A local fisherman didn't let the big one get away at a recent fishing tournament in Bonnyville, and won nearly $29,000 for his efforts.
A local fisherman didn’ t let the big one get away at a recent fishing tournament in Bonnyville, and won nearly $29,000 for his efforts.
Chris Suhan, along with fishing partner Ryan Johnson, of Cold Lake, won first place at the recent Moose Lake Walleye Classic, besting a field of 110 boats in the two-day competition.
The duo caught eight walleye over the course of the competition, with an average weight of 4.1 pounds, and the largest of them tipping the scales at 5.6 pounds. Suhan said it felt good to win, and that it took a team effort to come away with the victory.
“It was about time,” he said with a laugh. “I can only take half of the credit, though.”
A half hour made all the difference in the team’ s first place finish. Suhan and Johnson tied with the second place team when it came to fish size, but came out on top because they had weighed their fish before the second place team did. Suhan said it was the first time that had happened on the Western Canadian Walleye Trail, a series of walleye fishing competitions.
“We ended up actually tying for first place, which has never happened in a tournament on the Trail,” he said, adding that teams must weigh in two fish at a time, topping out at four fish per day. “We weighed our first two fish before the second place team caught us, basically.”
Up next for Suhan is the Premier’ s Cup in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, one of Canada’ s largest annual walleye tournaments, which gets underway on August 6.
Anyone looking to take part in the Western Canadian Walleye Trail next fishing season can visit their website at www.walleyetrail.ca for more information.
