Local bass tourney linked to national classic

Adding a little more prestige to the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, one member of the winning team now will automatically be able to compete in the country’s most-touted tournament–the Chevy Mercury Bass Classic in late August.
The Bass Classic is an annual tournament where many of the country’s best anglers of the year square off. To compete, participants must take part in a season-long series of qualifying fishing tournaments and place among the top.
But winning the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship now will offer a chance to vault into the Classic–and the upper echelon of fishing competitions.
“We have made arrangements with the Chevy Mercury Classic to send the winner of this year’s tournament to their 2002 tournament,” said Linda Plumridge, the FFCBC’s director of angler services.
“We’re really excited. It’s got more sponsorship and more prizes,” she added.
The FFCBC winner will join the top 40 anglers from the Ontario-based Chevy Mercury Circuit, the top four from the New Brunswick bass tour, the top two from the Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Northeastern Ontario circuits, and the top 10 from the Canadian Open as well as a winner from the Kenora Bass International, who will also land a berth in the Classic.
If the FFCBC winner goes on to win the Classic, he or she could win more than $80,000 in prizes on top of the FFCBC’s grand prize.
Because the Chevy Mercury Bass Classic is an individual competition, the team that wins the FFCBC will have to decide which member will compete in it.
The Bass Classic is a three-day tournament which takes place on a different body of water every year.
“We make sure we stage the Classic on challenging waters, places like Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Rice Lake, Georgian Bay, the Ottawa River, Lake Simcoe, and Lake Couchiching,” said Michelle Kilburn, general manager of the Chevy Mercury Bass circuit.
“That way, being familiar with a specific waterbody is far less important than making good decisions,” she noted. “For example, we’ll pick places where you can lock through to different lakes but that eats up precious fishing time.
“And we’ll pick waters where patterns change quickly, places where what works in the morning may not produce a fish in the afternoon,” Kilburn explained.
“That way, the Classic contenders need to develop a detailed game plan and then execute it flawlessly.”
The winner of the Chevy Mercury Classic also will win a spot in the FFCBC the following year–a deal that will do a lot to promote the local tourney and area.
“It showcases our area to all those people,” noted Plumridge. “All those who are fishing in the Bass Classic see part of the prize is a berth in the Fort Frances tournament and realize this is a good fishing area.”