This year saw the anglers that qualified for the 2019 Championship in Geraldton this June competing for the grand prize of a Princecraft Hudson DLX with a 150 Pro XS and Garmin Electronics. On hand covering the championship was the Eastlink Fish On crew and show host Paul Ethier.
Leading after day one was J&B Cycle and Princecraft Pros Sebastien Lizotte and Jeff Vipond.
Day two came right down to the wire between day one leaders and six-time Angler of the Year anglers Daniel Henis and Didier Germain. After the scales finally settled, Sebastien Lizotte and Jeff Vipond emerged victorious over Daniel and Didier by a mere .60 of a pound, making them the first NOWT Championship winners.
Once again, anglers competed for points to qualify for the 2020 Championship and the 2019 Angler of the Year (AOY) ring, which just happened to be the first time a ring would be presented to the AOY winner/s.
Anglers received points for their finishes in each of the NOWT sanctioned events they fished, and only their top three finishes are used to calculate their standing in the Angler of the Year race. The top 25 anglers in the AOY rankings will qualify for the 2020 NOWT Championship to be hosted by the KRWT on the Kapuskasing River.
Here are some interesting facts about the 2020 Championship:
- Twenty-three anglers of the 50 participating championship anglers did not participate in 2018
- It will be the first championship for both members of nine teams
- It took 281.085 points to qualify this year and 268.939 last year
- Forty-one of the anglers qualified this year with more than 281.084 AOY points
- Only nine qualified anglers will be participating as co-angler in 2020
Here are the TOP 25 anglers fishing in the 2020 NOWT Championship:
- Daniel Henis and Didier Germain
- Jamie Robinson and Terry Bernath
- Trevor Bernath and Mark Lytham
- Steve Johnson and Jake Pepin
- Jeff Vipond and Sebastien Lizotte
- Derick Brooks and Guy Laberge
- Mat Browne and Marc Poirier
- Brett Robinson and Dylan Buckell
- Nick Huckson and Jason Doyon
- Kyle Monkman and Dean Bliss
- Miguel Tailleur and Denis Gendreau
- Jody Villeneuve and Matthew Eles
- John Labine and Jonathan Morin
- Perry Caverson and Denis Martin
- Dave Lepage and Kyle Lepage
- Kevin Robineau and Steve Gravel
- Luc Ouimette and Dave Barber
- Jessy Dechamplain and Francis Dechamplain
- Shane Turcotte and Cory Nephin
- Chad Dalrymple and Greg Geoffrey
- Danny Vienneau and Curtis Griffin
- Roger Vienneau and Diane Otis
- Denis Perrier and Matt Guacci
- Rob Laframboise and Frank Clark
- Alain Mercier and Jean Mercier
This year Angler of the Year race was a tight one. Only three points separated the two top three anglers. This year winners and now seven-time AOY winners are Daniel Henis and Didier Germain with 326.786 points. Both Daniel and Didier will be award the very first NOWT AOY custom made rings by Dube Designs and a Yamaha Power Inverter. Runner up AOY was Jamie Robinson with 323.534 points.
This year also saw the first Points Generator award from Yamaha Motor Canada Ltd. for the most points accumulated during the season. Fishing all seven events and taking home the Yamaha Inverter was even-time AOY Jamie Robinson, with a total of 682.451 points.
The NOWT would like to thank their corporate sponsors, J&B Cycle and Marine, Princecraft Boats, and Mercury Marine Canada, along with all the other sponsors of the trail.
Acknowledgments go to NOWT Treasurer Craig Salmonson for contributing the interesting facts, and Rob Racine and Paul Ethier for the pictures.
