Junior anglers make waves at Mille Lacs

Junior anglers Liam and Ryan Lewis capped their summer fishing season off with a second-place outing at the Bassinator Tournament of Champions (BTOC) at Mille Lacs Lake.

The anglers were once again skippered by their father, Nick, and had to deploy a new strategy for the season-ending tournament as both young athletes have returned to school since their summer break ended.

“I actually went up to Mille Lacs and pre-fished myself so we could get an idea of what spots might be best to fish. There were some tournaments on the lake in the week leading up to the tournament so it had been hit pretty hard. When the boys got out of school they headed straight for the lake and we got out there,” said Nick Lewis.

After taking first place in the Bassinator Travelling Anglers Series event at North Long Lake back in August, the trio had to secure a top-two finish at Mille Lacs to be eligible for the 2023 Bass Federation Junior World Championship.

“We thought it was going to be a pretty tough day because it got hammered over the week, but right away it just seemed fishy. The first two hours we just hammered the fish, and we knew it was going to be a good day from there,” said angler Ryan Lewis.

As opposed to prior tournaments that judge based on combined weight, the BTOC runs off of total inches, meaning the team had to find some monsters out in the massive lake to stay near the top.

According to captain Nick Lewis, he had told his boys before the tournament that if one of them caught a fish over 19 inches long, he’d buy them new reels.

Liam Lewis didn’t take long to cash in on the opportunity.

“I caught a 21-inch smallmouth bass. I knew it was a big one when I saw it jump near the boat. I was speechless,” said Lewis.

Liam’s monster fish went on to be the biggest bass caught in the tournament, winning him the Big Bass award and setting the trio up near the top of the leaderboard as the day progressed.

While the team knew that they were in second place as the final hour approached, an interesting component of the BTOC is that in the final hour they turn off the live scoreboard; rendering teams uncertain about where they stand before coming back to shore.

According to the trio, they had speculated that they may still be in second place upon returning to shore, but had heard rumors from other boats that thought they had caught up to the leaders.

In the end, the Lewis family team pulled out the second-place finish with a combined length of 95.25 inches and came in just behind the 97.25 inches hauled in by a team from Rosemount.

“They’ve improved so much this year. It’s just awesome to watch them compete and see how passionate they are about the sport.”