Some 160 anxious anglers will be hoping Lady Luck is on their side tonight when the random draw for the final 40 berths in the 10th-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship next July is held at La Place Rendez-Vous.
That’s a record number of entrants in the draw—smashing the previous high of 117 set last year.
With 136 teams vying for $170,000 in prizes, including a projected $50,000 for first place, the chance to cast one’s line into the fray has even FFCBC veterans licking their chops to be among the chosen few tonight.
“It’s an exciting time,” said local angler Greg Asplund, who is in the draw for the second-straight year along with his son, James, after having competed in the FFCBC for eight of the nine previous years.
“It’s really kind of a special tournament for us. We really and truly enjoy the challenge,” he added.
Asplund would have preferred to have qualified automatically for next year’s field by finishing in the top 90, but he and James were hurt by a tough second day that left them less than four pounds short.
“The problem is that as busy as my life and James’ life have become, we can’t get on the water enough,” he noted.
Ray Watson of Fort Frances may not have four-leaf clovers growing on his front lawn, but the fishing gods must be squarely on his side when it comes to the annual draw.
Watson has competed in every FFCBC but the inaugural one in 1995—and six different times he’s made it into the field via the draw.
“I don’t know how it’s happened, but I hope it continues this year,” chuckled Watson, whose wife, Ann, also is entered in the draw for the second-straight year.
“I don’t have any superstitions when it comes to the draw, but I just keep wishing and hoping that we get in,” he added. “It certainly is exciting, and we usually watch it on [Shaw].
“We’ve never attended in person, but I kind of think we might make it down to the draw this year.”
Watson calls the FFCBC “the highlight of the summer,” even if he hasn’t had to back up the Brinks truck to take home any winnings.
“I don’t fare too well, but I enjoy it just the same,” he said good-naturedly.
After the first 40 names are chosen tonight, the rest of the draw entrants then will be picked and placed in order on a waiting list.
If any of the teams in the top 90 or out of the draw qualifiers choose not to claim their spot for whatever reason, then those at the top of the waiting list will move into the bottom of the field.
The winners of six major tournaments in the area throughout the course of the fishing season also automatically qualify for the FFCBC.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
