Well all I can say is I am happy that the first OKBT event of 2020 is over and went off without any issues. Three months ago if you were to ask me if I thought it would be a go I likely would have shrugged my shoulders and said we will have to see what happens. But go ahead it did. With a bit of changing on our part to accommodate the guidelines in effect in the Province at this time and a lot of support and understanding from the anglers, we managed to pull it off. And not only did we hold the event, it was a record attendance with 76 anglers on Sturgeon Lake for the event.
The day was great. Weather was super hot and clear skies, and add to that the typical Kawartha weekend boat traffic and it made for a tough but very good day of fishing. We had 26 full cards on the day and our judge viewed 243 submissions, although from all accounts there were a lot more fish caught and not submitted due to photo issues and undersized fish.
Mike Morand jumped out to an early lead and stayed there for most of the day. It wasn’t until about 2 hours left that things started to get stirred up. Richard Ofner quietly posted fish and jumped out front and soon afterwards Nelson Brunes decided he wanted to come and play and took over the lead. As the leaderboard shut down with an hour to go and it wasn’t until the awards were announced that we knew who took the win.
When it was all over it finished with Paul Winkel taking 1st place with 84.25″ after a 1″ upgrade in the last 25 minutes. Nelson Brunes ended up second with 83.75″ and Mike Hockey in third with 83.50″. Nelson also took home Big Bass honours with a 20.50″ smallmouth. All in all it was an awesome day. It was a bit different having to go with Facebook Live for the awards but it all worked out and hopefully we will be able to get together in a 76 person bubble soon.
A huge thank you goes out to all of our sponsors who continued to support us through these times. Old Town Canoes & Kayaks / Fogh Marine / Power-Pole Total Boat Control / Malone Auto Racks / DAIWA Corporation – Canada / Mega Jigs / Dakota Lithium Batteries / Scotty Fishing Products / Quantum Fishing Canada / JVM Custom Lures / Gagnon Sports / Bam Baits / SAIL See you all at Lake Couchiching on July 18th