Ken Johnston
It was a nail-biter of a finish at the 15th-annual Rainy River Walleye Tournament on Sunday!
Kirk Wood and Jon O’Connor of Rainy River led the pack with an 12.28-pound basket after Day 1 on Saturday.
But plenty of teams were within striking distance and with a big change in the weather, from Saturday’s soaking rains to sunshine on Sunday, it could have been any one of top 25 teams from Day 1 who claimed the top prize.
About midway through the weigh-ins on Day 2, Joe Bonhomme and Jim Hall took over the lead when they added 11.30 pounds to their Day 1 weight of 9.70 for a two-day total of 21.00
And they held that lead until the top five boats from Day 1 weighed in.
Darren and Dave Armstrong of Rainy River—in fifth place after Day 1 with a 10.78-pound total—needed 10.23 pounds to knock Bonhomme and Hall off the lead.
They shattered their lead, weighing in the biggest basket of the tournament (13.44 pounds) for a total of 24.22.
Emcee Vaughn Murray asked the Armstrongs how they felt about their lead.
“Well, we have heard there are some really nice fish to come so we aren’t too sure if we can hold onto it,” replied Dave Armstrong.
Next up were Bill Stay and Bryan Baron of Baudette, Mn., who were fourth after Day 1 with 10.80 pounds.
Needing 13.43 pounds to unseat the Armstrongs, they only weighed in 7.60 for a two-day tally of 18.40.
Doug McBride and Steve Ballan of Fort Frances, who won the RRWT in 2005 and were the only former champs in the top five from Day 1, needed 13.29 pounds to take the lead.
But they only caught two fish Sunday weighing in at 4.78 pounds, which resulted in a two-day total of 15.72.
Sonny Gibbons and Victor Longe, the second place team after Day 1, were skunked on Day 2, which left only Wood and O’Connor to weigh in.
The Armstrongs were nervous and that proved to be justified as the Day 1 leaders hoisted four really nice fish for the crowd to see.
Needing just 11.95 pounds to win the tournament, the packed tent fell silent as weighmaster Lance Lindal waited for the fish to stop flopping around and the scale the settle in.
When he announced 11.88 pounds, a loud “ohhhhh” from the crowd was heard.
People were in shock as to how close it was. But O’Connor, knowing the difference between first and second place was $7,500, asked for a re-weigh.
With the tent falling silent again, the scale was reset and the fish put back on it. But once again it came out at 11.88 pounds.
Wood and O’Connor accepted the outcome and congratulated the 2013 champs, Dave and Darren Armstrong, who then were presented with the tournament trophy and the $15,000 first prize.
The champs only caught two fish on Day 1 but they were nice ones—tipping the scales at 6.25 and 4.53 pounds.
They weighed them in early (around 2:30 p.m.) and quit fishing for the day.
“We couldn’t get anything else and being soaked and tired, we packed it in,” noted Darren.
On the second day, Dave said, “Darren had the hot hand today, bringing in the big ones!”
One of their fish was 7.16 pounds that day.
Waiting for the final boat to weigh in, both were on pins and needles.
“We were very nervous,” admitted Dave.
“We have been waiting for this for a long, long time and have been so close,” noted Darren.
“It was our dream to win this,” added Dave.
Back in 2000, the pair were disqualified when they came in 12 minutes late with a big basket of fish that would have put them at the top of the pack.
“That’s why we came in early yesterday [Day 1] so we wouldn’t be disqualified,” Dave joked.
They fished both directions on Day 1, but found success in the west near the mouth of the river—bringing in those two nice ones.
They headed west again on Day 2.
“Early in the morning, every time I tossed a jig into the water I got one,” recalled Darren.
“Today we caught lots of fish, throwing back about 10 or 11 fish,” he added.
Darren said they used red jigs and sucker minnows both days.
For Kirk Wood, there also was a déja vu linked to the 2000 RRWT. That year, his brother, Colin, and partner Doug Moen also lost the title by a hair—finishing second to the late Kevin Marchuk and Thatcher Haggberg by three-10ths of a pound.
That year, Marchuk and Haggberg also only caught two fish on Day 1 and four on Day 2.
“I would rather have lost by 10 pounds than seven-100ths of a pound,” Kirk Wood said.
“Right now, I do not know if I ever want to fish again but this is today,” he added.
“Tomorrow is another day.”
Wood said they thought they had it for sure.
“On the water, we weighed out at 12.70 pounds,” he noted.
“But fish do lose weight in the live-wells, but so would have Davy and Darren’s,” he reasoned.
Wood said they had a really good Day 2 of fishing, throwing back between 20-30 fish.
“I am happy but discouraged,” he admitted.
3rd-$3,800: Bonhomme and Hall pocketed $3,800 for coming third, followed by Stay and Baron in fourth ($2,500) and Robert Matthew and Ken Vogan in fifth ($2,000).
Rounding out the top 10 were Dean and Brian St. Pierre ($1,600), Bill Godin and Ralph Galusha ($1,500), Jamey and Jeremy Westman ($1,400), Oliver and Jason Gibbins ($1,300), and Al Thompson and Brock Dahl ($1,200).
Also finishing in the money were McBride and Ballan ($700) and Frank McWhinnie and Frank Grunewald ($600).
Godin and Galusha had the big fish for Day 1 (8.27 pounds) while the Westmans had the big fish for Day 2 (8.69 pounds).
Both teams won 60-inch HD TVs.
The Lionel Robert Memorial Award for biggest basket ($1,000) went to Dave and Darren Armstrong (13.44 pounds).
Lloyd Gillis and Chris Blower won the hidden weight for Day 1 (2.67 pounds), with Stewart McNally and Steve McNally taking the hidden weight for Day 2 (3.00 pounds).
Both teams pocketed $200.
The top rookie team—earning a free entry into Emo Walleye Classic—was Cory Ney and Mike Ecklund.
