Among the 63 two-person teams who competed in the second annual Madge Lake Walleye Cup, two local teams finished in the third and fourth spots.
For two straight years the team of Glen Becenko and Vaughn Binkley were able to grab a third-place finish.
“We had a cool, cloudy decent day for fishing,” said Glen Becenko who was partnered with his father-in-law Vaughn Binkley.
“At 7:30 a.m. the boats did a trickle start, and we found our spot. We caught a nice fish right away and that set the tone for the day for us.
“Our final weigh-in was 13.05 pounds and that gave us another third place finish. Last year we were in a field of 46 competitors. We are pretty amazed that we ended up in third place for two years in a row.
The pair was presented with a cheque for $1,750, an increase of $250 from last year as there were more competitors this year.
“We also won the side wager of top weight, so that was another $650.
“There was a pre-tournament meeting on Friday evening and the banquet and awards night on Saturday. There were teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. We enjoyed ourselves and think it turned out well. We’re looking forward to next year’s tournament,” Becenko said.
Greg Nichol and his son Landon captured fourth spot in the MLWC by catching five walleye and registering 12.77 pounds.
“Last year were 30th, so we are pretty happy with fourth,” Greg said.
The pair had a friendly family competition going on, as Greg’s brother and son from Warren, Man., were competing in the derby as well.
“My family had five teams competing in the fishing derby this year so it was intense. Besides my brother and nephew, there was an uncle, cousin, brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
“We were impressed with the organizers and volunteers, with launching procedures, weigh-ins, looking after the fish and the meals.
“We ran out of leeches for bait. We had five dozen, but caught so many smaller fish that we ran out.
“We think the event was very well- run and found the fishing to be fantastic. We had a lot of fun and the organizers were helpful. Our family will be back next year, and our goal is to beat Glen Becenko,” said Greg with a laugh.
The team of Tyler Ayers and Matt Poloyko won first place.
