Around 200 bass anglers from nine nations converged in Fredericton, New Brunswick over the past week to participate in the Pan-American Black Bass Championship, taking place on the Saint John River that flows through the province. Canada, the United States, China, Puerto Rico, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Wolastoqey First Nation and Turtle Island First Nation all competed in the tournament.
Earlier in the year I was asked to be part of Team Canada for this event, which I proudly accepted. This Pan-Am event started in 2016 and Canada started sending a team in 2018. This was the second time that Canada has hosted the event.
There was no money on the line for this two-day tournament, just bragging rights and national pride. Obviously, it’s an honor to represent your country in any sport or activity, so when I was asked, I jumped at the opportunity. The USA often sends a stacked team of professional anglers so they are often the team to beat, as was the case this year. Canada has won the Pan-Am event in the past however, proving we can compete with them.
The format for this two-day event is a little bit different than a traditional tournament. Two angler teams compete and each country can have up to eight teams on the water. The weights of the top four teams are tallied towards a total and whichever nation has the most weight, wins. Teams bring in a five bass limit each day.
Typically, Canada has a qualifying event in southern Ontario to earn a spot on the team. My schedule has never allowed me to attend the qualifier so I have not been able to make the team in the past, but this year the organizers asked fellow Bassmaster Elite Series angler Cooper Gallant and I if we could join them. It was an easy decision for us and we jumped onboard.
Although Cooper and I had never shared the boat together, we are good friends so we were excited in the weeks leading up to the trip. We ended up having a great week out in New Brunswick and caught plenty of fish. We got two days to practice before the tournament and found that the Saint John River is absolutely loaded with fish. During the two tournament days, I think we probably caught over 100 fish each day, but it was hard to get one over three pounds.
We found fish shallow, deep and everywhere in between and just kind of tried a bit of everything. We ended up bringing in solid 15 pound plus limits each day, finishing 7th overall in the 57-team event. By the end of the tournament, we figured out that while the numbers were not as good, the bigger fish were in deeper water.
In the overall standings, Canada finished second overall to the USA, who took the four of the top seven spots in the standings. Canada had the other three, but we were overmatched in the end. The US team of Tyler Williams and Trey McKinney won the tournament, finishing four pounds ahead of second place.
It was an awesome experience representing Canada. We received first class treatment from everybody out in New Brunswick throughout the week. I’m really glad that I was able to go.
There is a World Bass Championship that takes place each year as well and the way that Canada Bass chooses teams for that tournament is by taking the top three finishing teams from the Pan-Am Championship. Cooper and I were the third-place Canadian team so we have made the 2025 world team, which will compete in South Africa. Hopefully our schedule will work out so we can attend that event next year! We’re definitely planning to go! It’s kind of crazy all of the places that my passion for bass fishing has taken me.
If anyone ever has the opportunity to visit New Brunswick, it’s a great place to go!
