Despite weather wreaking havoc on the opening day of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship yesterday, John Janousek and Chad Johnson (Team #17) were able to overcome the elements and reel in a tournament-leading catch of 18.98 pounds.
“We fished the south arm,” Johnson noted. “We caught a couple of good ones in our starting spot, but then we ran around the rest of the day and just tried to duplicate what we did in the first spot.
“Got one here and one there, but probably had most of them by noon.”
The Minnesota duo, whose previous best finish at the FFCBC was eighth in 2003, went somewhat against the grain by going south to begin the day as most of the other teams raced towards Noden Causeway and the north arm.
“We spent a lot of time fishing really close to shore because we could hear the [thunder] rumbling and didn’t want to be out in the open in case it came our way,” Janousek noted.
Meanwhile, the father/son tandem of Darrell and Alex Keszler, from Winnipeg, were a close second with 18.47 pounds after Day 1.
“We had about 20 fish, with about seven good ones,” Darrell said. “And in weather like it was, you have to get a big bite.
“We probably fished 25 spots; we hardly stay anywhere for any length of time.
“This is our favourite place to fish in the world,” Keszler enthused. “I dreamt that we’d win Fort Frances, and I don’t know when it is going to happen but I hope it’s sooner rather than later.”
The younger Keszler, Alex, caught a four-and-a-half pounder that initially held up as the big fish for Day 1 before being ousted by the team of Jeff Gustafson and John Peterson.
Paul Jewiss and Mike Graham eventually took the big fish award home with their 4.68-pounder.
“When I first hooked him, I knew it was big,” Alex Keszler recalled of his battle with the big one. “[I] tried to get him up near the side of the boat but he knifed it right towards the motor and I had to flip my rod to the other side.
“In the process I tripped over my dad’s rod, but we still managed to get him in the net, which was a relief.”
Jim Moynagh and Joe Thrun, the defending champs, still are very much in the hunt—sitting in ninth place after Day 1 just over two pounds shy of the lead.
“We never got onto the big fish that it takes to win here, but we’re still in it,” Moynagh said while on stage yesterday. “We need to have our best days [today] and Saturday.”
The team of Mike Luhman and Mark Raveling were in third with a haul of 18.27 pounds, followed closely by the Gustafson/Peterson pairing at 17.94.
Trevor Guderyan and Dean Tacknyk rounded out the top five with a 17.80-pound total.
Pat Handorgan and John Gibbons (Team #129) made some hay on the first day, and were in the first flight of boats out this morning that’s to their sixth-place position with 17.61 pounds.
Dale LaBelle and Corey Curtis (Team #148) moved up the charts to sit in 15th place with 15.62 pounds on Day 1.
The Day 2 weigh-ins begin at 4 p.m. today at the Sorting Gap Marina, with the final weigh-in getting underway at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
