Joey Payeur
For Jim Hall and Joey Bonhomme, the 15th time was the charm.
The Rainy River duo was rewarded for a decade-and-a-half of sticking together to finally bring home their first Rainy River Walleye Tournament championship on Saturday.
They finished with a two-day total weight of 16.69 pounds to pocket the $15,000 first prize in the 84-team field.
“This is like finally winning the Stanley Cup for the Toronto Maple Leafs,” chortled Bonhomme, who himself has fished the RRWT every year since it started 18 years ago.
“I didn’t think this day would ever come,” he admitted.
The duo were third after their Day 1 mark of 10.36 pounds had them behind defending champs Tricia Bombay and Greg Bombay Sr. (12.38) and the team of Jerry Gosnell and Curt Metail (10.91).
But while Bonhomme and Hall brought in four fish for the second-straight day Saturday, though only weighing in at 6.33 pounds, they and the crowd watched in disbelief as Gosnell and Metail pulled out just one fish.
The Bombays, meanwhile, arrived under the big tent empty-handed.
“We thought we had a solid top five, maybe top three, after what we did [Saturday],” noted Hall.
“There was no way we thought we would win,” he added.
“But it’s fishing. It happens.”
Dean and Brian St. Pierre jumped from fourth place to finish second (14.55) while the father-son duo of Brian Major Jr. and Sr. vaulted from seventh to third (14.33).
Scott Asselin and Kris Almers finished fourth (13.12).
Peter Michniewich and Sharon Elder rounded out the top five (12.44).
