The third stop on the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail for the 2022 season was held on the always difficult waters of Kenogamisis Lake in the community of Geraldton.  The Lake has proven in the past to provide ample small fish for the anglers however the larger “Overs” have proven illusive most tournament days.  The Friday night rules meeting heard many stories of larger fish being caught during the prefish bringing many to think the tournament might see some larger than normal bags.  Saturdays weigh-in would prove whether the prefish rumours would hold for the weekend.

Anglers awoke Saturday morning to decent weather that later turned to heavy rains and brisk winds.  Although the weather offered some challenges, a few “Overs” were brought to the scale early.  Ken Casey and Andrew Bennet claimed the Big Fish Prize for Day one of $1000 with a 5.84lb kicker.  That was also good to give the Thunder Bay duo second place after day one.  Leading the 114-team field was another Thunder Bay team of William Budiselic and Wayne Biloski with 12.69lbs.  Rounding out the top five for day one was Dave Lemeiux (Mattice) and Jonathan Collins (Hearst) with 11.64lbs for third, Jody Villeneuve (Skead) and Joey Raymond (Garson) with 11.59 lbs for fourth and the top local team of Doug Gile and Danny Deroy with 11.49lbs for fifth.

Despite all the pre-fish rumours, Kenogamisis seemed to stifle the field and prove to be a tough venue for the anglers to find the BIG ones.  The forecast for day two was cooler temperatures and a slight wind change.  Not necessarily a recipe for angler success and the weights by the end of day two would prove it.   Most of the field found day two even more difficult than day one with most teams’ weights dropping day two.  Following the conclusion of the weigh-in of the teams not in the top ten, a local Geraldton team was sitting in the hot seat.  The husband-and-wife team of Eric and Terrie Stewart were able to catch a 4.01lb walleye to anchor their double-digit bag for day two.  Not a large fish by most standards but it was the biggest walleye surrendered by the lake day two.

Eric and Terrie Stewart’s total weight of 19.54lbs would have to hold up against the top ten anglers from day one if they were to win the GWC and $10,000 cash.  The tension grew as one after another the top ten teams from day one were unable to unseat the pair.  The pairs hopes would fade as Jody Villeneuve and Joey Raymond carried what appeared to be a good bag of fish to the scale.  The scale revealed only the third double digit bag of the day and the Sudbury area pair vaulted into the lead.  The next three teams to weigh struggled day two after having great day ones.  None were able to knock off Jody and Joey and the team would claim the first place prize of $10,000.  Jody and Joey were the only team to post double digit weights both days on what most anglers would consider an extremely tough lake to be consistent.

The final top five were as follows:

1st Jody Villeneuve and Joey Raymond 21.93lbs

2nd William Budiselic and Wayne Bloskie  20.54lbs

3rd Eric Stewart and Terrie Stewart 19.54lbs

4th Ken Casey and Andrew Bennett 19.05lbs

 

5th Dave Lemieux and Jonathan Collins 18.62lbs

Other prize notes from the weekend:

GARMIN Biggest Bag of the weekend(Echomap UHD 7cv)

GARMIN Marine Electronics highest finishing Team($500 Credit)

FXR’s cool under pressure winners for the team making the biggest move in the standings

STREAMSIDE Biggest Fish of the weekend($600 package of rods/reels)

The rest of the GWC standings (2022 results) as well as the updated NOWT angler of the year standings (AOY standings updated)  can also be viewed on the NOWT website (www.nowt.ca).  The current Raxfin Angler of The Year leaders are Jason Doyon in first, Sylvain Bernard in second, and the father son team of Francis and Jessy Dechamplain in third.  There are still four events remaining this season for anglers to battle for the highly coveted NOWT AOY award and a new side by side generously donated by Raxfin.

Next stop, the Longlac Walleye Masters in July!