The Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tour made two stops on the U.S. side of Rainy Lake this weekend, wrapping up its season and deciding the participants for the year-end Tournament of Champions.
The pro/am circuit is the only televised derby circuit in Minnesota, pairing seasoned professionals with amateur and junior amateur fisherman for thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.
The tour made two, back-to-back, stops on Rainy Lake crowning two champs and settling the season point standings that determine who gets to fish in the culminating event, the Tournament of Champions, on Lake Minnetonka on Sept. 19 and 20.
Friday’s event saw pro Jim Merthan take the top pro prize of $10,000 and netted his co-angler, amateur Terry McClymont, a cool $2,394. The duo brought in their tournament allotted 8 fish from the U.S. side of the lake with a total weight of 24.06 pounds, including a 4.36 pound lunker.
The win also gave Merthan and McClymont 100 points toward the points championship in their respective classes. McClymont is from Winnipeg and also fished in the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship this year, finishing in 64th place.
Taking second place was Scott Schinderle and amateur Barry Rettke, earning $5,224 and $1,393 respectively. Each earned 99 points toward the championship. Third went to pro Ross Taylor and his co-angler Rick Odenthal, with Taylor taking home $2,786 and Odenthal bagging $958.
Mike Buenting and amateur Dean Nalezny took fourth while pro Mike Schulz and Dan Seeman finished in fifth tied with Dean Capra and amateur Eric Strauch. Schulz and Capra also fished in the FFCBC this year, finishing in 17 and 12 places respectively.
Prize money was awarded both days to the top 15 teams and points to the top 100.
On the second day of competition, pro Chad Johnson and co-angler Rich Taylor took home top spot and the cash. They had a one-day, eight fish, bag weighing 25.57 pounds, bringing in the hawg of the day weighing 4.22 pounds.
Second place went to Michael Bruno and amateur Ron Gerdesmeier while third place went to Dennis Fiedler and amateur Darwin Sumner.
Dean Capra mad his second top-five placing in two days finishing fourth with co-angler Wayne Lengquist. Fifth place was awarded to John Stevenson Sr. and amateur Michael Schnur.
The Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tournament point standings culminated with Dean Capra, Blaine Mn., taking home the top spot with 451 points earned out of a possible 500. He took top-five prizes in three of five events on the tour this season to catapult to the top. H wins a lease of a new truck from Northland Ford for his efforts.
The top five pro point getters were rounded out by Gary Burks, Jim Merthan, Jim Battin and Ross Taylor. Mike Luhman, Chad Johnson and Rick Jansen, who fished the FFCBC this year also placed in the top 20.
The top amateur was Scott Chuck of Minneapolis, who earned top 10 finishes in two of the five stops to win his truck lease.
He was followed by Randy Postel, Stephanie A. Peterson, Troy O’Banion and Terry McClymont filling second through fifth.
The top 40 anglers in both categories get an invite to the Tournament of Champions on Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota on Sept. 19 and 20. Top prize at the two-day championship is a prize package worth nearly $40,000 from Ranger Boats and Yamaha Motors.
To see full results visit www.mnbasstour.com.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
