Two-time champ back at FFCBC

    There’s a big shark back in Rainy Lake.
    Jim Moynagh, a former two-time champion of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, is returning after a five-year layoff “expecting to do well” and placing in the top 10.
    “The fish have a say in that, but I’m not going to be happy unless I have a good finish,” he remarked.
    Moynagh fishes the FLW tour and scheduling conflicts have kept him away from Fort Frances since a third-place finish in 2002—his second-lowest showing at the FFCBC.
    He and partner Joe Thrun took top honours back-to-back in 1998 and ’99, bookended by a pair of second-place finishes. The team’s 58.62-pound, three-day total from 1998 still remains a tournament record a decade later.
    The only blemish on Moynagh’s otherwise sparkling Fort Frances numbers is a 56th overall finish in 2001. But his numbers assure him recognition among the tournament’s all-time elite, despite his long absence.
    He said he’s looking to regain his old form.
    “It’s a lot to ask, to expect the top three,” Moynagh admitted. “I think the competition has improved since I left and so I just hope . . . I think a top 10 [finish] would be nice.
    “If I wasn’t in the top 10, I don’t think I’d be happy about it.”
    Moynagh might not have made it to Rainy Lake the past few seasons, but his partner hasn’t gone anywhere.
    Thrun has participated in every FFCBC since Moynagh’s departure, drawing middling results with a smattering of fishing partners—highlighted by a 12th-place finish in 2003 with Dean Capra.
    Thrun said he’s “absolutely” looking forward to partnering up with Moynagh again. “Anytime you got a chance to fish with someone like that, it’s always a nice situation,” he remarked.
    Thrun also said he’s optimistic about their prospects this week, although “there’s certainly no guarantees in fishing.”
    “I don’t want to come out and say, ‘Yeah we’re going to be in the top three no matter what,’ because a lot of things have to go your way—no matter who’s on your side,” he stressed.
    Plus, fishing Rainy Lake together again should be a good time.
    “We go back,” Thrun said. “We’ve known each other for close to 30 years, so it’s just fishing with an old friend, really.”
    Moynagh fishes with Thrun regularly in tournaments throughout their native Minnesota, and has kept in touch with him about his finishes at the FFCBC.
    “I’ve always had an interest in it, even while I’m gone,” Moynagh said.
    He added he’s always enjoyed fishing Rainy Lake, and was impressed with how the FFCBC was run, not to mention the “excellent community involvement and decent prize money.”
    He’s also looking forward to getting reacquainted with Rainy Lake.
    “The one thing you hear about is how things have changed since I’ve gone,” Moynagh said. “I’m looking forward to what those changes might be, if they are valid, ’cause I keep thinking in my mind—it’s the same lake, they’re still eating the same things, so what can be different?
    “You know what I mean?” he chuckled.
    While Moynagh isn’t shy about how well he expects to fish here this week, he insisted he doesn’t have any personal strengths that play into the FFCBC other than his fishing experience and working relationship with Thrun.
    He added that while the tournament isn’t easy, he enjoys the challenge of catching bass on Rainy Lake.
    “It’s kind of a tricky lake to fish because the fish are very volatile in that they move around so much, so trying to stay on top of the pattern, trying to stay with the fish every day, is kind of a challenge.
    “I like that about it.”