‘Castin’ for Cash’ a real family affair

What’s the ideal way to celebrate a fishing tournament victory?
How about a trip to Las Vegas.
Jeff Gustafson had a pre-planned trip to Vegas this week for the annual International Convention of Allied Sportsfishing Trades, but will be bringing with him a little extra spending money after he and girlfriend August Collinson hauled in the $5,000 top prize at the eighth-annual “Castin’ for Cash” bass tournament hosted by Lake Despair Lodge.
“It’s hard to win any of these tournaments and we definitely had a little luck today,” Gustafson said shortly after the final weigh-in Saturday.
“The weather was really challenging and we were really struggling for weight all day,” he noted. “But at two o’clock, we got a couple of those big fish in a 20-minute flurry and that was our day basically.”
Gustafson was quick to credit Collinson for reeling in two of the lunkers, including a tournament-best 3.99-pounder.
“I don’t know how we managed to squeak it out but we pulled something out of our hats today,” Collinson noted.
The winning pair’s two-day total of 29.03 pounds bested second-place finishers Ralph Galusha and Pat Steele’s weight of 25.71 pounds, giving the hard-luck duo their third-straight set of runner-up plaques.
“Ralph’s wife said don’t even bother bringing the plaque home because it will just go in the closet with the rest of them until you get a winner’s trophy,” tournament co-host Bill Godin said to laughs from the crowd before calling Galusha and Steele to the stage.
Despite steady rain and heavy winds that plagued the 65 teams throughout the two-day event, a full crowd huddled under the tents to take in the final weigh-in and awards ceremony Saturday.
Emcee Mark Allen kept the crowd entertained with witty banter and engaging interviews.
“It’s these great crowds that have kept us going year after year,” co-host Nellie Godin said while surveying the crowd. “A few years ago we thought about not doing it anymore, but how can you say no to all these people.”
The top team featuring an angler under 15 years of age was Grant Swire and his son, Dillion, who captured third place with an impressive 23.54-pound catch.
Paul Jewiss and Mike Graham, meanwhile, continued to shine at the event, following up last year’s third-place finish with a fourth this time around with 23.23 pounds.
Rounding out the top five were Greg Swire and Paul Visser (21.99).
Last year’s champions, LeRoy and Mike Wilson, couldn’t get on a roll and dropped to 19th place.
“We pre-fished for about three days straight and had great fish in the same area we fished around last year, but the weather was a huge factor for us during the last two days,” Mike Wilson explained.
“What we caught was what we had hooked up,” he added. “You could see them come up to your bait, but they just weren’t consistently biting for us.
“No one has ever repeated here, let alone won it twice, and that was our goal but we’ll be back,” Wilson vowed. “We are definitely going to try to win this again.”
The Godins also gave a big thank you to their staff, all the volunteers, the anglers’ families, and their sponsors for making for another memorable weekend.