Saturday September 12th saw the close to the OKBT 2020 live event season with the Kashagawigamog Lake tournament. The day was, lets say interesting, for the lack of a better term. With unsettled weather all week leading up to the event the pre-fishing was slow and tough from all reports. Friday saw a little break in the weather late in the day and that carried through to Saturday morning, but that didn’t hang around for long as another cold front blew in and the winds picked back up as the temps dropped. But that didn’t deter the 60 anglers that made the trip to Haliburton, ON from going out and giving their best effort to try and make the podium one last time.
After the numbers were in there were only 68 fish judged and only one 5 bass limit posted for the day. Rick Beauchamp came in with a hard earned full card and posted a 68.75″ total to take the win. In a tight race for the second position Cassandra Charity put up 4 bass at 54.75″and that was enough to edge out John Dean who came in with a smaller 3 bass card of 53.00″. Although the numbers were low the quality of bass showed up with plenty in the 19″ range and a handful over the 20″ mark. Big Bass of the day went to Mike Michael Lafferton with a 21″ smallmouth.
1st Place – Rick Beauchamp – 68.75″ – $1568.97
2nd Place – Cassandra Charity – 54.75″ – $756.47
3rd Place – John Dean – 53.00″ – $476.29
Big Bass – Mike Lafferton – 21.00″ – $300
The second part of the day was to settle the Angler of the Year award. The AOY is presented to the angler that shows the most consistent results throughout the season and is a coveted title to earn. In the OKBT the AOY is calculated by using the best 3 results of the 4 events. It was a tight race down to the end with a couple anglers in the hunt going into the final day. At the end it was Richard Ofner who took home the OKBT 2020 AOY title. Richard had a great season and showed that putting in the time and effort pays off. Congratulations Richard.
AOY
1st Place – Richard Ofner – 330 pts
2nd Place – John Dean – 319 pts
3rd Place – Rick Beauchamp – 310 pts
After the days awards were handed out we got down to business with the year end draw prizes. For each event you entered your name was put into the draw pool. This year we had a truly incredible array of prizes to hand out from all our sponsors at each event and the year end ones just topped it off.
So here are the winners of the year end prizes.
Old Town Canoes & Kayaks Topwater PDL 120 – Frank Barone
Fogh Marine $1000 Gift Certificate – Kyle Carruthers
Malone Auto Racks Eco Light Trailer – Brian Smuk
Power-Pole Total Boat Control Micro Anchor System – Justin Warner
Malone Auto Racks Wide Trak Cart – Kevin Powell
Congratulations to all and thank you to the companies for providing these prizes.
As we close down 2020 and start the planning for next year I have to say thanks you to a lot of people. First and foremost, you the anglers for sticking it out this year and coming to the events even in the chaotic times we are all experiencing right now. Thankfully we were able to adapt to be able to bring these events to you and your support showed us that you appreciated that. We had the highest attended events in the OKBT three year history and at any event ever in Ontario. For this the OKBT thanks you.
Secondly we have to thanks all the fantastic sponsors that we have helping us bring these events to the level we are at. Without them we would be unable to provide you all with the generous gear at the end of the events and the incredible year end draws. These companies continued to support the OKBT this year even during the tough economic times that a lot of companies were facing. This shows their dedication to the OKBT and the anglers. What we can all do to show our appreciation to these companies is support them…. remember them when you are making your next purchase and support their products.
A great big thank you goes out to the following supporters of the OKBT:
Old Town Canoes & Kayaks
Fogh Marine
Malone Auto Racks
Power-Pole Total Boat Control
DAIWA Corporation – Canada
Mega Jigs
Scotty Fishing Products
Dakota Lithium Batteries
Gagnon Sports
SAIL Oshawa
Quantum Fishing Canada
Bam Baits
JVM Custom Lures
Jeff Scott – Tourney Tags
I will say it again, thank you all for making this 2020 season the best so far. We truly have the best anglers and companies supporting us. Here’s to 2021 and making it even better.