FFCBC off to roaring start

With a strong southeast wind and rain clouds looming, the 14th-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship got off to a roaring start from Sand Bay this morning to the approval of a hardy gathering of family and friends.
Defending champs Jim Moynagh and Joe Thrun, who have won the FFCBC three times in all, were the first team to leave in the first flight at 7 a.m.
“We are racing Moynagh to a spot,” Norm Lindsay said of he and partner Bill Godin’s plan on Day One. “We’re starting six boats behind them but whatever happens, happens.
“But we could probably get 20 pounds off of this spot, too, so we’ll see.”
Moynagh and Thrun’s three-day total of 58.36 pounds last year was almost two pounds more than the runner-up duo of Ted Olson and Bob Hell—and just short of the 58.62-pound tournament record set by the pair back in 1998.
“If you get 17 pounds a day, you’ll definitely be in the hunt,” Lindsay noted. “We’ll let the fish tell us what we should be doing and our strategy will change based on that.”
Jason Cain’s experience fishing in the Canada Safeway “KidPro” tournament came in handy as he and partner, Davis Viehbeck, found a spot loaded with bass while pre-fishing right near where he was fishing during Sunday’s event.
“I accidentally hooked a four-and-a-half pounder,” Cain said with a laugh.
“We’ve got a couple spots that were pretty loaded so it’s nice to have options.” he added. “If it rains things might change, they might move out a little deeper, but we’ll see.”
Lindsay said the field at the FFCBC is really competitive once again, and believes you’ll need three consistent days to claim the trophy.
“Your bites count because you don’t want to lose a big fish,” he stressed. “We have some spots in the south arm; caught quite a few big fish there over the last few days and we’ll keep that in our back pocket for the last day.
“I expect my brother [Dave] to be right up there and hopefully we are, but there’s a lot of competition, plenty of good, quality teams who will be in the hunt.”
A potential sleeper team that went out in the last flight this morning is the pairing of Dale LaBelle and Corey Curtis.
LaBelle placed 55th last year with partner Jody Shypit while Curtis is no stranger to the podium at fishing tournaments in these parts, notably placing 13th at this event back in 2006.
The weigh-ins get underway at 4 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Sorting Gap Marina, with Saturday’s final weigh-in starting at 3 p.m.
The boats launch at 7 a.m. both tomorrow and Saturday.