Troutfest 2022 winners score big stringers for big prizes (full photo gallery)

October 11, 2022

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Screen Shot 2022-10-11 at 10.05.27 AM — SEA EAGLE AND SUZUKI WINNER – Scott Sawa topped a remarkable few months of fishing from his kayak with the capture of the overall Troutfest 2022 big fish category winner – a 4.06-pound trout. He took home a Sea Eagle boat and Suzuki outboard plus a host of other prizes for also scoring fourth overall in the men’s total weight contest.

BY BEN HERVEY-MURRAY

BIG BEAR LAKE – As the saying goes, the cream rises to the top and Troutfest 2022 winner Scott Sawa proved just that by taking another major WON tournament trophy – this time for a 4.06-pound rainbow that took largest fish honors on Big Bear Lake. Sawa also scored in the summer’s WON Big Fish Challenge with a lingcod.

With the larger-grade fish mostly staying out of sight over the tournament weekend for the 390 competitors, the four total bag weight categories proved to be a highly competitive race with Sean Kinney taking the adult male category thanks to his ten-fish bag weighing in at 12.43 pounds.

WHAT A HAUL – Overall adult male winner Sean Kinney with his big catch of prizes, swag and trophy.

The adult female contest saw Maria Henshall weigh in nine trout for 10.38 pounds to secure first place, whilst Joe Griffith scored top slot in the junior male bracket with eight fish for 7.47 pounds, and Cali Perreira registered ten trout for 7.87 pounds in the junior female contest.

With high daytime temperatures and a decent amount of wind to contend with, some competitors struggled to dial in the bite and the usual smattering of larger fish were conspicuous by their absence. But kayak anglers – such as Scott Sawa – targeting deeper water with trolled offerings consistently picked off the better specimens over the two-day contest.

In Sawa’s case, a Berkley Flicker Shad tempted his big one. PowerBait and nightcrawlers were also reliable performers for bank anglers with 5,000 pounds of recently-stocked Mt. Lassen fish keen to meet a stringer.

CLOSE FINISH – Irene Nakano went into day two leading the big fish contest with this 3.4-pound trout, only to be outdone by Scott Sawa’s 4.06- pound fish just before the final weigh-in closed.

The afternoon of the final day of the weekend tournament saw competitors gather at Big Bear Marina for a prize-giving, blind bogey giveaway, raffle, Suzuki spin-the-wheel cash contest and hot dog BBQ.

Winners walked away with cash, trophies, tackle and accessories from Daiwa, Berkley, Costa, Fenwick, Frabil, Gamakatsu, Huk, Igloo, Panther Martin, Plueger, Plano, Techron and Thomas Fishing Lures.

Many thanks to all who entered and fished hard throughout the weekend – we really appreciate the enthusiasm and energy everyone bought to Big Bear, and a special thanks to our sponsors and supporters. See you all on the first weekend of October in 2023 for the 18^th edition of Troutfest!

COSTA SWAG – The raffle contest saw lots of Costa sunglasses and apparel given away.

DAIWA WINNERS – Backpacks and super-smooth Procyon AL reels were part of the prize package for raffle and contest winners.

IGLOO COOLERS – Major winners all went home with Igloo BMX 52 coolers, ideal for keeping a stringer of tasty trout cool in the Big Bear sun.

HUK GIVEAWAY – Vouchers for classy Huk clothing and apparel were on the menu for raffle winners.

PLANO PRIZES — Lots of Troutfest anglers went home with new Plano tackle storage systems including Maria Henshall who needed help hauling it all away.

PFLUEGER REELS AND FENWICK RODS made for great prizes for junior anglers.

SUZUKI OUTBOARD ON–BOARD – One lucky Troutfest contestant won a random draw to take home a brand-new Suzuki outboard.

Troutfest 2022 full event photo gallery