FFCBC founder still relishes tournament

What Charles Darwin was to theories of evolution; (blank) is to the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
The answer? John Maffei.
Quite simply, he is the innovator, the contractor, the sculptor, the fabricator, the pioneer, and the creator of the largest fishing tournament in Canada.
He is the reason why 4,000 people flock to a gigantic tent to watch anglers weigh in their bass, he is the reason why more than a million dollars is pumped into Fort Frances’ economy each July, and he is the reason why fishermen come from far lengths to compete.
He is the reason you are reading this article—and is the reason why it was written.
Maffei, with his “crazy” idea of starting a simple bass tournament in his favourite town, has put Fort Frances on the map.
He had help, though. Of course he did, who wouldn’t? He will be the first to admit it. And he not only got help, but needed it.
“I’ve said this a number of times and that this is Fort Frances’ tournament,” stressed Maffei. “The people of this town, the council, the industry, and the businesses have brought this tournament to where it is.”
Maffei, a resident of Fort Frances from 1980-87 while working with the Ministry of Natural Resources (where he’s still employed, but now based out of Peterborough and much higher up the ladder), originally sat down with a group of people in Winnipeg of 1992 to come up with a proposal.
But it was in 1993, with Doug Cain and Lionel Robert, when things really started to happen.
“We talked about having a bass tournament and at first I think there was some reluctance because people never really understood what they had here as a bass resort,” Maffei recalled while out pre-fishing last week.
“I really take my hat off to guys like Doug and Lionel, who took the initiative upon themselves to really get this tournament going,” he added. “I mean it was my idea, but an idea is only something that someone else takes and makes it grow and spawn.
“I don’t see myself as the godfather. I see myself more like the female that swam upstream and laid an egg that somebody else hatched and then made it grow—that’s the way I see myself,” Maffei laughed.
A special mention should be made for Bill Boulton, whose help in promoting the bass tournament, also was a crucial part of the process.
There was a hidden agenda for Maffei wanting a tournament in Fort Frances. Of course, it was for the people and all that, but it also was because it would give him another tournament to fish in.
“I was a competitive fisherman at the time, so there was definitely an underlying interest going on for me,” he said.
And this is the most crucial part about Maffei that you should know. Yes, he was the idea behind the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, but he is, more importantly, an angler.
And an extremely very good one at that. He is as knowledgeable and skilled as any fisherman in the field—and has the sponsors as a testament to that.
Much like how a doctor places his or her diplomas in their offices for all to see, fishermen do they same with their sponsors as their brightly-designed shirts are covered with logos.
Maffei has such prestigious sponsors such as Bass Cat, Team Daiwa, Mercury, and Matzuo America, and is Bass Cat’s only Canadian representative.
The 49-year-old has a countless number of top finishes in a countless number of events, but one tournament he most clearly recalls was the first FFCBC in 1995.
With horrendous weather greeting the anglers on the first day, Maffei figured the day would be cancelled. But the organizers decided otherwise and total havoc ensued for everyone, including Maffei and his partner, Mike Cousins.
“We were sitting in Sand Bay in about six-foot swells and we had about a 50 m.p.h. southeast wind, and we couldn’t see much because we were going up and down from the waves,” he recalled.
“I mean, it was just horrible,” he added. “There were broken windshields and there were some guys that broke the hulls on their boat, but we all still went and we actually did quite well.
“We got to our fishing spot and we had our first five keeper bass within 45 minutes.”
Going into the third day sitting in third spot and still having yet to catch their big fish, which were being saved, Maffei and Cousins got confused on when the weigh-in time was.
“We go out and we caught our fish by 11 o’clock in the morning and had probably 15-16 pounds in the boat and my partner and I got confused on the weigh in-time,” said Maffei.
“I thought we had to be in early and he thought we had to be in late, so we just kind of agreed to saw it off in the middle.
“We knew we had blown the tournament when we got back and we were both perturbed at ourselves, but stuff happens,” he shrugged.
Fast forward to last Thursday. Cruising across Rainy Lake at “tournament speed” with a grin stretched farther than the lake itself, Maffei is at home when he’s on the water.
This is his office, with regulars hours recorded, charts and figures studied nightly, and daily journals being logged for every fishing day.
But this isn’t work, this is pleasure. It’s always been for Maffei—ever since he was an eight-year-old rug-rat getting lessons from his father, Albert—and always will be pleasure.
“When you want a good night’s sleep, you go for a day on the water. You’re just so free out here and I’ve never had a bad day on the water,” said Maffei, who kisses every fish he catches as a thank you, as he travelled in his Bass Cut Classic Pantera 2003 at a smooth 70 m.p.h.
Maffei categorizes fisherman into three categories, the first being someone who fishes more as a hobby and goes out every two weeks. The second level being someone who invests much more time and money in the sport.
“Then you get what I call the more fanatical sport fisherman,” said Maffei. “Which are the guys like me who get withdrawal if they aren’t on the water every second day, and they have 40 rods and reels and we carry $20,000 worth of tackle and $60,000 boats and motors with $50,000 trucks to pull them around.”
In fact, the MNR’s manager of Program Section for Enforcement Branch (“in short, I’m a peace officer”) is so dedicated to the sport that not even a kidney stone that brought him to the emergency room at La Verendrye hospital the previous night could have kept him off the water.
That’s the kind of mentality Maffei has. It’s the kind he must have. After suffering three mild heart attacks in 2001, mostly due to an exponential amount of stress from work, Maffei is a new man.
“I really feel like I’ve gotten a second chance in life and I’m trying to live life to its fullest every day,” he said. “I thank God every day for what I have, for every breath I take, and just try to be happy.
“But it was one of the best things to happen to me because it re-priorized my life and now I have a clear focus on what I want and need to do,” added Maffei, who now works 10 hours a day compared to 20 before his heart attacks.
His new outlook on life is well-founded and the energy it has given him has been well-placed. But now, with a new baby on the way (his second wife, Twyla, is due in November), he’d better place some of that energy in a reserve tank.
“My wife is more beautiful than Shania Twain, and taller,” said Maffei, who has two “great kids” in Chris and Jen from a previous marriage. “And five months ago, God blessed us with a child.
“And honestly, it scares the crap out of me.”
But this is now and the baby won’t be until later. In the meantime, Maffei still has much to do. He may love this tournament like no other, but he still feels there is plenty more opportunity to improve the FFCBC and some of its practices.
Maffei first mentioned the displacement factor (putting the bass back to the area where they were caught) and how some anglers aren’t honest about where they caught their fish, which causes stress on the fish and hinders their development.
“But the main concern I have about the tournament was when they changed the format a few years ago and upped the number of boat positions that people could keep from previous years.
“My concern is that there are guys like myself who might not finish in the money all the time, but will always be in the top 50 to 75, will always be guaranteed a spot, which is good for us, but it’s not good for a local team that is trying to get into this tournament.
“If this tournament doesn’t keep local fishermen in it, it will die,” he warned.
After so much work and effort over the past decade, nobody wants to see that—especially the person who came up with the idea in the first place.
“This is to build memories. This is to build friendships. This is to build the knowledge of fishing and this is to build the town,” Maffei said.
“This is priceless. This is absolutely priceless. You can’t put a price on this,” he added as he pointed towards the lake.
“This is God’s country. When God created this place, he sure knew what he was doing,” Maffei remarked. “And he gave us the ability to enjoy it, so we should take advantage of his gifts.”