A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Bill Walker and Callum Johnson who finished 8th in the Bass Pro Shops Open. Kyle Heels and Ryan Rogers also had a very good day. Way to go guys

BPS Lake Simcoe Open was a resounding success! By Wil Wegman Oct. 30, 2007 The Aurora Bassmasters are happy to announce that the 2007 Bass Pro Shops (BPS) Lake Simcoe Open on Oct 27/07 was a resounding success thanks to all the organizers and small army of volunteers. Sibbald Point Provincial Park in Sutton proved to be an excellent venue and despite downright nasty fishing conditions … the wind and rain did not keep 13 of the 59* teams from catching over 20 pounds for their five heaviest bass.(* one team dropped out last minute) A lively weigh in crowd enjoyed a first class show with Facts of Fishing TV host and MC Dave Mercer who entertained the audience right after he weighed in his own respectable 21.9 pound bag of bass. “On most other lakes that weight could guarantee you a win,” Mercer told the crowd … “But on Lake Simcoe and especially in the fall, that won’t even give you a top ten”, he said half jokingly. He ended up being right though as that weight provided him and partner with ‘just’ a 12th place finish. Leading the bass tournament right up until the bitter end with an impressive 28.6 pounds was Peter Savoia and Gaspare Constible. Mercer reported excitedly that there was only one more team to weigh in. They were two-time past winners of this event and always a team to watch out for. Could they topple 28.6 pounds to win or even break the magic 30 pound barrier? One by one, Bob Formosa and Jayson Saliba pulled their five bass out of the livewell. Each gargantuan smallmouth appeared to get bigger and bigger and the crowd roared their approval. Their last bass was pulled out of the well with the theatrical flare it deserved and the 6.94 pound beauty sent the cold, wet crowd into a state of heightened expectation that something big was about to happen. Would that elusive 30 pound barrier actually be broken right before their eyes? Could these late season smallmouth specialists set a new all-time Canadian Bass Tournament record with all the hype and hoopla and extra cash that would go with it? The bass were put into the Shimano in-water weigh-in system. The crowd hushed as Mercer yelled out “Ladies and gentlemen, they may not have set a new Canadian record but Bob Formosa and Jayson Saliba have just weighed in 29.22 pounds and are the new 2007 Bass Pro Shops Lake Simcoe Open Champions!” Saliba from Windsor and Formosa from Mississauga noted that “To win an event against such a high caliber of anglers and receive recognition amongst your peers is a great feeling. It really is the biggest win of our lives.” The duo took home over $8,500 in cash for first place. The $2,500 from Bass Pro Shops that would have been awarded if the 30 lb mark was broken will now double for 2008. The heaviest single bass was caught by the team of Mark Kulik and Dave Kennedy who had a 7.02 pound giant. With the addition of Yamabucks it earned the team $2,400. If that bass broke the Ontario record, (9.84lbs) it would have awarded them a new Toyota Tundra Truck and Tracker Tundra boat valued at over $100,000. During the weigh in while the crowd enjoyed free Johnsonville Brats, a team of biologists and volunteers worked on a bass tagging research project behind the scenes. Over 120 bass were tagged, data collected and then released. These bass will also be part of physiology research led by Dr Bruce Tufts of Queens University.

BASS PRO SHOPS SIMCOE OPEN AURORA BASSMASTERS LAKE SIMCOE - OCTOBER 27, 2007 Position Angler Co-Angler Weight Pen. Big Fish 1 ROBERT FORMOSA JASON SALIBA 29.22 2 PETER SAVOIA GASPARE COSTIBILE 28.6 3 MARK MORAN JOE MUSZYNSKI 27.66 4 MORGAN CIGNINI JASON GOUGH 25.9 5 DAVE JOHNSON BARRY GRAVES 25.36 6 STEVE HAWKINS JOHN MACDONALD 25.02 7 JIM DODD CHRIS GILES 23.66 8 BILL WALKER CALLUM JOHNSON 23.2 9 CURTIS ARNDT STEVE ALMEIDA 22.84 10 MARK KULIK DAVE KENNEDY 22.7 7.02 11 HOWARD GIFFORD MIKE GIFFORD 22.58 12 DAVE MERCER J.P. DEROSE 21.9 13 MIKE DESFORGES DEREK STRUB 21.52 14 GREG KLATT GEORGE SCHNIEDER 19.62 15 RICHIE TRIPP JASON BARNUCZ 18.9 16 ERNY JANZEN ROB HYATT 17.62 17 MIKE BERTELSEN MIKE REID 17.26 18 KYLE HEELS RYAN ROGERS 17.02 19 DAVID CHONG STEVE SPAGNOLO 16.42 20 MIKE DEVEAUX JIM MACDONALD 12.8 21 KELLY HOLMES RYAN JOHNSON 10.78 22 GORD ROGERS PHIL DUNCAN 10.46 23 PETER BARTONEK CESARE RUSCIO 9.12 24 SIMON FROST MELANIE FROST 8.7 25 JOHN NOEL CHARLES SIM 8.62 26 WIL WEGMAN GERRY HEELS 7.1 27 MARK CAVANAUGH PEPE PERESIEN 6.92 28 ANGELA MITCHELL DIANA CLARK 5.94 29 COLIN MAGUIRE STEVE REIMER 5.46 30 CHRIS HOCKLEY PATRICK WALSH 5.36 31 CHARLES NAHM TODD CURRIE 5.26 32 BOB KENDALL BRIAN OGDEN 5.06 33 JOHN WHYTE DON WILSON 4.64 34 TOM COCHRANE BRAIN BLOWES 3.28 35 JOHN DELICATA PATRICK CHOW 1.86 36 GEORGE SALIBA DES BARNES 1.76 37 LINDSAY SMITH MARCO GRENIER 1.54 38 STU SMITH TRAVIS SURETE 1.3 39 CARLO PUIATTI TOM TSATSKAS 0 40 JAMES PATRY HAROLD NESBITT 0 41 TOM CHOPIN NORM JONES 0 42 NEIL MACINNIS DAVID MACINNIS 0 43 MIKE SMITH CHRIS TIEBER 0 44 DAVE OLDFORD JAMES DEHOOG 0 45 MARCEL CARTWRIGHT RANDY JOHNSON 0 46 JENO HUBER JIM WHITE 0 47 DON SHELDRAKE HARRISON SILLON 0 48 NICK TERPSELAS JIM VENIZELAKOS 0 49 DAN WELLS LEON MALONEY 0 50 GARY MANTIL GORD PYZER 0 51 BUTCH MCRAE MARC CORATTI 0 52 MALCOLM MASON DEAN HORNICK 0 53 BRUCE LEESON FAB MARCHESE 0 54 JAMES GODIN ANTHONY BURGESS 0 55 LEONA CREBER YASMIN KOLODZIECHUK 0 56 ANTHONY BADHAM NIGEL TOUHEY 0 57 JAMIE MCGEE MAT HOLLAND 0 58 JOHN ARDUINI BILL MORRISON 0 59 PAVO KEKKI GREG BUTCHARD 0