Joey Payeur
“So the last shall be first. . . .” (Matthew 20:16).
Such was the case for the local father-son duo of Luc and Brale Levesque, who recorded 18.79 pounds to take the lead after Day 1 of the 21st-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship yesterday.
They were designated as Team #95—the last pairing on the start list for the tournament.
But with only 15 teams left to weigh in, and most of the spectators already having left the big tent at the Sorting Gap Marina, the Levesques vaulted to the top of the leaderboard.
Heading into Day 2 today, they held a .36-pound lead over another late-starting team in Caleb Colwell and Tim Klug from Green Bay, Wis.
They left the dock yesterday as Team #92 but returned to sit in second place at 18.43 pounds.
“The key today was fishing in deep water . . . that’s where we were catching them,” said the elder Levesque, an FFCBC veteran who had a day to remember with his 17-year-old son in the teen’s first crack at the tournament.
“[Brale] was amazing,” his dad lauded.
“He has fished with me for years . . . it was half-and-half on the catches today.”
Brale Levesque almost couldn’t believe his good fortune in his rookie debut.
“I’m surprised we did so well considering this is my first time,” he admitted.
“I just followed [my dad’s] lead.”
As far as staying in front for the next two days, Luc Levesque was content with living in the moment.
“It doesn’t matter,” he stressed. “I’m happy with this.”
Colwell, with several years of FFCBC experience, and first-timer Klug were another example where the combining of the old and the new paid dividends.
“I like Rainy Lake, I like it a lot,” enthused Klug, who said “fishing slow” proved beneficial during the day.
“When they were biting, they were biting good.
“We’re hoping we can keep it going,” Klug added. “All you can do is hope.
“Things can change so fast,” he conceded.
The family theme on the leaderboard continued with Minnesota brothers Steve Sandberg (Coon Rapids) and Scott Sandberg (Maple Grove), who finished eighth last year but sat in third after Day 1 (18.19).
Lurking just behind them was the five-time champion team of Joe Thrun (Annandale, Mn.) and Jim Moynagh (Carver, Mn.)
The pair laid to rest—at least for one day—any talk about their best FFCBC days being behind them with a solid mark of 17.86 to grab fourth place.
Grant Swire (Devlin) and Leroy Wilson (International Falls) cracked the top five with their bag of 17.70.
Rounding out the top 10 were the Emo pair of Eric and Matt Veldhuisen in sixth (17.44), Fort Frances’ Duane Cridland and Chad Hanson in seventh (17.32), Chad Johnson (Rogers, Mn.) and John Janousek (Nisswa, Mn.) in eighth (17.28), Fort duo Karl Wolff and Ryan Hyatt in ninth (17.07), and Dean Smith (Kenora) and Mike Salvador (Sioux Narrows) in 10th (17.01).
Fort Frances native Bryan Gustafson, who finished second last year with Brandon McMillan (Clewiston, Fla.), found good chemistry with McMillan’s replacement this year, Sioux Narrows resident Brian McNanney.
The pair reeled in the big fish of Day 1 that tipped the scales at 5.65 pounds—not far off the all-time FFCBC record of 5.94 set by Denny Nelson and Dave Smith back in 1998.
However, they have some work to do to get into contention for the overall title as their mark of 16.22 pounds only had them in 19th place heading into Day 2.
As for the two-time defending champs, the road to a “three-peat” became much more rocky after a difficult opening day.
Jeff Gustafson (Kenora) and John Peterson (Bemidji, Mn.) will have to come from back in the pack after their 14.80-pound haul yesterday only was good enough for 37th place.
“That’s the lowest bag we’ve had since we started fishing together here in 2007,” a disappointed Gustafson said.
“We never got the right kind of bites.”
Peterson wasn’t about to pass the torch, though.
“We’re not out of contention,” he stressed.
“In a three-day tournament, this lake will give us some 20-pound bags.”
Today’s weigh-in begins today at 3:30 p.m., with the final weigh-in tomorrow getting underway at 3 p.m.
