2022 champions Ian Waterer and Motei Demers went wire to wire over three days to win for their second time on Rainy Lake after a second place finish last year.
It was an up and down tournament for most teams. Many teams told MC Shane Beckett that it was a grind while others came in with heavy bags each day.
But only Waterer and Demers managed to be over 19 lbs all three days. Despite finishing each day with the highest total weight, it wasn’t easy.
“It got harder and harder every day,” they said. “First day we had what we had at noon, second day two, and today it wasn’t ‘til three o’clock, so by the skin of our teeth. This morning I think we lost two or three nice ones and I think it took five years off my life. It’s all over now but man was I stressing.”
“I kissed his forehead, I swear on my life,” they said. “It was emotional, that’s for sure. We didn’t wait, when the last one got in the net we pulled the trolling motor and said we’re done. Second and third are two of our best friends so we couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out.”
Rounding out the top three were the team of James Hill and Chris Viel with a total of 57.50 and Mike Badiuk and Kyle Turgeon with a total of 57.32.
Last year’s champions Bryan Gustafson and Mike Luhman found themselves in a hole early after a day one bag of 16.45 pounds and fell to the 29th position. But a pair of 18-plus lb bags got them back in the money and they managed to finish in ninth place.
Former Bassmaster champion Jeff Gustafson and his partner John Peterson came into the big tent in 10th place but a good bag at 19.88 lbs on day three saw them outlast several other top-10 teams and finish in fourth with a three-day total of 56.18 lbs.
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The popular boat parade candy toss is always a crowd-pleaser
