For only his second year in competitive fishing, 2008 has been a special time for Saegertown resident Todd Pavlik and his team, Pacific Time Sport Fishing.

This past weekend, Pavlik’s team finished first out of 21 boats in the professional division of the 2008 Erie, Pennsylvania Sport Fishing Association Walleye and Steelhead Pro-Am in Erie.

“It was very rewarding,” Pavlik said. “It is an honor to beat some of these guys that I looked up to over the years.”

Although he has been fishing on Lake Erie for over 20 years, this is Pavlik’s first season competing in the professional division at tournaments.

Pavlik’s teammates for the EPSFA Pro-Am were Alex Basko, Chris Chiesa and Brett Miller.

The tournament was a two-day event with a 17-fish limit each day. Teams could catch up to 12 walleye and five steelhead.

Winners were determined based on a point system. Each fish was worth 10 points and each pound of fish was worth one point. Pavlik’s Pacific Time team caught a winning total of 33 fish, weighing 208 pounds.

According to Basko, the team far surpassed its expectations heading into the tournament. Basko and Pavlik fished together in the EPSFA Pro-Am last year and finished 11th.

This year their goal was to finish in the top 10.

“We didn’t think we’d win anything,” Basko said. “You never go into these tournaments thinking you’re going to win, but you give it a hell of an effort.”

The Pacific Time team caught the maximum number of fish on Saturday, but was in second place heading into Sunday’s final round.

Pavlik and his teammates came one steelhead short of the maximum on Sunday, and they didn’t think they would have a chance to win.

“On the second day, not having our limit, we thought we’d be in the top five maybe,” Basko said.

Because the tournament had a rule against communication between competitors with cell phones or VHF radios, Pavlik’s team didn’t know how the other teams were doing until the weigh-in.

It came as a bit of a surprise when they found out they had finished first.