The 21st-annual Bassin’ For Bucks tournament took place over the weekend in Sioux Narrows with a full field of 125 teams participating in what many consider one of the most fun events we have in Northwest Ontario.
Great weather greeted anglers all weekend and the fishing was pretty good overall—despite slightly lower weights than we’ve seen over the past few years.
Mike Reid and I have fished this tournament since its inception and have had a lot of fun over the years. In fact, we could tell stories for hours about all the memories we have—many from fishing and plenty from all the good times we’ve had with our buddies having breakfast or sharing some late nights.
The social aspect of participating in these events is one of the reasons people have so much fun fishing them.
This tournament rewards anglers for good daily performances, with the top six weights each day of the three-day event earning cash prizes. The top 20 overall also receive some prize money.
There also are prizes for the top finishing teams in the male/female and adult/youth categories. As well, prize money is paid for the biggest smallmouth and largemouth bass each day of the tournament.
Mike and I did not have any really great days over the weekend, but our consistency rewarded us with a third-place finish for the third-straight year. We had similar weights between 16.6 and 17 pounds each day, and weighed in a combination of largemouth and smallmouth bass.
We were in 10th place after Day 1, moved up to seventh after Day 2, and then ended up third on Day 3 so it was a good weekend.
Many of the smallmouths in Lake of the Woods moved out to deeper water over the past week or two, and that played right into the hands of eventual tournament winners Ted and Louise Stewner of Winnipeg.
They have shown many times over the years that they are the best at catching smallmouth bass once they move to deeper water, winning this tournament several times, as well as all of the other fall tournaments we have across Sunset Country.
They work hard when they pre-fish for these tournaments—spending a lot of time looking for fish on their electronics on the many off-shore reefs and flats scattered around the lake.
By the time the tournament starts, they have quite a few schools located. They also are better than everybody else at catching these deeper fish.
We spent quite a bit of time fishing around the Stewners in the tournament, as did a few of the other top 10 finishers, and they literally put on a clinic for all of us!
Second place in the tournament went to the local team of Brian McNanney and Matt Rydberg. They always are competitive in all of the tournaments on Lake of the Woods and they rode three solid days of smallmouths to another great finish.
Many thanks to all of the great volunteers who support the Bassin’ For Bucks tournament every year—from all the people who show up early every morning at the docks to do the boat checks to the truck drivers who bring the anglers up to the weigh-in area to all the folks who make the roast beef dinner for the anglers so awesome!
Debbie Ducharme and Barb Salvador deserve an extra mention for all of their hard work to make this event so great every year!
Full results from the weekend can be found on the tournament website at www.bassinforbucks.com
Meanwhile, it’s back on the road this week for me as I head east to Lake Nipigon to film a couple of TV shows for brook trout and salmon. I’m really looking for to this trip that we planned earlier in the summer.
We are fishing with Gord Ellis of Thunder Bay, the host of a weekly outdoor show on CBC Radio and long-time outdoor writer.
It should be a great trip so look for my report next week!
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
