Shane Turcotte and Greg Ryckman capture the Kapuskasing River Walleye Tournament crown by vaulting from 4th to 1st on Day 2.
The weather was hot and so was the fishing for most teams on Day1. Many teams managed to catch nice weights on Day 1 and the field was pretty tight. Leading the way on Day 1 was Denis Gaulin and Rene Godbout with 18.32 lbs followed by Craig Santala and John Ranta with 17.75 lbs, Dan Breault and Manon Paquin with 17.71 lbs, Shane Turcotte and Greg Ryckman with 17.11 lbs and rounding out the top 5 was Joey Chapleau and Rob Hachey with 15.96 lbs. Biggest fish for the day was 9.09 lbs caught by Andre Robichaud and Mark Jensen.
Day 2 was interesting as usual due to the fact the fishing is always tougher and the weather was a bit cooler. Turcotte and Ryckman led the way on Day 2 with 13.94 lbs anchored by a 7.23 lb walleye. They needed to be just over a pound better than the first place team from Day 1 to steal the win and collect $10,000. As it turns out they did just that. They ended up with a two day total of 31.05 lbs edging out the first place team from day 1 Gaulin and Godbout by almost 2 lbs. Gaulin and Godbout ended up fishing second with 29.33 lbs followed by Santala and Ranta in 3rd with 28.39 lbs. Rounding out the top five was Jody Villeneuve and Cresswell with 27.16 lbs and Derick Brooks and Kevin Robinaud with 27.10 lbs. The big fish award went to the team of James Lund and Don White with a 7.77 lb walleye.
Turcotte and Ryckman arrived in Kapuskasing on Tuesday night and prefished all three days up to the start of the tournament. This was the first time they have fished together in the same boat. Wednesday was a tough day of fishing for them both with only 4 walleye to show for it. However, they did figure something out that gave them some ideas going into the next two days of prefishing. The next two days of prefishing proved to be very successful. Ryckman pointed that Thursday and Friday total weight for 12 fish was around 37 lbs anchored by many large walleye. The only concern left now for the duo was whether or not the pattern and bite would hold up going into the weekend recalls Turcotte. The good news is, it did hold up and Turcotte & Ryckman picked up their first win on the NOWT. It also gave them the needed Angler of the Year points going into the last 2 tournaments of the season. Turcotte and Ryckman plan to fish The Cache Campground Walleye Tournament together in September. They are also fishing agaisnt each other in the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit being held in Sault Ste Marie on August 26-28.
press links:
http://www.local2.ca/ssm/viewarticle.php?id=2139
http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=53366
It looks like Angler of the Year could come down to the Sagamok Fall Walleye Classic. Next up on the schedule is The Cache Campground Walleye Tournament on Sept 10 & 11. Get registered now!
Shane Turcotte
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