Main Street was overtaken on the evening of Friday June 20th for the inaugural Geraldton Walleye Classic Parade of Boats. The overwhelming participation of 32 angling teams and hundreds spectators, created quite a buzz throughout the Greenstone region. The teams of Neil Sheach/Mitch Assad and Lebel clan reeled in a cash prize of $100 each for the most creative boats. Teams, spectators and sponsors then gathered at the Barton Bay Waterfront for a great weekend of fishing and relaxed atmosphere despite the weather and bugs.
Moving the tournament to the waterfront from the Kenogamisis Fish & Game/Sno Club turned out to be success after all; parking, launching and the morning boat take off worked out well and with many suggestions for improvements from anglers will only get better. The Municipality of Greenstone, its Public Works and Recreation staff played a key roll in the preparation of the new location.
The anglers braved some wet weather on Sunday to have one of the most exciting finishes this year on the Northern Ontario Professional Walleye Trail (NOPWT) circuit. The Geraldton Walleye Classic marks the third stop of the five tournament circuit in the NOPWT. Sunday saw the top ten weigh-in, in reverse order of Saturday’s total weight! This meant the team in first, on day one, would weigh in last on day two, knowing the weight they would need to claim the title. Craig Salmonson and Toru Garneau who lead day one, thanks to a 7.59lb tournament big fish, had the lead after day one and the honor of weighing in last. Unfortunately, their catch fell short and left them in fourth. Larry Kelly and Trevor Zimak of Thunder Bay were also unable to catch a fish like the 6.89lb they caught day one and finished where they had finished day one, in third place. Dan Goulet and Caroline Ritch of Nakina also struggled, day two, to repeat the great catch of day one and fell to fifth for the tournament. The only two teams in the top ten to break the ten pound mark during day two were Denis Martin and Jean Paul Laflamme of Hearst, and the team of Cory Nephin (Geraldton) and Tom Friday (Thunder Bay). The two teams were also tied, following day one, so the final outcome would be based on the best catch of day two. The Hearst duo would weigh-in first with a catch of 11.38lbs. Cory and Tom stepped to the scale knowing what they needed to claim the first place prize. Their catch anchored by a 4.98lb fish would be enough to claim the event, by less than a pound! Complete tournament results can be found at http://www.geraldtonwalleyeclassic.ca/ !
Written by Donna Pelletier
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