The first Qualifer tournament of the new Kickerfish Elite Series went down on January 14. Twenty-seven out of the twenty-nine teams on the tour competed at the first event – Element Custom Baits Q1 @ Balsam Bay on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.
A super mild winter thus far, the weather took a turn to extreme cold in the days leading up to the tournament reaching a nippy -37 Celcius at take-off on the morning of. The teams weren’t deterred however and set out to catch the five biggest walleye they could get topside.
The team of Junior Bansal and Michael Rivet had a solid plan as they were on a pod of big fish in practice. “The plan is to get to our spot, set-up, and stay there all day,” quipped Bansal during the frigid morning inspection. As many who fish Lake Winnipeg know all too well, the fish can be there one day and completely vacate the area by the following day. Luckily for Bansal/Rivet their fish hadn’t moved as their first bite came a mere 20 minutes into the competition and it was a big one too at 29.25″!
They quickly jumped out to a huge lead and upgraded their five fish limit several times having over 37 lbs scored by noon. Upgrading their smallest fish at 23.5″ was certainly still doable but the submissions from them trickled to a halt. Several different teams got on hot streaks and began to surpass the 30 lb mark threatening to take over the lead with the next trophy sized walleye. The team of Jeff Laurin and Branko Mamula jumped into the conversation with a monster 30″ greenback at 1:50pm and a 25 incher ten minutes after.
Hearing this on the Kickerfish livestream, the leaders knew that their lead wasn’t safe with over two hours still left to go and the typical late afternoon bite about to start. Movement amongst the teams in the middle of the pack was already starting with the majority of the field already well into the 20 lbs range. Rivet hooked into a 24.5 incher at 2:30pm bumping out the 23.5″ to provide a hair more breathing room but the title was still at risk as four or five teams were one giant away from over taking them. The blackout period where the Livestream goes off air in the last hour made it quite stressful for them huddled in their Eskimo Outbreak.
With a plethora of submissions coming in during the last thirty minutes of the competition, there was an audible gasp in the KARD Scoring Headquarters when one came in from Bansal/Rivet. They scored a kicker 27″ at 3:37pm to all but seal the deal pushing them over the 40lb mark. Laurin/Mamula did upgrade a 21.5″ for a 25.5″ at 3:46pm to make the last ten minutes still suspenseful but they ultimately came up short at 37.30 lbs total.
“We threw back 12 walleye just under 24″ today” Bansal said. They were on top of them pretty much the entire day shared Rivet, “This is freaking awesome!” The pair earned 100 points in the race to qualify for the La Salle Insurance SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP in March. They also took down the $2000 cash top prize. They’ll be looking for a repeat performance at the Eskimo Ice Fishing Gear Q2 at Warner Road on February 4. Tune in to the Live Broadcast here on Kickerfish beginning at 9:30am.
