The Canadian Tire Mitchell’s Bay Open saw some familiar faces bring in the biggest bags of bass over the weekend as the tournament returned to normal with no COVID-19 restrictions.
Chad Wentzell, of St. Thomas, and Bill Valberg, of Lighthouse Cove, hauled in 25-pound-plus catches Friday and Saturday to win the tournament with a total catch of 50.47 pounds to the cheers of a big crowd at the weigh-in .
Valberg, a veteran tournament angler also picked a good time to catch his first six pound bass on Saturday, earning the team nearly $2,000 for the biggest fish, to go with the more than $15,000 in money and prizes the team took home for winning the tournament .
This is the third time Wentzell has won the Mitchell’s Bay Open, winning the inaugural event in 2014 with Brad Coon and again in 2018 with Valberg, when they hauled in another 50-plus pound catch.
The talk of Saturday was the tough conditions on Lake St. Clair compared to how calm it was on Friday.
“We broke a bunch of equipment and ran really far in big waves,” Wentzell said.
“We knew where the fish were, it was just a matter of figuring out how to get them to bite today,” he added.
“We did break some equipment, it’s all part of the game,” Valberg said.
He said Wentzell has a walleye hull on his boat so “it’ll get you out there and it’s a lot safer, actually.”
Wentzell said it took about two hours to get into the groove and they probably caught about 30 to 40 fish on Saturday.
Valberg is pretty clear on what he likes about the tournament.
“The winning part is awesome,” he laughed.
“It’s just a good bunch of people,” Wentzell said. “It’s a well-run tournament, I’m close to home. . . and there are great bags of fish here.
“I do well here so I keep coming back,” he added.
The team of John Maniaci and Darren Lear, both of Michigan, finished second with a total catch of nearly 47 pounds.
“You got to fish clean in events like this,” Maniaci said, adding they lost a six-pound bass each day.
But he said overall they had a really good experience.
“You guys are a bunch of great people, you put on a great tournament and we’ll be back,” Maniaci said.
Canadian fishing legend Bob Izumi finished the tournament for the first time, partnering with his son Darren, to net a catch of nearly 42 pounds over the two days.
Having spent 42-years fishing for a living, including a 38-year run with the Bob Izumi’s Real Fishing Show, he said Lake St. Clair is an “absolute fish factory.
“I don’t think there’s another lake in the world – I’m talking about remote lakes up in northern parts of Canada. . . that have as many fish per square-kilometre as this lake does,” Izumi added.
Izumi said he could have the most fish of any like in the world that he’s been to after 42 years of travelling.
Rick Damphouse, who has fished the Mitchell’s Bay Open every year, winning in 2015 with Todd McBride, was pleased the tournament was back without COVID-19 restrictions that saw anglers having to pull up to a breakwall on private property to drop off their catch without leaving their boat.
“The people here do just such an amazing job and this is just absolutely an amazing tournament,” he said. “To have it back the way it used to be, you couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Damphouse said, “This is definitely my favorite tournament.”
He laughed he’ll be back every year “until I’m a goner, if they let me.”
The event is a live release tournament with all fish returned to Lake St. Clair.