Mitch Ballou wins 2nd annual "Boys Trip Invitational"

Last year, the host of the "Boys Trip Invitational" was also the winner of the tournament. Despite the accolades, Chris Jensen had to endure a winter of allegations that he had rigged the contest, especially by bringing in a 75HP engine for his boat only days before the tournament. This year, 16 friends participated in the easy-going tournament. Although Chris was leading after day 1 of this year's event, he could not hold on to the lead and duplicate the victory. Instead, a new face to the tournament was victorious. Mitch Ballou has never really fished a whole lot, much less fished in a great resource such as Aikens Lake! He was lucky enough to be drawn on both days into a boat with our head guide Patrick. He said that on his second day, he caught more fish than he previously had in his entire life! This was a two day tournament with the top 5 walleyes (over 22") scoring each day. On day 1, Mitch, Pat, and Kent Dodson only had 2 fish on the board and time was tight! It was 4:30 and it was time for a desperation run to Bear Island. The last 15 minutes was incredible, with Pat netting, re-baiting, and netting again! They were able to bring in 3 more scoring walleye before the 5:00 bell! Day 2 was a little tougher, with many of the boats failing to catch their 5 fish over 22". However, Mitch and Pat were able to... this time fishing with Paul Rodriguez. The two-day combined total was enough to edge out the two runners up (Kent Dodson and John McGowan) by only a half inch! Pat was able to claim the victory among the guides, beating day 1 leader Dan by only 2 inches overall. Congratulations to all and it was a great tournament. We'll do it again next year!