Joey Payeur
There were dark clouds everywhere, and plenty of pouring rain, yet nothing but sunshine in the smile of Carlee Beazley.
The 14-year-old from Fort Frances teamed up with local anglers Shane Wepruk and Pat Cross to catch a 3.52-pound bass that captured this year’s title in the Safeway Pro-Am Kids’ Fishing Tournament on Sunday that kicked off this week’s Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
With only four angler boats showing up out of the original nine that committed to take part, and with 11 youngsters registered, Beazley had to cool her heels for two hours as some of the anglers had to take out two youths at a time for a two-hour session before returning to bring out those who weren’t part of the first shift.
“I thought it was a pretty good time,” Beazley said about her first pro-am experience.
“Shane just caught the lip of the fish . . . it could have come off the line,” she noted.
Beazley had landed a smaller bass herself earlier before Wepruk changed course.
“I said, ‘Let’s go see if we can win this,’” grinned Wepruk, who also was aboard last year’s winning pro-am boat.
“So we headed east for quite a ways to one of the spots I know pretty good—and we found it.”
Beazley, who recalls fishing for the first time as a two-year-old, said bringing in the fish on her line is her favourite thing about the sport.
She also appreciated the support she got from Wepruk and Cross.
“They were a lot of fun,” she remarked. “They taught me how to cast properly.”
The teen, meanwhile, has visions of bigger fish—and bigger success—ahead.
“A couple of more years, I hope to be in the big tournament [FFCBC],” she grinned.
For his part, Wepruk once again was glad to have the chance to foster the love of fishing in youths.
“The kids are excited to be out there,” he noted.
“We had a few laughs and try and teach them a few things while we’re out there.”
Wepruk cut some slack for those who didn’t fulfill their commitment to appear Sunday—and even those FFCBC anglers who didn’t even register for the pro-am.
“They may have been looking at the weather conditions and assumed it wasn’t going to go on,” he surmised.
“I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
“But we want to grow this event,” Wepruk stressed. “As a kid, it would have been a dream for me to go out in a bass boat.
“You get a kid hooked on fishing and they’ll do it the rest of their life,” he reasoned.
“The community side of [the FFCBC] is important,” added Wepruk. “You want the people to keep packing that tent.
“I tip my hat to those guys who did come out today,” he remarked. “We came together like fishermen do and made sure every kid out here got out on Rainy Lake, and that’s what it’s all about.
“Hopefully, next year it [the pro-am] will be bigger and better.”
Jaxon Gartzke, who paired up with Missouri native and 20-year FFCBC veteran Phil Bangert, took second place in the pro-am with a catch of 2.77 pounds.
Bangert, a huge proponent of this event since it was known in past years as the KidPro, donated 17 used fishing rods he refurbished himself to each of the young anglers, with a few left over.
Braeden Beazley, the champion’s brother, placed third as he, Wepruk, and Cross reeled in a 2.6-pounder.
Jesse Marschalk was fourth (1.85), followed by Kale Nelson in fifth (1.47), with both of them joining the brother angler duo of Devin and Travis Stromness.
Cohen Robinson (with Bangert) took sixth (1.27) just ahead of Sammy Stone, who teamed with Wepruk and Cross for seventh place (1.23).
It was a case of bad luck for three other young anglers.
Ashton Barnes and Bangert were skunked during their two-hour session.
Meanwhile, Brayton Levesque and Tommy Jourdain were the victims of mechanical trouble with the boat of their fishing partner, Duane Cridland, which led to them having to return to the docks after just an hour.
Roman Spuzak was the final youth registrant, but left after the first shift of anglers went out and did not return for the second one.
