NIPAWIN — Yorkton residents Lyndon Hicks and Tony Lockyer took home the 26th annual Vanity Cup’s $100,000 winnings.
Hicks said to win they didn’t use any special strategy.
“We were just rigging, the same as everybody else. We pretty much just got the right bites, and that’s what the difference was,” he said.
This was Lockyer’s first year, while Hicks competed for the last four to five years. This is their first tournament competing together.
It was Hicks who approached Lockyer, convincing him to take part as his partner.
“My wife and I had a baby nine months ago, and my fishing partner who I usually fish with had a baby just last week so we knew that was coming, so I invited Tony and I picked the buddy I wanted to fish with.”
Hicks said him and Lockyer had a non-competitive fishing relationship together.
“It’s good, obviously. He did a hell of a job this week and what else can you say,” Hicks asked. “Tony carried the weight, I’m not going to lie. Tony did it, I guess I helped captain the boat. Tony did the majority of the work, that’s for sure.”
Lockyer disagreed with Hicks, but said he was a “good guy” for crediting him.
“We work as a team, it was pretty good. He was great at holding the boat control and caught lots of fish,” Lockyer said.
Neither of the two fishers know what they will do with their split of the winnings, but plan to come back next year.
“The fish you get up here is unbelievable.” Hicks said.
Local Choiceland residents Dean and Shelley Paslawski won the top mixed team, taking home $2,000, as well as additional funds from being eighth place overall and sixth place on day one.
This isn’t the first victory the couple had, with them previously winning the Cup in 2007.
Shelley said they didn’t always make such a great team.
“When we started fishing together we clashed a little bit, we each wanted to do our own thing and sometimes I wanted to push him off the boat but we came so far I don’t want to do that anymore,” Shelley said.
On the first day both of the teammates caught an 11 pound fish.
Dean partially credits his success on the bait choice.
“We used the smaller baits. Most people come in here and think they can use the biggest baits they can find, that’s usually how we do it.”
