It’s hard to believe that another year has passed—and the eighth-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is now upon us. Especially with memories of Steve and Kent Ballan’s dramatic victory over Doug and Zach McBride last July still so fresh in our minds.
But, yes, it has been a year, and you can bet this year’s FFCBC—which gets underway tomorrow at 7:30 a.m.—will provide memories and moments just as thrilling by the time it wraps up Saturday afternoon under the big tent at the Sorting Gap Marina.
It’s hard to predict how the derby will shape up in 2002, with the competing anglers swapping contradictory stories over how their pre-fishing went. Then again, they are anglers, which means you have to be wary about anything they say.
In a nutshell, it’s all going to come down to the final weigh-in—and the spectators who cram under the tent each year wouldn’t wish it to be any other way.
But while it’s now time for the anglers to take centre stage, and rightfully so (it is, after all, a fishing tournament), one cannot overlook the incredible time and work undertaken by the volunteer FFCBC directors just to get the derby off the ground each year.
A look at the schedule of daytime and nighttime activities, which really got underway Sunday with the annual Kid-Pro tournament, is a testament to their efforts—and a big reason why the FFCBC has blossomed from an idea to the town’s pre-eminent community event in just eight short years.
Equally encouraging is to see new faces routinely accept the responsibilities of being a director, or chairman like newcomer Gary Rogozinski, which certainly reduces the chance of volunteer “burn-out” killing the derby down the road.
Congratulations to the directors for organizing another great show. And good luck to all the teams as they begin their quest for the $25,000 first prize—not to mention the unabashed joy of hoisting aloft the FFCBC trophy in front of the cheering throng Saturday afternoon.
What a feeling that must be. It obviously keeps bringing the anglers back year after year in hopes of tasting it—and that’s a testament to Fort Frances.