Angler Young Angler International Championship

If you’ve lost faith in today’s youngsters, you’d have regained it in spades if you had attended the Angler Young Angler (AYA) International Championship held this past weekend (Friday and Saturday) in Kenora, Ontario on the shores of world renown Lake of the Woods.  It was simply fantastic.

The Angler & Young Angler Walleye series began in 1998 when Andrew Klopak, President of LUND boats wanted to fish a competitive style tournament with his young son but couldn’t find an event that catered to adult and young anglers.  Everything was geared to the highly competitive pro style of fishing.  So, Klopak created his own tournament series with the objective being to introduce and educate young anglers to competitive sport fishing in a fun-filled environment surrounded by family and friends.  Klopak also wanted to create memories that would last a lifetime and believe me, on that score, he has been wildly successful.

From its humble beginnings in 1998, the AYA movement has grown by leaps and bounds, while other tournament series have struggled or failed.  AYA events are now being held across North America and this weekend the 26 regional champions from across the United States and Canada gathered in Kenora for the 2009 National Championship on Lake of the Woods.   The first place prize included an exclusive fly-in fishing trip to Miminiska Lodge on the Albany River in Northwestern Ontario, as well as a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Each regional championship team in the tournament consisted of a adult angler and two young anglers, 17 years old and under.  Many of the kids were 5, 6, 7 years old but believe me, age meant nothing.  These kids are keen and, man, can they ever fish.

Do you think the kids were excited?

I was privileged to be asked to present a short orientation seminar at the banquet and rules meeting on Friday night and to be paired up with Team Travers Dam from Alberta, which consisted of adult angler Brian Eberts, his young son Brett Eberts and Brett’s good buddy Braeden Welcher.  Man, talk about nice people.  Despite thunderstorm after thunderstorm rolling through the area on Saturday, and almost constant rain, there was absolutely nothing that was going to dampen the spirits of these anglers.  Brian and the boys were flying sky high, on Cloud 9, from start to finish, and despite the fact they looked like drowned rats at the end of the day, their smiles stretched from one ear to the other.

For good reason, too.  We hit the walleyes big time.

Primarily using Lindy Max Gap and X-Change jigs and live bait, (we caught a couple of fish pulling spinner rigs as well), we stung a bunch of big ‘eyes.  A lot of experienced anglers have never caught 5, 6 and 7-pound plus walleyes but these kids were nailing them like pros.  As well as a bunch of really nice 2, 3 and 4 pound fish.  By 11:00 o’clock in the morning we had a fantastic three (3) fish limit of big ‘eyes swimming in the livewell.  And here is the best part, Brian, Brett and Braeden each caught one of the big fish.  You couldn’t have scripted it any better!

Then, Braedon set the hooks into a near 30-inch giant that in a few more weeks time, after it fattens up, would easily weigh close to 10-pounds.  And he did it on cue, as the camera boat was filming us.  It was the fish of a lifetime and it was also time to start culling.  Imagine, the boy’s excitement as we “balance beamed” 5 and 6-pound walleyes to see which ones stayed and which ones were let go.  Heck, I’ve been doing this sort of thing all of my life and I was as pumped.  Every time one of the boys hauled in a big fish we hugged each other, exchanged high-5s and pounded fists.  Talk about an adrenaline rush!

Then, before we knew it, it was time to head back to Kenora to weigh-in our fish.  I figured our 3 biggest walleyes weighed 17-pounds but Brian thought they weighed closer to 20-pounds.  I secretly hope he was right.  We’d know soon enough.

You think the Bassmaster Classic is glitzy?  It doesn’t compare to the excitement at the AYA International Championship weigh-in.  And none of the tournament emcees you watch on television can hold a candle to Jason Gauthier.  Let me tell you, this guy rocks!  Jason had the crowd roaring, up on its feet cheering wildly as each team walked onto the stage.  He, literally, brought down the house.

Jason …. you are the man, brother.

Because we had a “pretty good” weight we were held back toward the end of the weigh in process.  But then the time came.  The announcement was made for Team Travers Dam, Alberta to “bag up your fish and bring them up onto the stage”.   To say that Brian, Brett and Braeden were wound up tighter than coiled springs is an understatement.  I know, because my knees were shaking too.

Up on stage, in front of the crowd, we passed our bag of fish to Andrew.  Braeden’s 30-inch giant walleye was so big it wouldn’t fit inside the basket!   Team Dryden Ontario was sitting in the hot-seat as the current leader and we needed 17.6pounds to take over the lead.  Andrew put our fish onto the scales, waited for the needle to settle, hit the “lock” button and up flashed 18-pounds 8-ounces.  With only two teams left to weigh in we were the new leaders and Brian and the boys took the honoured hot seat at the front of the stage.

Unfortunately, our excitement didn’t last as long as we’d have liked, as Team South Dakota weighed in a marvellous limit that was 8-ounces heavier than ours.  Ouch!   Then Team Green Lake, Wisconsin, the final team to hit the scales weighed in a prize winning 19-pounds 15-ounces.  We came close, finishing third and missing the top spot by a mere 23-ounces.   Had Braeden’s 30-inch (7-pound 7-ounce) monster weighed anywhere close to what a 30-inch walleye would normally weigh, the boys from Alberta would be on their way to Disney World.

Still, as I said at the end of my seminar on Friday evening, when you fish an event as special as the Angler Young Angler International Championship there are no losers.  There are only winners.

And speaking of winners, I take off my hat to Andrew Klopak who had a special vision and saw it through to its wonderful conclusion.  Take my word for it, the Angler Young Angler tournament concept is the hottest thing going and there is no question in my mind but that one day soon, we’re going to be seeing AYA teams from Europe, Asia and South America participating in the event.  By the way, if you’re interested in fishing an AYA tournament next year, or organizing a tournament for your region or local area, here is the link to the AYA website www.angleryoungangler.ca/

I would also be totally remiss, if I didn’t give a big special thanks to AYA Coordinator, Michelle Trudeau, for inviting me to be a small part of the weekend events.

And finally to Brian, Brett and Braeden, let me say, boys, you’re very special.   You can share a boat with me any day!