While the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship will have some minor changes compared to previous years, much of it will remain the same. This year, a teen concert will replace the teen dance, and the tournament will host two other concerts. But one of the biggest changes for the tournament hasn’t happened yet. Soon, the bass championship will have different faces running things after years of service under the guidance of Jim Cuthbertson, a veteran angler and co-chair of the event, as well as his counterpart, Wayne “Muff” Allen. Together, Cuthbertson and Allen made the event financially stable enough to return to the waterfront, with the help of event sponsors. Additionally, some tournament rule changes will be shared with the anglers.
“This year won’t be much different from the previous tournaments,” said Cuthbertson.
“We have almost a full field of fishermen.”
One of the main changes, a teen tribute concert to Taylor Swift, will happen on the opening night.
“On Wednesday, there will be a teen concert instead of a teen dance because of a lack of participation,” said Cuthbertson.
“Another thing that’s unique to this year’s event is the concerts on Wednesday and Thursday. Other than that, pretty much everything else stays the same as previous years.”
Cuthbertson, along-time fixture of the tournament’s organizing committee, shared how he first got involved with the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
“My involvement when it first started was to get the tournament financially stable and to return the tournament back to the big tent at the waterfront,” said Cuthbertson.
“Over the years, the biggest changes have been made with help from our sponsors, Rainy River Future Development and the Ontario Government. Their support helped us to purchase equipment over the past 10 years, like tables, chairs and fencing, to avoid renting materials.”
Since then, he and Allen have grown close, but after working behind the scenes to keep the tournament running for so many years, their tenure is coming to a close.
“[Allen] and I have a very good working relationship, but it’s time for us to hang up the hats,” said Cuthbertson.
“[People] will notice a few new director faces this year, but more will be needed to keep the tournament running in future years.
Some changes have been made to the tournament rules this year. However, Cuthbertson made it abundantly clear he wants to avoid speculation over potential cheating in past Fort Frances competitions.
“We can’t say if anyone cheated in the Fort Frances tournament,” said Cuthbertson.
