tournament.
The EWF president said since the rules regarding the fishing season have changed, next year's tournament will be held on the first Saturday following the official opening day date of May 5, which will be a Monday.
"We can't operate a tournament on a Monday, we wouldn't get the volunteers we'd need, so it was a unanimous decision to hold this tournament on the first Saturday after the season opens."
In the past, the first official fishing day in each new season was the first Saturday in May.
Halirewich said he didn't expect the slight change would affect many fishers in the tournament.
"Besides, it seems that about 80 per cent of the people who enter are returnees. They like this tournament and they keep coming back," he said.
Thoughts of expanding the event to include more teams and boats have been considered and rejected, he said.
"Those doing the fishing feel that 50 boats is enough for this body of water, especially when you take into consideration there are a few dozen other boats out there doing some fishing who aren't in the tournament," he said.
Getting all 50 boats launched in the early morning and then docked and loaded up at the end of the tournament becomes a logistical challenge, even with two docks available to handle the flow.
