Lucas Punkari
It’s been a familiar feeling for Mark Raveling and Mike Luhman at the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship over the last few years.
The three-time runners-up were in the mix once again on the final day of this year’s FFCBC, but again were unable to come away with the title as their three-day total of 49.96 pounds wasn’t enough to overtake co-champs Richard Rud/Jon Austin and Glenn Leroux/Trevor Zimak.
“We’re going to keep fishing here until we win this thing,” Raveling pledged.
“During the tournament, the weather just changed big time, and the wind blowing as much as it did during two of the days here that made it tough on everybody.
“Overall, we had a chance to win it but the fish just didn’t hook up for us,” he reasoned.
Raveling and Luhman went into Day 3 in third place with a two-day haul of 34.83 pounds. But they were unable to move any higher despite a catch of 15.13 pounds on a day when many of the teams lost the battle with the elements.
“I’m not exactly sure how much the temperature dropped but in our language [Fahrenheit], it went from 100 degrees [on Friday] to 55 this morning [Saturday], so you’re talking about a 40 some degree temperature swing,” Luhman noted.
“The winds were dead or flat clam during practice and then in the competition, we had 30 m.p.h. winds one day and 25 m.p.h. winds the next day, so getting around the lake was quite hard,” he added.
“It was a tough tournament and the weights kind of reflect that.”
With their sights already set on next year’s tournament, both Raveling and Luhman learned a number of things this past weekend which they hope to utilize to finally reach their goal of capturing the FFCBC crown.
“I guess the main thing is to be versatile,” said Raveling. “When we first started in this tournament about 15 years ago, we just fished in one spot and now we are pretty flexible.”
“In the 15 years we’ve been coming here, I don’t think two years have ever been exactly the same,” Luhman remarked.
“So you can take a little bit from each year, but you better not think that you have things figured out because if you think you got a hold of everything, this lake will make you look bad,” he stressed.
Right behind Raveling and Luhman were the Bemidji, Mn.-based duo of Lauren Ras and Chuck Olson, who finished fourth overall with a three-day total of 47.59 pounds.
They had opened the tournament Thursday with a 17.45-pound haul, but only hung around the 15-pound mark on the following two days, with catches of 15.03 and 15.11 pounds, respectively.
“Well, we just tried to fish as many spots as we could that [had] produced big fish for us in the past, especially with the wind and the weather that we had today [Saturday],” said Ras, who finished in second place with Olson in the 2009 tournament.
“As the day went on, the fishing got worse for us and we ended up staying stuck at 15 pounds,” he added.
Still, both Olson and Ras were pleased with their showing, which gave them their third top-five finish in the last four years.
“We always plan on just shooting for the top 10,” Ras explained.
“A win comes with a little bit of luck, so we’re quite happy with a fourth place,” he stressed.
“It was just another fantastic year up here,” added Olson.
“Ever year we take two weeks of vacation, and this was my 15th day out on the water and I’m ready for more,” he enthused.
Rounding out the top five in the championship division were Jeff Gustafson of Kenora and Bemidji’s John Peterson.
Their fifth-place showing was their fourth-straight top 10 finish in the FFCBC, following back-to-back third-place showings in 2009 and 2010 and an eighth-place result in 2008.
After starting off the tournament outside the top 10 with a catch of 14.44 pounds on Thursday, Gustafson and Peterson jumped into ninth place with an impressive 16.90-pound haul on Day 2.
“That made our whole week right there,” Gustafson said.
“We were gunning to get into the top 10 for the final day, and by doing that on Friday that took the pressure off of us for Saturday,” he noted.
While on stage at the Ice For Kids Arena on Friday afternoon, Gustafson said he didn’t think they had enough weight to crack the top 10 for the final day, but it turned out their 31.44-pound, two-day total was just enough.
“I thought we would be a pound or two out of the top 10,” Gustafson admitted. “But you never know what is going to happen here.”
After making their way through a wild and woolly start on Day 3, Gustafson and Peterson were able to catch 14.82 pounds on Saturday for a three-day total of 46.16 pounds, which briefly gave them the lead until Ras and Olson knocked them out of the “hot seat.”
“When we came out of the bridge this morning [Saturday], it was unbelievable, and the waves had to be at least four-footers” Peterson recalled.
“I’m an old-time walleye fisherman and I’ve been in swells that were eight to 10 feet on Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay,” he added.
“And while these waves today [Saturday] were no big deal compared to those, they still jar you a bit.”
Overall, though, both Gustafson and Peterson were quite pleased with how the tournament with—and feel quite optimistic about the future of the FFCBC.
“I’m just so happy that the tournament went down,” Gustafson said. “And from our end in the anglers’ perspective, everything went great.
“Hopefully, the town is supportive of the event and makes it happen again, which I think they will, and in talking with my buddies from Kenora and all over the place, they are interested in coming back here,” he enthused.
“I had an awesome time here and I really enjoy bass fishing here on Rainy Lake,” echoed Peterson.
“This is my number-one choice for bass fishing, and that’s why I come up here all the time and why I am looking to buy a cabin up here now,” he added.
Rounding out the top 10 were Bill Senor/Brian Durham (45.79 pounds), Darren Ward/Sean Good (45.71), Scott Bonnema/Mark Fisher (43.30), Joe Thrun/Ben Miller (41.72), and Vince Godbout/Ron Tucker (37.64).
Bonnema and Fisher ended up catching the biggest fish of the tournament on Day 1—a 4.91-pound lunker.
