Staff
Rainy Lake is buzzing with more than mosquitoes these days.
Most of the anglers taking part in the 2017 Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship already have hit the water for pre-fishing to try and find their own special spot to haul in what they hope will be a prize-winning catch.
The results of their preparations will start to become apparent when the 23rd-annual tournament kicks off Thursday morning.
After the rules meeting tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the Sorting Gap Marina, the now 96-team field (as of press time today) will start departing from there at 6:30 a.m. on Day 1.
Weigh-ins will begin under the big tent at 3:30 p.m. both Thursday and Friday, then get underway at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The tournament will culminate with the top 10 parade Saturday starting around 5 p.m.
The overall champs will pocket the first-place cheque of $20,000, with payouts going down to 24th place among those qualifying.
Teams will be aiming to finish in the top half of the field after Day 2 on Friday or find themselves relegated to the Second Division on Saturday.
Those in the bottom half will compete amongst themselves based solely on their Day 3 weights for a top prize of $1,000.
Troy Norman of Fort Frances and Jay Samsal of Kenora are the defending champs after capturing their first FFCBC crown last year.
