The 40th Anniversary of The Gamblorama!

This was the 4Oth anniversary of the Gamblorama and Fishing Trip. Yep, this was the 41st trip! The first "official" trip was back in 1977 where a bunch of guys went on a fishing trip to Pourvoirie Chico Brunet at Baskatong. There were a few unorganized trips before 1977 but the 1977 trip is considered the first.

Trips were different back then when the trip was all about fishing and the brown bottle. Lately, fishing is still a big part of the trip but Gamblorama has seem to have taken over. Also, the colour of the bottles has changed to clear. green and brown.

This year's players and fishermen included Phil Anderson, Al Davis, Al Heaney, Kyle Heaney, Warren Kidd, Al Macintyre and Ron Zinn.

It was a trip hampered by defective Nangor Resort motors. Only one of the three motors worked for the long weekend. First day out, Meaney, Kyle and Ron headed out for an afternoon of fishing, but the motor conked out after 20 minutes... and in the middle of the Ottawa River! After 30 minutes of trying to get the motor going again, it did not happen. With no other boats to flag down, the boys decided to paddle the half kilometer to shore.

Safely on shore and on the sandbar at the entrance to Hennessys Bay, the boys took out their fishing rods, cracked a beer and fished from shore while waiting for a tow. It took a while but Phil and Alvin showed up and were able to tow the guys back to Nangor.

With the lack of working motors and the mix of sun and rain, most of the guys fished from shore for the rest of the weekend. Fishing from shore means less variety of fish, so most of the fish caught on the weekend were bullheads.

On this Father's Day weekend, we might or might not have seen a beer's bass. This thing is a legend and has made the rounds since being acquired back in the 1980's. We were also introduced to the resort owner's new boyfriend, Mike Barkley, who joined us Sunday evening for a game of chance.

Amazingly enough, when the trip was over, beers bass disappeared. Was it left behind? Forgotten or stolen? We don't know. It was mysteriously recovered somewhere near Montreal a week later. The Beers Bass was shipped back to Ottawa and returned to its rightful owner at Petrie Island, Ontario.

Winner of the 40th anniversary trip was Ron Zinn with a six-pound bullhead. No photos though, he did not want his photo taken. For the first time in many years, there were no clear winners of the Gamblorama. Guys won and guys lost, and everyone broke even. We are back at Nangor for the 2018 trip.