Lucas Punkari
Even though weather conditions are almost identical to what they were here a year ago, some of the anglers who have been pre-fishing prior to the start of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship tomorrow are finding things to be a lot more difficult.
In the lead-up to the 2011 tournament, many anglers were catching boat-loads of Rainy Lake bass just by putting their lures in the water.
This time around, however, it’s been much more difficult to reel in the big one.
“I think anyone would tell you that they are having a tough time out there,” said Frank McClymont, who has fished in all 18 editions of the FFCBC.
“And if they don’t tell you that, then they are probably lying to you,” he added.
Instead of finding many of their fish in one location, a few of the teams have had to travel around Rainy Lake to find the bass, such as Emo’s James Kaemingh and Dan Veldhuisen.
“It’s been scattered so far, that’s for sure,” Veldhuisen remarked.
“You are runnin’ and gunnin’ all over the place as there are not a lot of schools, and you are covering a lot of water,” Kaemingh noted.
“I’m sure our partner for the ‘KidPro’ [Aaron Meyers] would tell you that, as well, as we covered a lot of the lake on Sunday,” he added.
Both Kaemingh and Veldhuisen also have been trying a few different techniques in order to reel in the big one.
“You have to be flexible with your lures, and be ready with whatever is coming your way out there,” Veldhuisen stressed.
“We have eight rods in our boats with a different lure on each of them, and there hasn’t been one hot ticket out there so far,” said Kaemingh.
“It’s really been a hit-or-miss situation in certain spots.”
Even though temperatures have been nearly the same as a year ago, the fact it’s been hot in Rainy River District for the last month or so has changed things up a bit.
“This year, the water temperature has been warmer for a long time, the weed growth has become higher, and we’ve also had a longer spring,” McClymont explained.
“We need a little bit of a change in the weather here, and I think maybe the attitude of the fish will improve,” he added.
That change may come as soon as the opening day of the tournament. The forecast for tomorrow (as of press time) was calling for a 70 percent chance of showers and a high of only 21 C.
On Friday, temperatures will move back up to 24 C, along with a 40 percent chance of rain, while Saturday will see sunny conditions return and a high of 25 C.
“If it does end up raining, it may shake things up enough to turn the fish on a little bit,” said Terry McClymont, who is teaming up with his dad, Frank.
“Like any system, though, if there is a front that is associated with it, it might make the bite a little bit tougher out there,” he warned.
A change in weather also could wreak havoc with any of the pre-fishing work that’s been done so far by the 95 teams competing in this year’s FFCBC.
But many teams already have their back-up plans set out.
“We’re hoping that if the weather gets a little windy, that hopefully some of our fish will pull out and we catch them in deeper water,” said Dan Grosenick.
“If that can get them going a little bit, the bite might become more aggressive,” Grosenick’s partner, Trevor Guderyan, noted.
