Tournament achieves record number of participants
The wind battered the St. John River as a plethora of boats buzzed over its choppy surface during the Destination Nackawic Bass Open from May 15 to 17.
“Its a two day tournament format,” explained Nackawic Mayor Tim Fox. “The anglers bring in five bass, weigh them, next day they do the same, and then the added weight will determine standing.”
He explained that this year featured over 155 anglers, a record for the Bass Open.
The tournament went extremely smoothly, with sunny, almost cloudless weather over the weekend. Fox, however, noted that some high wind gusts on Sunday added to the challenges faced by the anglers.
The event began with an opening reception at the Big Axe Brewery on Friday, which included a review of the rules, a draw for starting positions, and several door prizes.
This was followed by the first day of fishing, which included having participants’ boats inspected, an angler’s breakfast at the Nackawic Lions Club, and then setting off for the day, culminating in the end-of-day weigh-in.
The second day went much the same as the first, except that at the end, a by-donation community barbecue was held at the Big Axe Marina alongside the closing ceremony and award presentations.
By the end of the competition, Tremayne Nauss and Bill Roy from Nova Scotia came out on top with a whopping 34.1 pounds of fish.
This won them the $15,000 grand prize, along with custom watches from Spicer Cole Fine Jewellers and matching YETI camp chairs.
Runners up were Jeff Duncan and Jeff Parker in second, Ben Woo and Ryan Anderson in third, Phil Curtis and John Simiana in fourth, and last but not least, Bruce Rothwell and Anthony Milton, who placed fifth.
“We draw people in from Ontario to Nova Scotia for the event,” said Fox, who later noted that the furthest came from Mississauga, Ontario.
Sponsors for the event included Destination Nackawic Economic Development Corporation, Fredericton Capital Region Tourism, Tourism NB, GEMTEC, YETI, Doiron Outfitters, Bass Pro Shops, Advatek Systems, Spicer Cole Fine Jewellers, Old Dutch, Ryan’s Pharmacy, Lucky Strike Bait Works, Watershed Fishing Apparel, 506 Tackle Supply, Design Art Signs, Big Axe Brewery, Miramichi Striper Cup, and Jeff Wilson Pro Angler.
“The small investment that we make in putting the event on has an economic benefit of somewhere between 300 and 350 thousand dollars for the local economy,” said Fox when asked why the event was important.
Fox also emphasized that the event would not have been possible without the volunteers who contributed.
