The La Salle Insurance and Travel SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP took place on March 23-24 out of Warner Road on Lake Winnipeg. The Top 20 Teams in the Qualifying rounds points race earned a spot to ice fish on Day 1 and a shot at the $10k First Place cash prize. There were concerns earlier this season that this ice fishing tournament might not even take place due to a warmer than normal winter, but the conditions at the 7:45am take-off were bitterly cold with wind straight out of the north. Plenty of ice and perfect conditions for lake travel.
The first walleye of the weekend ‘dinged’ at 8:05am and continued steadily until noon. Weighmasters Mike Dotoli and Jeremy Santos, just like during all three Qualifiers, were absolutely slammed with fish submissions to scrutinize most of the day. The first of fourteen Master Angler (27.75″+) walleye came in at 8:19am by the team of Brandon Elliott/Brendan Staska measuring at a whopping 30″. They followed it up at 10am with another 30.5 inch kicker that jumped them up near the top of the leaderboard.
The team of Bailey Cousins/Greg Attard answered back shortly after with this 31.50″ giant. The beauty greenback would hold up as Big Fish of Day 1 worth $200. They comfortably hung around the Top 10 for most of the day with a mid-30lb bag consisting of a solid supporting set of 25 inchers. They joined the fray at the top though with a last 15 minute 28″ Master Angler to sit only 0.19lbs behind the Day 1 leaders Jason Hildebrand/Russ Thiessen.
The Top 8 teams ended the day all within striking distance of each other with having at least one Master Angler kicker being the minimum to keep pace. The battle to secure the 9th and 10th spots went down to the wire with a bunch of scores in the final hour. Every team all the way down to 19th place was one hookset away from earning a spot, and a guaranteed cheque, in the Day 2 FINAL. It was truly a battle with multiple teams taking turns being inside the cut line.
At 3:40pm there was a tie for 10th place between Dave Simpson/Darren Wojcik and the team of Peter Weidmann/Matt Weidmann at exactly 27.77lbs. It was short-lived though as Brandon Kintop/Jesse Gmiterek sent in a 23.75″ at 3:41pm for just enough of an upgrade to take over 10th. Literally a few minutes before the 4pm end time, Jeff Laurin/Branko Mamula submitted a 24.25″ that leap-frogged them over Kintop/Gmiterek by a pound and earned them a spot to fish in the Final.
The Day 2 Final was looking to be a straight-up shootout between the ten best teams on Tour this season. The team of Trevor Hiebert/Chad Unrau came out swinging though scoring a 25″ and 29.25″ back-to-back before 8:30am to take a commanding lead. By 10:30am they had increased that lead substantially scoring a 25.25″, another Master Angler 28.75″, and yet another Master Angler 30″ to take a stranglehold on the Championship Title only a few hours into the day.
Team of the Year from the three Q-events – Jason Hildebrand/Russ Thiessen had a decent start to Day 2 icing a Master Angler 29.75″ to round out a quick five-fish limit. The Day 1 leaders still found themselves over ten pounds behind the lead now though the first time they checked the scoreboard on YouTube. The former Series Champions from 2022 had no quit in them clawing away with upgrades throughout the day but ultimately couldn’t score another giant and took home 4th place.
The team of Elliott/Staska had trouble replicating their success from Day 1 scoring only three fish. A last minute 23.50″ helped them to jump into 9th place overtaking Laurin/Mamula who struggled as well in 10th place. Chris Kiansky/Kaeden Siwak had a big lead to overcome with their 29.54lbs from Day 1. Their Day 2 bag of 23-25 inchers wasn’t enough to make a run at the big cash but they did jump a spot to finish in 8th. The team of Jordan Zelinsky/Jerome Guyot entered the Championship ranked 18th narrowly making the cut. They had their best day of the season on Day 1 however standing in 6th. A solid but unspectacular Day 2 was enough to secure 7th place honours.
Blake Morken/April Willis were similarly having a tougher go getting big fish to bite on Day 2. They salvaged the day though with a 3pm new personal best walleye for Blake 31.50″ Master Angler that won Big Fish Day 2 $200. They moved up a spot to finish the tournament in 6th place.
Greenback walleye specialists Jaymes Hiebert/Randy Hiebert started Day 2 in 8th place. They scored a monster 40.50lb bag on Day 2 to put themselves in the conversation with an hour to go in the competition. With two Master Anglers scored, they were a 30 inch plus fish away from threatening the leaders who were holding the $10k top spot at 85lbs most of the afternoon. Bailey Cousins/Greg Attard were one of four teams to enter Day 2 with over 40lbs. They weren’t anywhere close to winning on Day 2 however until two back-to-back late day Master Anglers measuring 29.75″ and 30″ shot them up to within one hookset away from the title with one hour left.
Aaron Eich/Martin Hesby from South Dakota, one of the Top Teams on the tour the past couple of seasons, entered Day 2 a couple pounds off the pace. They saved their best day of the season leaving it all on the ice in a valiant attempt at a come-from-behind victory. Their 43.73lb total on Championship Sunday was the third highest one-day score of the season on tour. With the title seemingly out of reach, they scored back-to-back Master Anglers 28.75″ at 3:20pm and 29.75″ at 3:37pm to come within an upgrade of taking the win.
Hiebert/Unrau caught their incredible fourth Master Angler of the day at 1:44pm continuing a record-breaking day for a one-day bag. A seemingly insurmountable lead suddenly became beatable however with all of the late day beasts that were getting caught. Their ‘smallest’ fish was 26 inches and they were now faced with trying to upgrade it to hold the teams below them at bay. At 3:35pm they submitted a 29″ for their ridiculous fifth Master Angler of the day quelling any doubt as to who would be raising the Championship trophy. 40.70 lbs on Day 1 plus a record 51.01 lbs on Day 2 for a two-day Total of 91.71 lbs and a $10,000 cheque.
