Boat parade, a time honoured tradition for anglers.

It is time to make new memories again at this year’s Emo Walleye Classic Tournament. The contenders parading in their boats will line up once more and throw candy to the kids and show everyone their fishing equipment.

“Everyone lines up along Front St. there and they all get candy,” said Colleen Vennechenko, director of angler services.

Every year at the beginning of the Walleye Classic, teams arrive for the tournament, line up for a boat parade that lasts around 30 minutes. It goes around the town of Emo in a short but eventful display of boats and anglers. They line up for the kids, who wait on the sidelines to scoop up treats thrown by the anglers as the boats pass by on their way through town. This tradition has lasted for many years, and it is a great time to see what the teams are fishing with this year.

“They line up at 5:30 p.m., and the parade starts at 6 p.m. from in front of the hospital,” said Colleen Vennechenko, director of angler services. “It goes down Front St., up to the corner by Cloverleaf Grocery by the stop lights and up towards the arena.

Many teams taking part in the Walleye Classic also attend the boat parade to show off their boats and fishing equipment the night before the tournament starts. They bring their A game to the front and are not shy about showing off what they have to catch fish with.

“We’ll be using a GMC Duramax diesel and I have a 206 Fishunter walleye boat with a 300 Merc on it,” said Bill Godin, captain of team number two.

Godin faces stiff competition this year as he competes against last year’s winners, Doug McBride and Steve Ballan. They are not to be undone with their equally impressive truck, boat and fish finder. The two teams face off every year as they try to out fish each other.

“It’s a Fish and Ski. It’s a Javelin, 225 SHO on there, Yamaha SHO. I drive a Denali, 2016 GMC truck and the boat n’ the truck are both white,” said McBride. “Yeah, … I got Garmin, I’ve got Lowrance, but you know [fish finders] aren’t that important in the river”.

“There’s lots of good teams out there…We always compete against the number one team this year, Doug McBride and Steve Ballan,” said Godin

Elaine Soucy, co-director of sponsorships, says she looks forward to seeing “the people in their boats, the fishermen, and fisher ladies.”

Louis Bergeron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Fort Frances Times