For the third time in four years, two local anglers have reeled in the big prize.
Orillia’s Brian Gardy and Brent Cotton were named the Team of the Year in the Canadian Sport Fishing League (CSFL) Western Tour.
“There are approximately 70 boats in the Western Tour,” said Cotton, noting the team that piles up the highest point total in the five tournaments throughout the season earns the coveted award.
This year, the dynamic duo won the CSFL event in Gloucester Pool then recently capped their stellar season by winning the Fall Challenge on Lake Couchiching.
“We caught just over 18 pounds of bass on both days (at the Fall Challenge),” said Cotton, a communications professor at Georgian College.
In the Fall Challenge, Gardy and Cotton beat out the 43 other teams that were vying for bragging rights on the chilly, wind-swept waters of Lake Couchiching.
This was the first time the team won the fall derby on their home lake after finishing second in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and capturing third a year ago.
The pair have had an incredibly successful run during their time together, which is closing in on two decades.
“I know one thing, when you’re on the water eight hours a day or 16 hours over a two-day tournament, you better like each other,” Gardy said. “We’re fortunate that we like and respect each other.”
The partnership began in bizarre fashion. Each day as he drove to work, Cotton ogled a bass boat that he saw parked in a Barrie Road lot. One day, when he saw someone doing some work on the boat, he decided to stop and check it out.
“I drove by it every day and I just decided to pop in and see what this guy was all about,” recalled Cotton with a chuckle.
He met Gardy, struck up a conversation about fishing and, in a matter of minutes, the two strangers found common ground and became fast friends.
“We hit it off right away,” said Gardy, who owns a local logistics company. “A few weeks after that, we did our first tournament together in Parry Sound and finished third.”
Cotton had never fished in a tournament prior to that.
While he had enjoyed recreational fishing since he was a boy, it wasn’t until he befriended Gardy that he felt the lure of professional fishing.
“I love it,” he said.
This is the third time the team has captured the team of the year award; they also won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.
They will go for a fourth next season. After all, winning the team of the year award comes with a huge benefit: The team of the year receives free entry into next year’s tournament series and gets preferred positioning in the morning blast-off on the opening day of those events.
For more information about the CSFL, click here.
