Father-and-son team LeRoy and Mike Wilson thought the final tally would be close despite leading the “Castin’ for Cash” bass tournament with a 15-pound total on Friday.
Luckily for them, it wasn’t.
The Wilsons brought in 27.12 pounds between the two days—enough to hold off Pat Steele and Ralph Galusha’s 26.16-pound total at the annual tournament held at Lake Despair Lodge.
“We had an idea,” Mike Wilson said of his team’s chances. “We didn’t know it was going to be a pound difference.”
The pair said they had been at the top of the leaderboard before, and not been able to translate that to a tournament win, and they so left nothing to chance.
“[Friday] night I was in bed as soon as I got home, six o’clock,” Mike chuckled. “Today [Saturday], we were ready to rock.”
LeRoy Wilson said he was proud of his son, and that it was “rewarding” to have finally hit the $5,000 top prize fishing with him.
“I’ve been dragging him around since he was 10 years old to these tournaments,” he said. “He was the big cheese today.”
For Mike, the experience of winning with his father was almost too emotional to verbalize.
“I can’t even explain,” he said. “There’s no words to explain. I’ve fished with my dad my whole life.”
Steele and Galusha were on the outside looking in again—settling to be the second-best team out of the field of 60.
The pair took the number-two slot for the second time in as many years, and despite ranking in the top three for three of the past for years failed once more to take the top prize.
Tournament host Bill Godin jokingly had issued them an ultimatum to win this year or volunteer in 2008.
“He didn’t set his alarm clock. He’s still dreaming,” Steele joked.
“I guess we should see with Bill if we’re still allowed in,” Galusha added.
Godin lightheartedly decided after the tournament to give them another shot. “Next year’s next year,” he said. “One of these year’s they’ll do it.”
Big fish winners were Bob and Ross Steele on Friday, with a bass weighing in at four pounds even. The biggest bass of the weekend was Saturday’s catch for Eric and Cody Mosbeck—a 4.24 pounder.
That fish was part of a 13.3-pound haul that outshone the rest of the field on the second day, catapulting the Mosbecks into sixth place.
Their catch was the exception as a number of anglers said they had trouble on the second day, even with sunny skies and beautiful weather.
“Castin’ for Cash,” which celebrated its seventh year, hasn’t always been so fortunate with the weather, and has seen its share of rainy years.
The tournament also had a scary moment early Friday angler Trevor Zimak, from Thunder Bay, was ejected from his boat and suffered a bone chip and a few minor cuts.
A pin reportedly was put in his ankle and he had to drop out of the tournament.
His partner, Murray Fontaine, was not hurt in the incident.
One of the changes for this year was the presence of Mark “Veg” Allen, who took over for the late Lionel Robert as emcee. Allen was thanked by many anglers on stage and applauded at the close of Saturday evening’s presentations.
“Castin’ for Cash” also debuted a new event this year—a tournament for children who could take to the docks or paddleboats to see what they could bring in.
“We had thought about doing something for the kids because they really don’t have something to do for the day,” said Bob Allen, one of the organizers of the kids’ tournament.
The turnout of 22 children was a pleasant surprise, he added, with the best of the bunch receiving prizes like rods, reels, and tackle boxes.
“Overall I think it was a great success,” Allen said. “We were really surprised that they even caught fish, and some of them were bringing in five fish in an hour. It was unreal.”
Godin said after he was happy with how the weekend worked out.
“Everybody had a good time,” he said. “Weather held out for us. Didn’t get rained out this year.”
Here are the top 15 finishers:
1. LeRoy Wilson/Mike Wilson (27.12 pounds)
2. Pat Steele/Ralph Galusha (26.16)
3. Paul Jewiss/Mike Graham (25.71)
4. Wayne Howard/Jason Cain (23.66)
5. Davis Viehbeck/Mike Deschamps (22.92)
6. Eric Mosbeck/Cody Mosbeck (22.7)
7. Bruce Ness/Walker Wegner (22.58)
8. Mark Wilson/Glen Ward (22.0)
9. Jon Evans/Gus McFadden (21.88)
10. Jeff Bragg/Irwin Hughes (21.0)
11. Grant Swire/Dillion Swire (20.86)
12. Mel Giesbrecht/Chris Bell (20.66)
13. Dave Evans/Randy Kirk (20.22)
14. Brian Gustafson/Brian White (18.72)
15. Bob Chabot/Norm Woods (18.38)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
