Back in July of 2000, a Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship tournament organizer contacted me about a week before the tournament to let me know that a spot had opened up if I could make it. We had been on the waiting list to get in and luckily, we got the call.
I had never fished the lake before so it was a little bit risky because I think we only got a day or two to practice but we got out there, found a few areas where we could catch fish and had a good tournament. My love for Rainy Lake was born.
Over the years, spending a week every July at Rainy for the FFCBC has always been one of the highlights of my summer. There have been some great days fishing and some good parties under the big tent. I’ve made a lot of friends in the Fort Frances area because of the tournament.
When the original group of organizers started the tournament in the mid-90’s they wanted to shed a spotlight on this incredible fishery and bring anglers from outside the area into the community for a week. Anglers have come from all over North America to fish the FFCBC throughout the years and most leave looking forward to their next visit.
In the early years of the tournament, it would almost always get won in the North Arm of Rainy Lake, where schools of fish could be found around the plentiful boulders and cabbage weeds. In the mid-2000’s, James and Bill Lindner won the tournament two years in a row and shared how they did it, using a minnow shaped soft-plastic rigged on a jig head to catch smallmouth bass in deeper, open water.
That spawned what has probably become the most popular technique for area anglers to catch big smallmouths throughout the summer and fall. It’s also the same technique that I was able to take south into the U.S. and win the couple of pro tournaments in recent years. Today, a jig with a minnow style soft plastic on it is likely the number one bait for bass across both Canada and the U.S. The origins of this bait in bass tournament competition likely started at the FFCBC.
Over the past decade, the tournament has been won mostly from the South Arm of the lake, where the numbers probably are not as good but the fish get a little bit bigger. The unique thing about Rainy Lake is the diversity out there as far as all of the different basins and types of water. You can find deep, clear water, shallow, dark water and everything in between.
Since 2007, I have teamed up with Bemidji, Minnesota angler John Peterson and we have had a pretty good run, with a couple of wins mixed in. John started Northland Fishing Tackle in his garage back in the 70’s and built it into a major tackle manufacturer. He has been a big supporter of my career and a good friend so it’s always fun to get to spend a few days together every year for this tournament.
Our goal every year is to win, but as anybody who has fished the tournament knows, it’s hard to win. There are a lot of good teams and many variables that are out of our control. Our strategy is to watch the weather and then try to formulate a game plan from there to catch the biggest fish we can. I have been looking forward to this week at Rainy Lake for a long time and can’t wait to get out there to try and figure it out. I’ll get a few days to practice and you can bet I’ll be out there from dark to dark, enjoying every minute.
The FFCBC tournament runs Thursday through Saturday, with weigh-ins happening each day under the tent at the Sorting Gap Marina. There are also a number of kids activities and evening entertainment under the tent, throughout the week.
