Well guess what? Lewandowski and crew missed the final spot on the pay out for Big Fish Friday this weekend, by a fraction of an ounce and came back and won the ninth annual Sunset Bay ShootOut with a total six walleye weight of 46.06 pounds.

The way the weigh-in works is each team comes to the scales with their cooler. The guys who have one or two fish are first in line. After the fish are weighed, the team gets to sit on the stage in the “hot seat(s)”. They remain there until they are beaten. There were some decent catches, totaling over 30 pounds. History has shown that to place in the money, you will need at least 40 pounds total to get in the top 15 money spots. Fishing was tough on Saturday, with many teams reporting 6-footers on Lake Erie. Many teams were glad to get a dozen fish, and several teams had their fish disqualified because they were under the 22-inch length minimum size. There were 55 teams that opted to weigh in their catch.

As the line got smaller approaching 7 p.m., it was clear that ounces could separate the winners. Adam Zwack of team Erie Obsession finished in the 15th spot with a weight of 40.98. The Kucinski brothers took the next spot with 40.99.

The No. 13 was lucky for team “Eye Con,” led by Rob Oram with 41.33 pounds. Jeff Bognar, another familiar name, finished with 41.75 and the second place heaviest walleye weighing 10.15. The No. 11 spot was grabbed by Nick Nekoui of team “Nick of Time,” with 41.91 and Corey Evans of team “Envious Sportfishing” made the top ten with 42.22 pounds and the big fish of the day, weighing 11.16 pounds. Dan Debenedictis of team “Money Eyes” finished ninth with 42.52 pounds. John Lignos, the Big Fish Friday winner, grabbed the 8-spot with 42.56. Bob Rustowicz of “Forever Fishing” went to his “Hawg Pen” hot spot and finished in the 7-spot with total weight of 42.99. The “Lord of the Fins,” Matt Bouwmeester was sixth with 43.29 pounds.

OBSERVER Photo by Gene Pauszek Mike Mowbray, Sarah Evans and Corey Evans landed the largest walleye on Saturday weighing 11.16 pounds.

Another familiar team, Tom Slawatycki and Jim Dolly Jr., finished fifth with 45.14. Randy Jaroszewski of team “Icebreaker,” the winner of the 2019 Southtowns Walleye Derby took the fourth spot with 45.54, and one of the early weighers on Friday, Jeff Henderson, took the third spot with 45.65 pounds. Team “Crazy Eyes” had the longest stay on the hot seat, with their total of 45.93 pounds, but got moved into second place by Mark Lewandowski of team “Reel Mania.” Their prize was over $30,000. Awesome!

If your club or organization is holding a hunter safety training/trapping course or a turkey shoot or any other outdoors event, and would like to see it posted in the calendar, send information to the OBSERVER, 10 East Second Street, Dunkirk, NY 14048, or call the sports department at 366-3000 ext. 5 after 6 p.m.

Note: If you have a big game fishing or trapping success story you would like to share, call 366-1772, or 467-2079 and leave a name, phone number and a time you can be reached. You can also call 366-3000, ext. 5, after 6 p.m. or email sports@observertoday.com.

OBSERVER Photo by Gene Pauszek “Team Reel Mania,” led by Mark Lewandowski, will add their names to the Sunset Bay ShootOut trophy after winning the 2019 event.

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