First NOWT event of 2022 at Mattagami First Nation is in the books!

It was a return in the making for the 2022 season and it did not disappoint. 180+ Anglers reconnected at the rules meetings and new long lasting friendships were made. There was still lots of nervous energy felt at the meeting with day 1 take off less than 12 hrs away. The morning of Day 1 blast off saw calm weather and smooth departure for all teams. Winds picked up in the afternoon which many teams said improved the bite. Teams returned at 4 pm to weigh in their catches and the weights on the board indicated some very good days. Three teams broke the 16 lb barrier while the top ten featured all double digit weights. Leading the pack on day 1 was the team of Steve Gravel and Kevin Robineau with 16.97 lbs. Rounding out the top five on day 1: Kyle Monkman & Bill Arnott with 16.16 lbs, Chris Porteous & Tim Martel with 16.06 lbs, Darren Dinel & Andre Chenier with 15.68 lbs, Paul Ethier & Ray Seguin with 14.19 lbs.

Day 2 blast off saw some fog in the morning but no delays as it lifted quick. Again another great weather day for the anglers with the hopes of pushing up the leaderboard or maintaining the current position. Weigh ins started at 3 pm but the top 5 from day 1 were held back to the very end and the suspense was growing. As usual in most tournaments, a shift in the top 5 takes place as some teams fall off and some teams make a push. The conclusion of this event did not disappoint. Two teams were able to make a strong push into the top 5. The team of Jeffrey Shippam & Dan Katic brought in a 15.69 lb bag of walleyes on day 2 to finish in 5th place.

The team of Shane Turcotte & Cory Nephin stayed consistent over both days with a day 2 bag of 13.11 lbs and a 4th place finish.

3rd place with a total weight of 27.80 lbs was the team of Chris Porteous and Tim Martel

2nd place with a total weight of 28.36 lbs was the team of Kyle Monkman & Bill Arnott

1st place team and they led wire to wire was Stevel Gravel & Kevin Robineau with a total weight of 34.16 lbs. These guys were on big fish all weekend with a day 2 weight of 17.19lbs. Steve & Kevin mentioned that part of their success over the weekend was using the Garmin Livescope technology to find active fish and good decision making on both days. Congratulations to these guys for a great event and kicking off the 2022 NOWT season.