Joey Payeur
The rest of the teams in the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship now have another full year to figure out how to beat Troy Norman and Jay Samsal.
That might not be long enough.
The Fort Frances-Kenora duo came through in the clutch Saturday with a 17.72-pound haul to win their second-straight FFCBC title with a three-day catch of 55.23 pounds.
That was enough to hold off Day 2 leaders Oliver Gibbins of Morson and Mike Gate from Nestor Falls, who settled for second place after their mark of 14.64 pounds left them with a total of 52.49.
“The game plan came together perfect for us,” beamed a tired but thrilled Norman as the pair outdid their winning total of 53.42 pounds last year to once again take home the $20,000 first prize.
“We figured a couple of different things out there, and let the weather and the fish tell us what to do,” added Samsal.
Chad Johnson (Rogers, Mn.) and John Janousek (Nisswa, Mn.) firmly were entrenched in the “hot seat” on Saturday despite not being in the top 10 boat parade.
Johnson and Janousek assumed the prestigious spot on stage after weighing in the biggest bag of the day at 19.97 pounds, which included the tournament’s big fish at a massive 5.03 pounds.
That put them at 51.30 pounds for the tournament–and they held the lead until Norman and Samsal arrived to the stage under the big tent at the Sorting Gap Marina as the second-last team to weigh in.
Another Fort Frances native also cracked the top five as Bryan Gustafson and partner Brian McNanney (Sioux Narrows) placed fourth with 50.76 pounds.
That put them just ahead of Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson (Keewatin) and John Peterson (Bemidji, Mn.), the last team to repeat as FFCBC champs in 2013-14.
Dale LaBelle (Devlin) and Dave Byrnes (Fort Frances) capped a great tourney, in which they remained in the top 10 all three days, by winding up in sixth place (49.77).
Last year’s runners-up, Mark Raveling (Longville, Mn.) and Mike Luhman (Deer Park, Wis.) finished seventh (49.49), followed by Jon Balaski and Chad Budde of International Falls (48.94) after having the big fish of Day 2 (4.89).
Kenora’s Connor Burton and Jeff Engstrom notched their second-straight top-10 finish with a ninth-place showing (47.80).
Brothers Steve Sandberg (Brooklyn Park, Mn.) and Scott Sandberg (Ham Lake, Mn.), the 2015 tourney champs, rounded out the top 10.
Karl Wolff and Ryan Hyatt of Fort Frances fished up a storm on Day 3 to win the Second Division title–and the $1,000 prize–with a 19.31-pound haul.
