Team jumps at last-minute call

Shane Raveling and his partner, Jason Carlson, have been fishing Rainy Lake since Saturday—even though they only were on the waiting list for this year’s Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
From early morning to late afternoon, they fished and patiently waited for their chance. They hoped for it. They wondered about it.
It paid off. A team was scratched, “the call” came Wednesday, and the pair roared off across Sand Bay on Thursday morning for the opening day of the FFCBC.
“We get the call today [Wednesday] and we had one signal bar on our cellphone when Jason answered it and he couldn’t understand what the person was saying, but he knew that it was my dad,” said Raveling, who’s father, Mark, has enjoyed previous success in the FFCBC, placing second in 1998 and 2002.
FFCBC director Doug Cain had left messages with both Carlson and Mark Raveling as well as at Taylor’s Cove, where they were staying.
“We assumed that the only reason why my dad would be calling would be to let us know we got in the tournament,” Raveling remarked.
Hs assumption was correct.
Raveling and Carlson, the next team on the waiting list, had decided to come up from Minnesota “just in case we might get in.” And that’s exactly what happened after Ken Ellis and Wes Higgins had to withdraw due to a family emergency.
“We’re really glad to be here and now we’re hoping that we can catch enough fish to put us in a good draw for next year and get a little money,” said Raveling.
Other anglers probably aren’t so keen to see the duo competing in the FFCBC, though. While this is only their second tournament together, Raveling and Carlson both have fished separately in big ones before.
Raveling’s biggest highlight came in 1996 when he won the U.S. Bass Blitz at Lake Minnetonka, taking home the $50,000 (U.S.) first prize.
Raveling hopes he and his partner can finish in the top 50 or better here this week, but admitted not being as familiar with the lake as the other veterans is a definite disadvantage.
Even going into their pre-fishing, Raveling said he didn’t take it as serious as he would have liked because they didn’t really believe they were going to make it in.
“We probably didn’t take it [pre-fishing] as serious as we should’ve because we didn’t think we were going to get in,” he remarked. “But we still fished pretty hard, and we were on the water early and got [off] late.
“When I didn’t hear anything yesterday [Tuesday], I knew that there was a real scarce chance of getting in,” Raveling added. “I thought we might get a call on Monday, but when we didn’t get a call Monday or Tuesday, I thought that was it.”
But in it they are, and now Raveling and Carlson are excited about the opportunity that’s been given to them. They hope to take advantage of it.
“It’s a great feeling to know that we’re in and we’ll see what happens,” said Raveling. “We’ve just got to go out and catch some bass.”
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)