CHRIS KINDRAKA
2016
Walleye tournament fishing brings anglers together from all over the province. The Moose Lake Walleye Classic is one of the most anticipated walleye tournaments.
Moose Lake is small enough that it doesn't get too rough on windy days, yet large enough with three distinct basins that you can get away from packs of anglers and still enjoy great fishing on spots by yourself. The weather is usually beautiful and the walleyes bite well - especially when the wind kicks up a bit. The camaraderie is exceptional. Each year my partner Kevin and I have camped in the same area in the Franchere Bay Provincial Park.
This year we met father and son team of Roman and Dusàn Buryska in the campground. We chatted daily during the pre-fishing days. We spoke about water temperatures, shallow forage, the high water level, etc. We all expressed how wonderful it was that the surface water temperatures were still cool enough that fish would stay nice and healthy in the livewells. It was great chatting with them about fishing.
I learned that Roman had fished many walleye tournaments going back to the late 80’s when the Western Walleye Council used to put on numerous events in Northern Alberta. The Western Walleye Council was instrumental in bringing awareness and conservation to our walleye fisheries back in the 80’s and 90’s and they ran events on lakes like Lac St.Anne, Lac La Nonne, Beaver Lake, Whitefish Lake, Lesser Slave Lake, and Moose Lake. Roman won an event on Lac St Anne in the WWC days too - with his brother Milo. Milo was also fishing the Moose Lake Walleye Classic this year with his partner Wilson Patry. With many years of experience on Moose from the old WWC days and having fished the tournament the past three years with his wife Mellany (they also won husband and wife team of the year on the WWC too!) this year it was Dusàn’s turn to fish with Dad in his first walleye tournament. Both Dusàn and Roman were very excited to fish together as they had caught some really nice fish in pre-fish.
Day #1 Roman and Dusan had decent weights and were sitting in 24th place with just under 15 pounds. We ate our steak dinners next to each other at the Bonnyville Rodeo Grounds and discussed our days. My partner Kevin and I got our first two fish relatively early but could only manage to get one more and came in at the end of the day short one fish. Dusàn’s Uncle & Roman’s brother Milo and partner Wilson had a great Day #1, and were sitting in 4th place. Roman and I discussed how things usually go on Day #2: typically half of the people up at the top struggle a bit and if you equal or improve your Day #1 weight on Day #2, you will move up drastically. I wished them luck for Day #2 and was rooting for them to move up the standings.
Even though the weights were up from last year it was still a tough bite on Day #2. It started out slow for Roman and Dusàn, with only one legal fish in the box in the first hour and a half. It was a very long hour and a half! While they were on good fish in pre-fish, they didn't quite get the weight they had expected to on Day #1. They were confident that their spot was still holding good fish and with a little more wind on Day #2 they figured their shallow fish would turn on. Their patience and sticking to their game plan paid off big time. They stayed as organized as possible and had all their rods in the boat rigged so they could spend as much time in the strike zone as possible with no downtime. Their first two weigh fish went 9.56; their final two were 9.22. They brought in the second biggest weight of Day #2 for a massive weight of 18.78 pounds. They rocketed up the standings into third place!
Their efforts and smart decision making were rewarded handsomely with second place day money for $2350 and $11850 for third overall in the Classic. Not too shabby for your first walleye tournament with your dad! I’m pretty sure we will be seeing more of you at tournaments in the future and the two of you will make more great memories on the water.