Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship

The highlight of the summer for me happened in late July.  My good friend John Peterson and I won the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, one of the premier, open team tournaments in North America.  This event takes place on Rainy Lake, which I feel is one of the BEST smallmouth fisheries in the World.  (www.canadianbass.com)

John and I had a great prefish for this tournament and opened the tournament strong, taking the early lead on day one with a five fish limit weighing 19.17 pounds. (pictured above)

The weather got nasty on day two with cold temperatures and high winds.  Fortunately we were able to put together a decent limit to hang around the top of the leaderboard heading into the final day.  After catching most of our fish on day one on topwater baits (Jackall SK Grande popper) we had to switch things up on day two, catching fish on tubes and spinnerbaits. 

The LakeMaster Woods/Rainy map card was very key in helping us find subtle sweetspots that held big smallmouths on Rainy Lake.  

The rough weather continued on day three but we were fortunate to get on a big school of smallmouths and put five of them in the boat.  We caught a really big bag on day three, weighing 20.35 pounds, which was enough to put us on top of the leaderboard at the end of the tournament.  

I have fished this tournament since 2000 and have several top five finishes so to finally win was pretty special.  This is a very tough tournament to win, with a competitive field.  Definitely one of the highlights of my fishing career so far!  John and I always have a great time fishing this event!   

Here is our plaque on the big trophy...
If you are interested in fishing the FFCBC next year, the event always takes place during the last weekend in July.  It's a top-notch tournament on one of the most beautiful lakes in the World.  I guarantee you'll have fun! www.canadianbass.com