Gaudry/Blight snag their first RRWT title

By Ken Johnston
Editor

The weather was spectacular and so was the fishing for the 14th Annual Rainy River Walleye Tournament, held this past weekend.
On day 1 only one team did not catch any fish. And the vast majority, 86 teams, weighed in four fish.
Local teams dominated on day 1. Early in the day Shannon Jonasson and her father Chris Stone brought in a lunker. The 8.48 lbs. fish would end up being the biggest fish of the day and propel them to the top of 90 team field on Day 1 with 15.92 lbs.
Joe Dobransky and Brian Larsen also had a couple of nice fish the first day and were a close second at 13.78 lbs.
Rounding out the top five that day were Christian Armstrong/Mark Nault-13.14 lbs., Dave and Darren Armstrong with 13.13 lbs. and Robert Matthew/Ken Vogan with 12.39 lbs.
Many anglers reported catching over 100 walleye on the first day, but noted that most were small fish. It was those who found the big ones that ended up on top of the leader board.
On the second day the old saying, “The fish bite the least when from the east,” appeared to be true. Around lunch time the wind picked up from the east. While most teams weighed in four walleye, many anglers said they found they caught very few fish compared to the previous day. Some teams said the morning bite was good, but others said they did not have any fish until very late in the day.
One of the very first teams to weigh in was John Blight and Sean Gaudry. They had a big fish that tipped the scales at 8.14 lbs. Their two day total was 24.40 lbs. and would put them at the top of the podium, not to be dethroned by any of the other teams.
The closest challenge Blight and Gaudry was former champions Doug McBride and Steve Ballan of Fort Frances. They brought in an 8.68 pounder, the biggest fish of day 2. However, their two day total was about a half a pound lighter than Blight and Gaudry, at 23.96 lbs.
Nibs and Cheryl Kreger also had a strong second day bringing in a 6.76 pound fish early and adding another six pounds with their other three fish to eventually end up in third place with 22.48 lbs.
With 84 other teams weighed in, Blight and Gaudry were called up on stage to see if the top five teams from day 1 could unseat them. Matthew/Vogan were first to enter the tent. They needed 12.02 lbs. to take the lead. They had four fish but only weighed in 8.21 lbs.
Dave and Darren Armstrong also had four fish. Needing 11.28 lbs. they fell short with only 8.07 lbs.
Armstrong/Nault needed 11.27 lbs. but were in the same ball park as the previous two teams weight four fish for 8.35 lbs.
Dobransky/Larsen needed 10.63 lbs., but their four fish were only 6.23 lbs.
With only one team to come, Blight and Gaudry were feeling confident they were going to win the tournament. Their confidence would soon be validated. Needing 8.5 lbs. Jonasson and Stone had four fish but they only weighed 5.18 lbs.
Gaudry and Blight were super stoked! Blight picked up the trophy and hoisted it high into the air, Gaudry grabbed his son Owen hoisted him into the air. The victory earned them $15,000 and bragging rights for a year!
Blight said they found the second day a tougher bite. “We fished all over from Clementson to the mouth of the river. The east wind made it tougher.”
As for the secret of their success, big fish both days, (a 6.53 lbs. and 8.14 lbs) Gaudry said, “We stuck to jigging. As for the colour we used the most, that is top secret!”
Prizes for the tournament were as follows:
1st John Blight/Sean Gaudry, 24.40 lbs., $15,000
2nd Doug McBride/Steve Ballan, 23.96 lbs., $7,500
3rd Nibs and Cheryl Kreger, 22.48 lbs., $4,000
4th Christian Armstrong/Mark Nault, 21.49 lbs., $2,800
5th Oliver and Jason Gibbins, 21.30 lbs., $2,000
6th Dave and Darren Armstrong, 21.20 lbs., $1,600
7th Chris Stone/Shannon Jonasson, 21.10 lbs, $1,500
8th Rick and Mark Thompson, 20.71 lbs., $1,400
9th Robert Matthew/Ken Vogan, 20.59 lbs., $1,300
10th Joe Dobransky/Brian Larsen, 20.01 lbs., $1,200
11th Dorothy Leininger/Jamie Hartnell, 19.34 lbs., $700
12th Al and Chris Stone, 18.52 lbs., $600
13th Bill Godin/Ralph Galusha, 18.47 lbs., $500
14th Bill Stay/Bryan Barron, 18.02 lbs., $400
15th Terry Wizcek/George Schell, 18.00 lbs, $300
Day 1 big fish, Stone/Jonasson, 8.48 lbs., 50” flat screen tv
Day 2 big fish, McBride/Ballan, 8.68 lbs., 50” flat screen tv
Biggest one day basket, Stone/Jonasson, $1,000
Top Rookie team, Dewey Beckel/Leanne Leefe, 15.13 lbs., $300
Hidden wts. Day 1, 4.11 lbs. and 6.30 lbs. won by Faye Dyck/Archie Andrews and Ken Trenchard/Chris Oakes respectively. Each team received $200.
Hidden wts Day 2, 5.08 lbs and 3.54 lbs. won by Pete Blakeney/Daniel Stamler and Tom and Mike Irvine respectively. Each team received $200.
Two angler only draws were held. Harvey Cochrane/Mike Maxton won a book and Blakeney/Stamler won hand crafted (by Les Abraham of RR) fillet knives.
Winning the RR Legion Boat Raffle was:
Boat-Kirk Wood
$1,000-Jeff Imrie
$500-Dustin Hawlett