Gill/Hanson win their third MBI

By Ken Johnston
Editor

They the hat trick they were so close to last year but like last year it was close right until the end!
Terry Gill and Chad Hanson won the Morson Bass International for the third time this past weekend with 35.7 lbs. of fish!
They were in first place after Saturday’s weigh-ins with 18.31 lbs. and for that reason were held back on day two to the very end. Rounding out the top five on day one were Rueben Gibbins/Brian Paulson in 2nd with 17.18 lbs., Allan Wolanicki/Scott Asselin in 3rd with 16.34 lbs., Jon O’Connor/Alexis Wilcott in 4th with 16.16 lbs. and David Byrnes/Andrea Turgeon in 5th with 15.95 lbs.
When all the boats but the top five from day 1 had weighed in on day 2, Pat Gibbins/Pat Handorgan stood atop the pack with 28.87 lbs. The top five were then brought through the tent in their boats to show the audience their fish right out of the live well. Byrnes/Turgeon needed 12.93 lbs. to knock Gibbins/Handorgan off the podium. They came up short with 10.69 lbs. for a two day total of 26.64 lbs.
Next up was O’Connor/Wilcott. They needed 12.72 lbs. to take over first and did so with force weighing in the largest basket of the tournament 18.57 lbs. to take the lead with 34.73 lbs.
Wolanicki/Asselin then made the boat trip through the tent. They had nearly the same weight as day 1 with 16.12 lbs. for a tournament total of 32.46 lbs.
Gibbins/Paulson were next to take a shot at O’Connor/Wilcott. They also nearly duplicated their weight from day 1. They added 17.02 lbs. for a two day total of 34.20, just half a pound less than the leaders.
With two time champs Gill/Hanson to come, O’Connor was a bit nervous, “They are always tough to beat!”
He had every right to be nervous, they hoisted up 18.39 lbs. of fish for the audience to see and won their third MBI title.
Gill said that the tournament is two weeks later than it used to be and that was the reason for so many big fish coming in. “They are starting to school up for the fall. If they keep this weekend I bet we will see a 20 pound basket next year!”
Hanson said they primarily used brown tube jigs and, “We fished pretty close to Morson!”
“This lake has a really good population of bass,” elaborated Gill, “We had our best two days of fishing on the lake ever!”
The weather was the biggest challenge on day 2 for most anglers including the champs. “The (strong south) wind kept blowing us off our spot. You would be fighting with a fish and be 50 feet off the spot by the time you landed it. We used up two sets of batteries today,” said Gill.
Second place O’Connor said that even though it was windy the fishing on day 2 for him was unbelievable. “It was a dream day of fishing. We were catching three pounders left and right. Normally you just hope for one or two of them in a day!”
Prizes were awarded as follows:
1st Gill/Hanson-$3,300
2nd O’Connor/Wilcott-$1,600
3rd Gibbins/Paulson-$1,200
4th Wolanicki/Asselin-$900
5th Gibbins/Handorgan-$700
6th Clarence Gibbins Sr. and Jr.-$600
Day 1 biggest baskets:
1st Gill/Hanson 18.31 lbs.-$500
2nd Gibbins/Paulson 17.18 lbs.-$300
3rd Wolanicki/Asselin 16.34 lbs.-$200
Day 1 big fish:
Small mouth-Wolanicki/Asselin 4.29 lbs-$250
Large mouth-Mike Graham/Paul Visser 3.41 lbs.-$250
Day 2 biggest baskets:
1st O’Connor/Wilcott 18.57 lbs-$500
2nd Gill/Hanson 18.39 lbs.-$300
3rd Gibbins/Paulson 17.02 lbs.-$200
Day 2 big fish:
Small Mouth Gibbins/Paulson 4.08 lbs.-$250
Large Mouth Oliver and Jason Gibbins 3.02 lbs.-$250