Joey Payeur
The kingpins have thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to their Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship crown.
Anybody that wants it, come try and take it–because they have no intention of just handing it over.
Troy Norman of Fort Frances and Kenora’s Jay Samsal served notice yesterday they are the team to beat once again after the reigning title-holders hauled in 19.18 pounds to vault atop the leaderboard following Day 1 of the 23rd-annual tournament.
That included the big fish of the day–a laudable lunker that tipped the scales at 4.83 pounds.
The scary part for those in pursuit is that the champs might just be getting started.
“We found a new area during pre-fishing that had a bunch of beautiful fish that were back there where we went [yesterday],” said Norman.
“But we found another bite in pre-fishing that had bigger fish on average than what we caught [yesterday],” he warned.
“If we get going on that [today], we could reach what we had [yesterday] or more.”
Norman said the good weather this past week was crucial to recording a big weight yesterday.
“When it’s more stable, the fish set up better and it’s a feeding frenzy,” he explained.
But Norman also is far from thinking a repeat of last year’s win already is in the bag.
“There’s no shortage of great anglers in the field and it’s a three-day tournament,” he noted.
“You can’t just be good one day,” he stressed. “You’ve got to be consistent all three days.”
The list of those trying to track them down is rife with competitors who know what it takes to be the last team standing at the end of the final day.
Three-time champion Dave Lindsay of Sioux Narrows (1995, 1997, and 2005) and partner Bill Godin of Devlin, who finished sixth last year, sat in second place after Day 1 at 18.54 pounds, just .64 behind the leaders.
Morson’s Oliver Gibbins and Mike Gate of Nestor Falls also broke the 18-pound barrier with a mark of 18.27, including what had been the big fish of the day (4.60) before Norman and Samsal showed up.
Jeff “Gussy” Gustafson (Keewatin) and John Peterson (Bemidji, Mn.), back-to-back FFCBC winners in 2013-14, are right in the hunt in fourth place (17.85).
2011 co-champs Glenn Leroux and Trevor Zimak (Thunder Bay) rounded out the top five at 17.44.
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Carlson of Fort Frances were sixth (17.28), Dale La Belle (Devlin) and Dave Byrnes (Fort Frances) held down seventh spot (16.93), and three-time top-five finishers Lauren Ras and Chuck Olson (Bemidji) sat in eighth (16.18).
Donovan Cousineau and Dave Chambers of Fort Frances, this year’s “Castin’ for Cash” winners two weeks ago, maintained their momentum with a ninth-place start (16.05).
Another Fort Frances team in Matt Plante and Adam Bolen rounded out the top 10 (15.74).
But some pre-tournament favourites had their share of difficulties yesterday.
2012 champs Mark Raveling (Longville, Mn.) and Mike Luhman (Deer Park, Wis.), last year’s runners-up, only managed 14.08 pounds yesterday and are well back in 32nd spot after Day 1.
Meanwhile, an unwelcome case of déja vu struck the FFCBC’s all-time winningest pair.
Five-time champs Joe Thrun (Annandale, Mn.) and Jim Moynagh (Carver, Mn.) struggled to 11.86 pounds yesterday–the exact same weight they had one year ago on Day 1.
Last year, that meant 71st place. This year it has them in 61st.
But if anyone can come from behind, it’s Thrun and Moynagh, who netted the tourney’s biggest bag last year on Day 2 (20.70) and then recorded 17.96 on Day 3 to rise all the way to third overall.
The Day 2 weigh-in began at 3:30 p.m. under the big tent at the Sorting Gap Marina, with the final weigh-in getting started at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
The top 10 after today will take part in tomorrow’s boat parade through the tent starting at 5 p.m. as they vie for the $20,000 first prize.
Those in the bottom half after today will drop to the Second Division tomorrow in a one-day shootout among themselves, with the top finisher in that group winning $1,000.
