Duane Hicks
The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is getting ready for this year’s tournament, and so far has 81 teams registered.
But FFCBC chair Gord Watson would like to see more local teams come aboard.
“We still don’t have the local support we’re looking for,” Watson told council at its regular meeting Monday night.
“The prize [board] was structured to intrigue more local anglers and it hasn’t done so yet.
“We hope it will in the near future,” he noted, adding about 10 percent of the teams registered so far are local while other such tournaments typically sport a 60 percent local representation.
Watson said the prize structure was changed so it gives anglers a chance to win money every day, regardless of what position they’re sitting in.
“If they’re sitting last on the final day, they still have a chance to win decent money,” he explained, adding that in the past, some teams had no incentive to fish Day 3 if they were too far behind in the standings.
“We’d like to see more local angler participation so we see more local fans,” Watson reasoned.
The field is capped at 120 teams, with the entry fee remaining $1,000 per team.
Anglers can check out the revised FFCBC prize board on the tournament website at www.canadianbass.com
They also can find entry forms and other tourney information there.
Meanwhile, FFCBC directors held several meetings with town committees last week to discuss requests regarding this year’s tournament, and will be putting together a rental agreement for the arena.
Watson emphasized the FFCBC is working hard to make the 2011 event, scheduled for July 17-23, happen with a limited budget.
“One thing we’ve stressed all year is we won’t be able to cut next year,” he remarked.
“There won’t be a next year if we come with a $31,000 debt,” he warned. “That’s not in our plans at all.
“I believe everybody knows where we sit financially this year,” Watson added.
“We have a lot of support, we have a lot of good people on our board this year, and with your financial support this year, I believe we can look forward to a great community event for years to come.”
As previously reported, the FFCBC has offered a list of requests to the town, ranging from committing $5,000 to the operating budget of the FFCBC to waiving launch fees to discussing the possibility of permitting the consumption of alcohol in the entire Ice For Kids Arena in the afternoon during weigh-ins.
These requests were referred to the various town executive committees for their recommendations.
Council will be hearing back from these committees in the near future.
