Ney brothers win 12th RRWT

By Ken Johnston
Editor

For many anglers in the 12th Annual RRWT, Mother Nature proved to be tougher than them, leaving many of them with empty live wells.
A strong east wind on Thursday shifted around to the northwest and brought with it about 3 inches of rain that lasted all night Thursday and most of Friday. At the end of Day 1 weigh ins 21 teams had been skunked, in addition to being soaked by rain most of the day. However, there were some decent weights and fish that came in with those anglers that did catch fish.
After Day 1, local anglers Dave and Darren Armstrong were in top spot with 14.08 lbs. on four fish. They were followed closely by three former champions of the RRWT. Last year’s 3rd place finishers Jim and Brian Ney (who won the 1st RRWT) of Baudette were in 2nd place with 13.82 lbs.; Bill Godin/Ralph Galusha (won 2007 RRWT) in third with 12.97 lbs.; Mark Chapman/Kent Christianson (won 2003 RRWT) in 4th with 12.73 lbs. and Gerry and Sherri Jolicouer with 12.67 lbs. All five of these teams were to be kept until the end of Day 2 weigh ins to build suspense.
On Day 2 the weather cleared and the wind died down. However, the hangover from the previous day’s rain was to haunt the field. 43 teams failed to weighin a fish on Day 2! Some that did wished they had the crappy weather back from the day before. The heavy rain in the region meant the river received the run-off on Day 2. The water conditions went from bad to really bad.
Muddy water and a stronger current saw the bite drop off dramatically on the second day.
Another team, Leslie Morrison and Clarence Gibbins, Sr., also found themselves wishing they could have Day 1 back, but for another reason. They pulled into the dock via trolling motor about an hour early on Day 1. Their main motor had broken down. They only had three fish for a total wt. of 9.5 lbs. When they weighed in on Day 2 they had four fish that weighed 13.46 lbs. That put them at the top of the pack with 22.96 lbs. which was about a half a pound more than what it took to win the tourney last year.
When all but the top five teams from Day 1 had weighed in they were still in the lead.
Team 18, Gerry and Sherri Jolicouer were the first of the five to come through the tent. They only had 2 fish weighing 6.03 lbs. for a two day total of 18.70 lbs. Then came team 70, Chapman/Christianson who had 4 fish and 9.23 lbs. for a two day total of 21.96 lbs.
Team 86, Godin/Galusha, then entered the tent. Godin is well known in tournament circles and has won many of them. However, this was not to be their day. They were skunked on Day 2.
With only two teams left, Morrison clinched at his chest like his heart was skipping a beat. “I am so nervous,” he told emcee Vaughn Murray.
Team 80, Brian and Jim Ney were next to weighin. They had a solid day with 13.46 lbs and dethroned Morrison and Gibbins. Their two day total to beat was 24.05 lbs.
Brian Ney knew that the last boat had fish, and said, “I wish them good luck!”
Dave and Darren Armstrong had four fish, and needed 8.98 lbs. to win the tourney. However, their fish came in at 6.90 lbs. and the Neys won it.
This was Brian’s second trip to the top of the podium, having won it with a different partner in the inaugural RRWT. His partner and brother, Jim, had never won the RRWT but has fished many other tournaments and won.
The pair said that they also struggled with the elements. “We only caught one fish where we caught most of our fish yesterday; just below the airport. So we moved downstream to try and find cleaner water,” said Brian.
The pair stuck mostly to frozen shiners on lead headed jigs. “Gold was our best colour,” said Brian.
“We thought we had a good chance of winning when we caught a big fish,” said Jim, “But then we saw some other anglers catch big ones,” added Brian. So they weren’t sure.
The pair took home $15,000 for first place.
Rounding out the rest of the prizes were as follows:
2nd-Leslie Morrison/Clarence Gibbins, Sr., 22.96 lbs.-$7,500
3rd-Mark Chapman/Kent Christianson, 21.96 lbs.-$3,750
4th-Dave and Darren Armstrong, 20.98 lbs.-$2,800
5th-Joe Bonhomme/Jim Hall, 19.37 lbs-$2,000
6th-Allan and John Stone, 19.02 lbs.-$1,400
7th-Gerry and Sherri Jolicouer, 18.70 lbs.-$1,300
8th-Jamie and Jeremy Westman, 18.15 lbs.-$1,200
9th-Rennie and Brad Nordberg, 18.04 lbs.-$1,100
10th-Kirk Wood/John O’Connor, 17.70 lbs.-$1,000
11th-Walter Lundin/Don Mills, 15.37 lbs.-$700
12th-Bill Stay/Bryan Barron, 14.90 lbs.-$600
13th-Dave and Earl Ivall, 14.29 lbs.-$500
14th-Troy and Doug Kreger, 14.25 lbs.-$400
15th-Dan and Gord Armstrong, 14.06 lbs.-$300
Hidden Weights
Day1-2.60 lbs-Dean and Kevin Wiersema with 2.55 lbs.-$200
Day 1-7.20 lbs.-Albert and Jordan Beller with 7.33 lbs.-$200
Day 2-4.40 lbs.-Dan and Bryce Godin with 4.49 lbs.-$200
Day 2-5.66 lbs.-Holly Hanson/Wayne Holmes with 5.82 lbs.-$200
Biggest Fish
Day 1-Dan and Gord Armstrong with 8.83 lbs.-$500 and trophy for biggest fish of the tournament.
Day 2-Bill Stay and Bryan Barron with 7.93 lbs.-$500
River Champs
Teams that fished both the Emo Walleye Classic in the spring and the RRWT compete for this title. Winning this year was Bill Godin and Ralph Galusha with combined tournament wts. of 24.97 lbs.-$600
Lionel Robert Memorial Award
This award, presented in memory of long time emcee who passed away a few years ago, is awarded to the biggest basket of the tournament. Dave and Darren Armstrong won that for their Day 1 basket of 14.08 lbs.-$1,000
Canada vs USA
Flight 1
Team USA Bill Stay/Bryan Barron-$250
Flight 2
Team USA Mark Chapman/Kent Christianson-$250
Flight 3
Because there were no USA teams in flight 3, a team was assigned to the USA. Nathan Brigham/Travis Romyn-$250
Team USA also won the overall title with the three teams splitting $300.
A random draw from the winning country, USA, saw Chapman/Christianson win another $500.
Anglers draw
A draw for a hand made fillet knife by Les Abraham of Rainy River was won by Dan Armstrong.
Boat raffle
The RR Jr. Curlers boat draw raffle saw three customs officers win the pontoon boat. They are G. Ball, P. Big George and S. Molodowich. 2nd and 3rd prizes of $500 each went to Richard Murray and Pete Blakeney.