Lake St. Clair didn’t disappoint and the windy conditions didn’t deter the 86 kayak anglers competing in the Competitive Division of the 2017 Border City Classic. With close to 800 bass recorded in the iAngler App and considering a 14-inch minimum is needed to score a fish, it is quite a mark for the two day event.

Another 10 anglers competed in the one day Recreation Division on Saturday with Robert Ofner taking 1st followed by Trevor Crevatin and Stephen Rudd.

With 50 anglers from Ontario, Canada and 36 American anglers representing 10 states, all hoping to qualify for the 2018 Hobie Fishing World Championship, it was Craig Hefner from Davisburg, Michigan who finished with a two-day total of 189.25 inches earning a spot on Team USA.

Eric Siddiqi of Cincinnati, Ohio finished 2nd with 187.75 inches. Rob Baginski of Windsor, Ontario was 3rd and the top Canadian with 187 inches, earning him an invitation to the 2018 Hobie Fishing World Championships. Another 16 anglers topped 180 inches for the event and over 90 percent of the fish caught were smallmouth bass.

Big fish over the two days was won by Corbin Kench who caught a 21” smallmouth bass on the American side of the lake. Eric Siddiqi also caught a 21” smallmouth on the Ontario side, though Corbin won by a tie breaker with his second biggest fish at 20 inches.

The event was held on both sides of the border with 20 of the Americans fishing the Michigan side of Lake St. Clair and 16 fishing the Ontario side. Even though 22 of the top 25 anglers fished the Canadian side the Americans for the first time since the Challenge Cup started won top five fish with a score of 103.75 inches over the Canadians who had 100.25 inches.