Lindners put early pressure on field

They have been preparing for quite some time now.
They’ve been studying harder than a Harvard law student about to take the bar exam, looking at wind patterns, cold and warm fronts, water temperatures, and anything else imaginable that would affect their fishing.
For some anglers competing in the 10th-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, it started as early as last year; for others, only a few weeks ago.
But all had one focus in mind. One objective screwed into their cerebrum. Do well on the first day or be left dead in the water.
Well, after the first day of the FFCBC on Thursday, last year’s champs—James and Bill Lindner—did what most people thought couldn’t be done given the changing weather pattern: weigh in 18.54 pounds to sit atop the 138-team field.
“We did better than we thought we were going to do. We were a little surprised about the weight and we were surprised we did this well,” Bill Lindner admitted as he waited to pick up his team’s boat from the Sorting Gap Marina docks.
“We zigged when we were supposed to zig and we zagged when we were supposed to zag,” added Lindner, who said they collected their “keeper” fish only two hours after being the first boat out at 7 a.m.
But they were not alone in amassing some impressive weights. Last year’s runners-up, John Guzej and Ted Stewner (Team #2), found themselves in second place with 18.36 pounds while Kirk and Gene Boyer (Team #117) were in third (18.00).
“We went to our number-one spot and our fish weren’t there, so we just started running and caught some fish here and there,” said Stewner. “I think we got pretty lucky today [Thursday].”
“We’re very pleased with the first day total. Very pleased and really ecstatic,” added Stewner, who would’ve been happy catching 15 pounds for the first day considering the conditions on the lake.
That same sentiment was shared by Gene Boyer, noting he and his brother had to change their presentation because of the cold front that had moved through Wednesday night.
“We had to slow things down a little but,” he remarked. “We knew things were a little cold with that front coming in, so we tried a few different things and we were lucky enough to get some nice fish.
“With our pre-fishing, we knew that it was going to be tough, so we’re really pleased with what we did today [Thursday],” added Boyer, who has been pre-fishing on Rainy Lake since July 4.
Some duos weren’t as lucky, though, such as Joe Prichett and Hiram Archibald of Sioux Narrows (Team #26). With a weight of 16.08 pounds that would have put them in 13th place, they forfeited it for being late for the weigh-in at the Pither’s Point dock.
“It’s a heart-breaker,” said Archibald. “We figured we’d get back in plenty of time for the weigh-in and we were a mile from the weigh-in site and then the motor broke down.
“The engine just quit and I still don’t know what happened to it.”
The team was able to drop their fish with another boat, only after it went to the station to check in, and by the time they came back and went back to the weigh station, Archibald and Prichett already were more than a minute late.
They still are able to compete in the FFCBC, but with their first day weight not being counted, their chances of doing well are all but nil.
“These things happen once in a while and there’s nothing you can do about it,” reasoned Archibald. “We’ll fish tomorrow [Friday] and deal with it. It’s fun to fish and it’s fun to compete against top guys so we’ll be out there.”
Harvey Youngs and Joe Picha (Team #57) also did not arrive at the weigh-in station, and it is questionable if they would be able to complete the tournament.
Also adding some drama to the first day’s fishing was Ron and Dan Lindner (Team #128), who hit a rock with their boat—causing major damage to the lower unit of the motor.
“We made a wrong turn and wrecked our lower unit. So we were down and there was nothing we could do about it,” said Ron. “I thought we were done and I was about to pack my bags and head home.”
But a quick response by volunteers and mechanics at Pinewood Sports and Marine here, who fixed the motor on the lake, only cost the Lindners 90 minutes of fishing time.
In the end, they ended up 16.46 pounds—good enough for seventh place after Day 1.
“I’m telling him, ‘Don’t worry,’ but in my head I’m going, ‘Oh, no,’” Dan Lindner said as he prepared to bag their fish.
Mike and Steve Salvador of Sioux Narrows (Team #16) had the big fish of Day 1 (4.92 pounds), which helped them to fifth place (16.88) behind the Fort Frances duo of Lorne McNay and Bill York (Team #104), who tipped the scales at 17.32 pounds.
Rounding out the top 10 after Day 1 were Bill Godin and Norm Lindsay in sixth (16.82 pounds), Mike Luhman and Mark Raveling in eighth (16.36), Allen Kobylka and Bill McGhie in ninth (16.20), and Harry Bell and Don Cumming, last year’s top local team, in 10th (16.16).
“It’s nice to have this kind of weight from the first day, but this tournament is about consistency so we’ll see what happens,” said Boyer.
That same sentiment was shared by yesterday’s first- and second-place finishers in Bill Lindner and Stewner.
“There’s other people that are sniffing around our water, so we just got to go out and stick to our presentation and catch some fish,” noted Lindner.
“We could end up with 10 pounds tomorrow [Friday], so we’ll take it day by day because we’re not in a lot of fish so whatever happens, happens,” echoed Stewner.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)