Submitted Photo Cody Pardon of Burlington and Josh Gladback of Minot were the champions of the 2022 North Dakota Governor’s Walleye Cup Tournament at Lake Sakakawea last weekend.

The 2022 edition of the North Dakota Governor’s Walleye Cup Tournament was held last weekend and two teams from the Minot area finished first and second amongst 260. The Cup is won by the team that catches the 10 heaviest fish.

The duo Cody Pardon and Josh Gladback reeled in 39.48 pounds of walleye over the two days of the tournament, enough to beat the field and bring home the championship and the $15,000 top prize. The pair have been friends for around 10 years and have been competing at the Governor’s Cup for the last four. They finished with 20.5 pounds of walleye in ninth place on the first day, which shocked them but buoyed their spirits.

“There were some big fish during pre-fishing, but we didn’t catch a walleye until around 1:15, but once we found them, we smoked ’em,” Pardon said, “It was an emotional rollercoaster, but after that first weigh in, we knew we had a shot.”

They came close to matching their total on the second day with 19.48 pounds, finding success despite blustering wind. Despite the hefty catch of walleye in their boat, Pardon said they didn’t expect to come out on top when it came time for the moment of truth at the final weigh in, beating the runners up by a mere 4 ounces.

“We found a spot out of the wind and caught a couple. Once it died down were able to hit our spots, were able to catch even more. We didn’t think we had it. Once we weighed the fish, it was a pretty good feeling,” said Pardon.

The runners up were Justin and Brent Racine of Minot, falling short despite their final tally of 39.06 pounds. The Racines also have the distinction of catching the largest walleye in Governor’s Cup history at 11.08 pounds. The third-place team was Marc Beyer of Garrison and Jason Kobes of Bismarck with 37.18 pounds.

Pardon and Gladback will have the chance to defend their overall crown in 2023, but until then Pardon says they’ll just keep fishing.