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"Its De-ja-vu all over again". For the second year in a row Kevin 'Crawdaddy' Cunningham and partner Paul 'June' Ritchie emerged victorious at the Atlantic Bassmasters Classic Championship on the legendary Thousand Islands section of the St Lawrence River. This year however, the outcome was in doubt up until the very last minute of competition. Their victory here in 2003 had been a 'cake walk' into the winners circle. This year their path to that circle would be a bit more difficult. A day one limit of 16 lbs., 3 ozs gave them a 3 pound lead over their closest competitors, Joe Pido and Burt Elkins who weighed in with 13 lbs., 3 ozs. The two teams were fishing in sight of one another at the mouth of French Creek in Clayton. On the second day of competition the two teams went toe- to- toe, fish for fish as the tension mounted. The teams exchanged quick glances as one or the other boated a fish. Kevin and Paul were fishing jigs over and through the matted vegetation while Joe and Burt cranked the edges. When Pido landed a bass in the 5 pound range their three pound deficit had disappeared. On the trip back to Grassy Point State Park the unthinkable happened. Kevin and Paul who are known for their 'fish to the last' attitude had left themselves a small margin of time to make the 15 minute run to the weigh-in site. This time that attitude might have cost them. "We were half way back when suddenly the engine sputtered and coughed and completely died recalled Cunningham." They just stared at each other in disbelief; this couldn't be happening. Paul had forgotten to add oil before the trip and now that oversight was coming back to haunt them. "We knew we couldn't get back on electric power and there wasn't enough time to make for shore and a marina said Cunningham. Thank God Paul had a pint of oil in one of the storage lockers. It was just enough to get the motor started." Phew! Kevin and Paul weighed in a five fish limit totaling 13 lbs.,01 oz. and held their collective breaths as Pido and Elkins came to the scales. The digital scale blinked and flickered but when the numbers settled in at 15 lbs.,14 ozs. Cunningham and Ritchie had their Classic Championship by the slimmest of margins...2 ozs! The 'Dynamic Duo' as they are now being referred to weighed in 29 lbs.,03 ozs to Pido and Elkins 29 lbs.,01oz. Third place went to the
team of Andre Gonis and Joe Contrino who weighed in a two day limit
totaling 25 lbs.,04 ozs. Of special note, Dave McLaughlin caught a
new club record smallmouth weighing 4 lbs. 15 ozs.
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