By Lucas Punkari
Fort Frances Times Ltd.
Fort Frances Times Ltd.
A total of 95 boats launched from the government dock at Pither’s Point this morning to begin their quest for the 17th-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship crown.
As the anglers waited to go on the water at the Sorting Gap Marina, both newcomers and seasoned FFCBC competitors alike were feeling exactly the same.
“You’re a little uptight and a little tense when you start,” he admitted. “And the first time you get out there, you start to throw the hooks a little too hard and things like that.
“You just got to calm yourself down and make it just like another day,” Tucker reasoned.
“I’ve been fishing in tournaments for 20 years and it never changes for me,” echoed Randy Wilcox, who is competing in his first FFCBC with partner Paul Perovich.
“This is a passion of mine and I’ve very excited about it as usual,” he remarked.
“But since this is my first time being up here, I’m really excited about this one,” Wilcox enthused.
Anglers have had to deal with scorching temperatures on Rainy Lake over the past few days, but they said the pre-fishing still went quite well.
“Things have been pretty normal for us,” said Pat Jeffries, who is fishing with Kurt Johnson.
“It hasn’t been bad but there’s been nothing fantastic, either, so it’s pretty much the same as it always is,” he reasoned.
“Our pre-fishing went very well,” noted Tucker.
“Hopefully the fish will still be there and no on else will be sitting in our holes,” he stressed.
While the high for today was expected to reach 26 C (upper 70s F), winds coming out of the west at 25 km/h may cause the teams to make a few changes.
“It’s a little cooler out but it’s still warm, and the water temperature is still warm,” Tucker said.
“It will be a little bit of a rougher ride out there today, but we’ve faced this before and we are ready for it,” he added.
“With the wind blowing a little bit today, that might move the fish around a little bit,” noted Jeffries.
“Normally the fishing is still pretty good, though, when the temperatures are normal like this, so it should still be a good day out there,” he predicted.
The Day 1 weigh-in is scheduled to get underway at 3:30 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Tomorrow will see the boats launch once again, in reverse order, starting at 7 a.m., with the Day 2 weigh-in also starting at 3:30 p.m.
The Day 3 weigh-in on Saturday starts a half-hour sooner (at 3 p.m.), with the 2011 champion to be crowned about three hours later.