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TOURNAMENT UPDATES The dog days of summer have certainly hit the northland over the last couple of weeks but the fishing for those willing to change things up continues to shine. This last weekend I had an opportunity of a lifetime, fishing the International AYA Championship in Kenora, ON on Lake of the Woods with my 6 year old daughter and family friend Tyler Danielson. The trip started on Thursday for us as we took the 5 hour trip north to Kenora. The AYA International Championship was 19 teams fishing for 1 prize which was a two tiered trip for six starting at an exclusive trip to a Wilderness North lake in Thunder Bay, On and from there the winner would head to Disney land in Orlando, Florida. The value of trip was reported at $50,000.00. So with a huge opportunity on the line and the kids full of excitement, the 19 teams hit the water with winning clearly on top of there mind, including us! My daughter Jordyn was extremely excited as she kept reminding me that she wanted us to win because she wanted to go to Disney. As the anglers pushed away from the docks Saturday morning, Lund and Mercury provided each of the 19 teams with an 1825 Lund Explorer with a 90 horse 4 stroke Mercury. The boats were looking professional as Gemini sports marketing had professional wrapped each boat, making the field equal from the look to the equipment. With a 45 minute TV shoot and boat parade, we made our way down the lake and through what was called the Devils pass, (small narrow part of the lake filled with islands and rocks.) Once getting through the Devils pass, it was now time to see what team could put together a winning bag of fish. Each team could only weigh its three largest walleyes. The tournament hours again would be equal and we started fishing around 9:30 am and we had to be back to this starting point no later then 3:30 pm. Our first stop would find three quick ones ranging from 18-20 inches. We were fishing spinners on 2 oz bottom bouncers tipped with crawlers at 1.5 to 1.8 MPH. We then made a run to the West to find a bunch of 20-24 inch walleyes sitting actively in some current between two long islands. With a very good bite, we would find that the camera guy would stay with us for the remainder of the day as the feeling of us winning had started early amongst us and the others. So now about 1 to 1 ˝ hours into the day and three decent fish in the boat, we headed to the big fish area that we had located on Friday prefishing. With the first pass Tyler would find a 25 incher, that would upgrade the 20 incher in the livewell. On the very next pass I caught another 25 incher. Now we had two 25” walleyes and a 24”. About 10-15 minutes would pass before I would find one of the two gigantic walleyes that we would bring to the scale. It was a very-healthy 30 inch walleye. Then about 3-4 minutes later, Tyler would find another 30 incher. Tyler did everything perfect and I was very proud of him as this was his largest walleye to date and no better time then now as the trip to Disney was on the line and looking to be ours. So with the pure adrenalin running through us and the nerves finally settling down after putting those two huge walleyes in the boat, we were looking for maybe one more 30 incher. Sure enough another bite in the exact same way and I set the hook to have another huge walleye come to the boat, but at the last second the fish turned and as it turned it broke my line. Our chance to bring three 30” walleyes to the scale quickly vanished. So now pushing 1:30 pm with only 2 hours to go, the excitement was building for us and the mid-day heat was as well. We would end the tournament fishing with two 30” walleyes and a 25” walleye. So as we headed back to the dock, we were unsure of how we would end up until finally our time had come to hit the stage. 16 teams had already weighed there fish. With us and two others remaining, we would see the PWT Angler Tom Backer and his team also waiting to weigh. Our three fish topped the 21.80 mark. With my wife and the Danielson’s sitting in the front row, we all were nervous to see what the final team would weigh and as Tom Backer and his team approached the scale, my nerves were shaking, but Backer and his team from Devils lake would only weigh 17.10 lbs, making us the International AYA Champions. The entire event will be on numerous TV channels in the upcoming months and I will certainly update my website at www.seancolter.com and this column as the programs start to air. The AYA (angler young angler) tournament is truly about getting young kids involved in fishing and this event was and is the most impressive event that I have been apart of. The kids feel like they are professionals from start to finish and if you’re looking to do something with your kids, get involved with the AYA program. We will be hosting another AYA tournament again next season on Lake Pokegama and the winner of this event will get the invite to next years trip to Kenora for the Championship. I want to thank all the sponsors in the Grand Rapids area for the Regional event along with the sponsors that help make this International event successful. A special thanks to Lund Boats, Andrew Klopak, Michelle Trudeau and Tom MacNair and all of there staff, along with Scott and Marty Glorvigan, and Charlie Moore from Gemini Sports Marketing. See you on the water in a Lund Boat.
Sean Colter
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