All we can say is WOW. When we started this event 4 years ago, little did we know the way things would go. It seems to have become an event not to miss in Eastern Ontario.
Registration opened on Sept 12th at 9AM. We were sold out by 8AM the next day. 85 teams registered and ready to go! Folks kept registering for a few days after that led to a waiting list of 14 teams. How many more teams could we get????
Logistically, I thought we may have overstepped what the facilities could handle as there is only one ramp. The water level so low that the next closest ramp was unusable. Honestly, I was stressing. To alleviate the fear of running a bit late getting everyone in the water we made the first hour weigh in end at 930 instead of 9 just to give a cushion if we started a few minutes late.
An email was sent to all teams as to how the launch should go to make sure we did all we could to make it happen on time. The teams were AWESOME. No hold ups, everyone was on the ball and ready to go.
At 7:45 I talked to Brad and Darren who were doing boat checks. “Everyone is here”. WOW. Let’s launch the Lund and get them on their way!
Blastoff went smooth as silk and the 85 teams were out chasing that one bite to get that nice payday!
From all accounts the fishing was great. Largemouth took 6 of the 8 hourly winners with Smallmouth taking the majority of the 2nd and 3rd place placings.
The Winners….
Hour 1.
Hour 2.
Hour 3.
Hour 4.
Hour 5.
Hour 6.
Hour 7.
Hour 8.
On a sad note we did take time to remember a valued member of the Eastern Ontario fishing community. Frank Dufour was a big supporter of this event and had recently and suddenly left us too soon. His son Marc-Antoine decided to carry on and fish the event to honour his Pops wishes. Birdee and I decided we needed to honour Frank that day and every year at Megabucks with the Frank Dufour Memorial Award.
The award honours the team that exemplifies exceptional dedication and support of competitive angling in Eastern Ontario, something that Frank did.
This years winners were Dan and DJ Faubert.
In the end it was a fantastic day. Huge thanks to our events sponsors. Shimano Canada, Pirate Cove Marina, Pro Oil Change in Brockville, The Perfect Jig and Hook Sinker Apparel.
Lastly to our volunteers. Darren, Brad, Dave, Ben, Ariel and my folks who helped out throughout the day. We could never pull a day off like this without your help! Thanks!
