Two Haliburton County anglers have won the 2026 Competitive Sport Fishing League National Classic.
Cam Neville and Brian Johnston won the championship, held Sept. 12 and 13 on Lake Couchiching, with a two-day total weigh-in of 41.2 lbs.
The locals received $10,000 for beating out 85 other competitors, including some professionals.
Neville told The Highlander Tuesday (Sept. 15) he was excited about the win, while acknowledging it hadn’t really sunk in yet.
“I don’t know if the stars just aligned or what…it was a very good weekend.”
He said he’s competed in the classic – which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year – “for a long time, trying to win it.”
He and Johnston started fishing together competitively in 2018. Neville took Johnston on his first tournament, which they won, “and it just snowballed from there.”
Neville said this past weekend started off slow. However, they changed location and, “right away, (Brian) hooked a fourand-a-quarter pound large bass, maybe five minutes later, he caught a five-and-a-quarter pound smallmouth.” The catches kept coming, “and we weren’t even going to go that way.”
Johnston said on day two, Sunday, they hunkered down in one big area with six feet of water. “We just spent the whole day finessing the area to get the fish to bite.” Neville said Johnston’s mastery of the live scope definitely came in handy.
Neville further attributed “persistence” for the win. ” Having the confidence in that spot…knowing that there were fish around there. You just have to find them and catch them.”
Over the weekend, they used Jarrod Dean’s Punisher jigs. They had used them in a tournament on Lake Simcoe earlier this summer and finished second. They caught all their fish on the jig that looks like a crayfish.
Neville doesn’t know why, speculating “the fish might not have seen them before… they certainly like to eat them.”
As the two headed back to shore Sept. 13, Neville said he knew they had a chance at victory, since he had competed so many times in the classic. Johnston added talking to top teams in the parking lot, he was told they hadn’t had great days.
“I had a feeling we were going to win, but I just didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Johnston said.
Finding out they’d done it, Johnston said it hadn’t sunk in for him either, until Tuesday, as people began sending congratulatory messages.
He said the win was partial luck, but the team had also made the right moves.
Neville said he’d been fishing for as long as he can remember, always finding the hobby to be relaxing. Growing up in Lochlin, he and a buddy used to bike or walk to Scott’s Dam to put a line in. Now, he’ll “go anywhere I can here.” He wanted to thank his family for all of their support.
Johnston was born and raised in Haliburton County, ice fishing with his dad. He considers Boshkung his home lake, but fishes every lake in the Highlands.
He recalled the first time he got into a 12-foot tinny, getting into bass fishing. He never imagined he’d be a classic winner. He admitted he had shed a tear, commenting, “the young me would be pretty proud, especially going against some people who have known Lake Couchiching for over 20 years.”
