Gibbins win RRWT again!

By Ken Johnston
Editor

For the second time in as many years Jason and Oliver Gibbins won the Rainy River Walleye Tournament (RRWT) on Saturday with nearly the same weight as last year.
The pair were in 2nd place after day one with 14.12 lbs. about half a pound behind Danny and Bryce Godin who had 14.74 lbs. on day 1. The defending champs pretty much cinched the crown again this year when they returned to the dock with a 7.13 lbs. monster just 20 minutes after they launched. That gave them 21.25 lbs.
Since the top five from day 1 was held back until the end, the story that unfolded as the other 85 weighed in became very clear as very few fish were caught. Some 32 teams failed to weigh in a fish on day 2, more than double the number who were skunked on day 1. None of the remaining 53 teams would unseat the Gibbins. So it was up to the four other boats that accompanied them to the top five on day 1.
First to visit the scales was the 5th place team from Friday. Cliff Westover and Mark Jodoin had 12.33 lbs. the first day and weighed in a respectable 9.30 lbs.; enough to take the lead from the Gibbins at 21.63 lbs.
A former champ (the first RRWT) Brian Ney and his partner Jim Ney, were 4th on day 1 with 12.62 lbs. They also had a decent basket of fish on Day 2, but the 8.25 lbs. totalled them up at 20.87 lbs.
Wayne Angus and Rick Pruys who had 13.15 lbs. with two beautiful fish day 1, were next to visit the scales. They had four fish on day 2 but only 4.17 lbs.
Oliver and Jason were next to weigh-in. Adding to the 7.13 lbs. they had early on in the day, they needed mere ounces to knock Westover and Jodoin off the podium and they got it, weighing in two more fish to add another 1.17 lbs. for a total of 22.42 lbs.
The only thing left to keep them from winning their third RRWT crown and second in a row was the top team from day 1. Dan Godin and his son Bryce caught their four fish but only small ones weighing 3.17 lbs.
Oliver was in complete shock right after it was announced that they were the 2009 RRWT Champs! “I just can’t believe it. Wow I am in shock,” said Oliver.
Despite catching the big one early on day 2, the pair were not sure what to expect. “Lisa (Stone) caught that big one about 20 yards from us,” said Jason. Stone caught the biggest fish of the derby not long after Oliver and Jason caught their big one that day. Hers was 9.41 lbs. However, those lunkers would prove to be the exception to the rule for the day, even for the Gibbins.
“This was the toughest bite today. We only caught three fish all day, so that big one we caught took a lot of the pressure off,” said Jason.
Everyone was pretty much in the same boat with more than one third of the field not weighing a fish and many only weighing one or two fish that day. Everyone agreed it was a tough tournament. On day one 17 teams did not weigh in a fish and one team even had negative weight. Team 48, Sara Berg and Neil Ivall were penalized half a pound on day 1 for speeding through the no wake zone. Fortunately they redeemed themselves with a .60 lb. fish on day 2 to get out of negative wt. territory.
Even the number of big fish was down on day 2 with only three being weighed, the two already mentioned (Lisa Stone 9.41 lbs., Oliver and Jason Gibbins 7.13 lbs.) and a 5.91 lbs. by Glen Anders and Kathy Noton.
On day 1 eight fish were weighed ranging from 5.17 lbs. to 8.79 lbs. The latter was the big fish on day 1 and was caught by Doug and Zack McBride.
Prizes awarded were as follows:
1st-$15,000-Oliver and Jason Gibbins-22.42 lbs.
2nd-$7,500-Cliff Westover and Mark Jodoin-21.63 lbs.
3rd-$3,500-Brian and Jim Ney-20.87 lbs.
4th-$2,800-Bill Godin and Ralph Galusha-18.97 lbs.
5th-$2,000-Bill Stay and Bryan Barron-18.28 lbs.
6th-$1,400-Dan and Bryce Godin-17.91 lbs.
7th-$1,300-Wayne Angus and Rick Pruys-17.32 lbs.
8th-$1,200-Cathy and Claude Seguin-15.51 lbs.
9th-$1,100-Joe Bonhomme and Jim Hall-13.79 lbs.
10th-$1,000-Fred Foulger and Dickie Byrnes-13.23 lbs.
11th-$700-Dave and Darren Armstrong-13.03 lbs.
12th-$600-Glen Anders and Kathy Noton-12.77 lbs.
13th-$500-Ed Carlson and Jason McQuaker-12.70 lbs.
14th-$400-Doug Jorgenson and Al Wolanicki-12.49 lbs.
15th-$300-Dean and Brian St. Pierre-11.41 lbs.
Day 1 Hidden wt. was 6.81 lbs. Sean Westman and Dave Oldakowski won $300 for having 6.82 lbs. that day.
Day 2 Hidden Wt. was 4.41 lbs. Ken Vogan and Robert Matthews won $300 for having 4.48 lbs. that day.
River Champs (top team that fished both the Emo Walleye Classic and the RRWT) was Bill Godin and Ralph Galusha which earned them $1,200.
Day 1 big fish was 8.79 lbs. caught by Doug and Zack McBride and earned them $500.
Day 2 big fish was 9.41 lbs. caught by Lisa Stone and Raymond King and earned them $500.
The Lionel Robert Memorial Award for largest basket of the tournament went to Dan and Bryce Godin for their day 1 basket and earned them $1,000.
The Top PrinceCraft team was Dave and Darren Armstrong, earning them $1,000.
Winning the boat raffle was Richard Anderson of Dugald, Manitoba. Taking 2nd prize of $1,000 was Leanne Nault of Kenora and 3rd prize of $500 went to Nibs and Cheryl Kreger of Rainy River.