First Tournament
The first tournament featured 47 competing teams. It will be remembered for the Hawg Trough, high winds, bouncing tent posts, broken boats and damaged equipment. The tournament was the subject of a full 30-minute episode of Don Lamont’s syndicated fishing show The Complete Angler. In spite of not attracting the hoped-for number of entries and not turning a profit the event was a success. The tournament enjoyed great volunteer and business support. The anglers raved about the world-class smallmouth fishery and the unmatched community involvement. The anglers and the volunteers became the tournament’s best ambassadors.
In the late fall of 1995 the Ontario provincial government withdrew support for local tourist organizations and it became apparent that the Rendezvous Trail would not continue to remain active. Consequently the tournament was spun off from the founding organization and early in 1996 Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship Inc. was created as a non-profit corporation.
The challenge of the new organization was to grow the tournament. The new group had eleven board members with each board member being responsible for a specific area of activity. Three of the 1996 board members had been involved in the previous year. The board met once a month during the winter, increasing to every second week in May, and the weekly in July and on-sight daily during the tournament.
Early in the planning the new board realized that they had five groups that required special attention. These groups are the volunteers, the tournament sponsors, the anglers, the spectators and the fish. The tournament needed all of the groups to survive and grow. The board set out to make the 1996 tournament an affordable, enjoyable family oriented community festival.
The second tournament has 69 competing teams; an increase of 47%. Some of the highlights of the 1996 tournament were over 450 eager volunteers, increased daytime activities and family entertainment, Pathways to Fishing angling workshops for kids and the introduction of the Reel Raffle. The Big Screen Tournament Information System, the Parade of Boats and the Kiwanis Steak fry also debuted in 1996. That year was also the first time that the top teams were brought through the tent in their boats during the Day Three weigh-in. The crowd loved the excitement and the anglers loved the hype. It was a wonderful way to end the competition.
The 1996 tournament was highlighted in an eight-page feature in the Fishing 97 issue of Outdoors Canada. Gord Pyzer of Kenora, a tournament angler, fishing educator and internationally published outdoor writer, authored the article.
Immediately following the completion of the 1996 tournament the In-Fisherman Communication Network contacted the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. They wanted to use the new Big Screen Tournament Information System for the 1996 In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail Championship. The system designer and the computer committee chair worked tirelessly to deliver a custom modified system in less than one month.
This was the start of a long-term relationship with in-Fisherman that has given the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship a behind the scene view and knowledge of one of the finest fishing tournament circuits and access to the predominant fishing education and marketing organizations.
Rainy Lake, the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, its competing anglers and their innovative tournament fishing techniques and tactics have been featured on numerous In-Fisherman television shows and many magazine articles.
Al Lindner, co-founder of In-Fisherman, has repeatedly stated that Rainy Lake is his favourite smallmouth fishing destination. This is the fishing equivalent of receiving the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.
Planning for the 1997 tournament started almost immediately following the completion of the second event. The third tournament, in 1997, had 104 teams competing. An addition was purchased for the Rendezvous Trail Special Event Tent to help accommodate the increasing number of spectators and anglers. A second catch & release boat was added to ensure that the increasing number of fish weighed could be returned safely to Rainy Lake. In its second year the Reel Raffle, with 5000 tickets, was a sellout. In-Fisherman had TV crews filming the event for future shows on tournaments and tournament tactics.
A tournament internet site was created in 1997 to share tournament information on the World Wide Web. The address of this site is www.canadianbass.com. In 1997 the BIA decorated downtown Fort Frances with banners proclaiming the tournament. A spectator and angler survey conducted by the Rainy River Future Development Corporation provided tournament organizers with many comments and suggestions for future years. The direct economic impact of the 1997 tournament was estimated at over 2.5 million dollars.
The fourth tournament, held in 1998, was the first Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship that had a full field of 130 teams, with 15 additional teams on the waiting list. The KidPro event was added in 1998 to allow local youngsters the opportunity to fish with tournament anglers and the Big Screen Tournament Information System now had two screens. A Much Music Night was added for older kids in 1998.
Tournament organizers were featured on a live radio interview on a Chicago radio station outdoor store. More free family entertainment was added. In 1998 the number of volunteer reached almost 500 and there were 117 tournament sponsors.
In 1999 a full field of 130 teams competed for $120,000.00 in prizes. 1999 was a year of change for the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. In The biggest change was the moving of the fishing days from Friday, Saturday and Sunday to Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The new format offered several advantages: it gave the anglers a weekend travel day once the tournament concluded; the need to rush the awards presentations was eliminated; the anglers and their spouses had the opportunity to participate in a great social evening on the Saturday night and tear-down and clean-up could start on a weekend day instead of a weekday.
The Angler Advisory Committee was formed in 1999. This group is made up of a cross section of tournament anglers and they are regularly consulted on matters that affect anglers. The input of this group has continued to help grow the tournament. New holding tanks and a customized aeration system were implemented in 1999 to improve fish care.
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