And with that we will call it a wrap. September 18th saw 96 anglers take part in the last event of the OKBT season on Lake of Bays. With the fall season starting in Ontario that typically means the bass start feeding up so some good fish were expected. With a lot, and I mean a lot, of water to fish on this lake, narrowing down a launching spot and area to target was going to be key.
The cool night carried into the morning and stuck around longer than expected with overcast skies until close to noon hour. That didn’t bother the anglers or the fish as the bass started hitting the leaderboard shortly after the 6:30 am start time. With a couple of quick fish, newcomer to the series Kris Totosko jumped out to the lead. Some good fish were being caught though in the first hour of the event for sure with multiple 19” smallmouth hitting the boards. Not to be outdone Chris Visser was on fish as well and started showing up in the lead pack. As the morning progressed, one thing was sure, everyone was chasing Kris who put up a solid 5 fish limit early. The battle for 2nd through 5th was on. When the board was turned off going into the awards, it was unsure how it would turn out. When it was over the early numbers put up by Kris wouldn’t be caught. He took the early lead and stayed there till the end of day. Chris Butzen put a lock on 2nd place and continued to upgrade through the day but fell short. Brian Arnold took home 3rd place with a solid card as well, actually tying with Chris but fell short on the tie breaker rule. Chris Butzen also took home the Big Bass award for the day.
1st Place – Kris Totosko – 90.50”
2nd Place – Chris Butzen – 82.50”
3rd Place – Brian Arnold – 82.50”
4th Place – Michael Lafferton – 79.00”
5th Place – Matthew Heayn – 78.25”
Big Bass – Chris B – 20.00”
Angler of the Year – Chris Visser
After the event awards were over we continued on to the year awards…The big stuff everyone has been waiting for. We had more than a few very happy anglers that won some of these prizes from our sponsors. David Hesser was the lucky angler to take home the Old Town Canoes & Kayaks Bigwater 132 PDL kayak. Garmin Marine Canada donated 2 Echomap units and were taken home by Rick Beauchamp who won the Echomap UHD 95SV unit and by Mathew Piccioni who received the Echomap UHD 75CV. Chris Dadswell and Jason Northey each took home a Power-Pole Total Boat Control Micro anchor system complete with UL stake and battery pack. Rachel Miller was the recipient of the Fogh Marine $1000 gift card and John Henning took home the Malone Auto Racks EcoLight Sport trailer. The DAIWA Corporation – Canada package of a Kage Rod and Procyon reel was won by Michael Summerton. We also awarded a Daiwa prize pack to the top female angler and that was handed out to Brittney Hockey as well as other various pieces of Daiwa swag to other lucky anglers.
Thanks to all that came out and participated at this event and throughout the season. It was a great year overall and one that we hope to do over again next season.
And, we would also like to thank our judge Joelle Lauzon who does an absolutely amazing job with the task of keeping everything running smooth on tournament day.
Thanks again to all our sponsors. The support is very much appreciated and does not go unnoticed by the anglers.
We hope you all enjoyed the season and we will see you all next year.
Old Town Canoes & Kayaks
Garmin Marine Canada
Fogh Marine
DAIWA Corporation – Canada
Malone Auto Racks
Power-Pole Total Boat Control
Scotty Fishing Products
Angler’s Choice Quality Made Soft Plastics
Dakota Lithium Batteries
Mega Jigs
Mig Sig Outdoors
Streamside
Gagnon Sports
JVM Custom Lures