With a historic finish to the 2011 Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, two teams began the event in an effort to defend their championship.
Last year, the International Falls team of Richard Rud and Jon Austin and the Thunder Bay-based tandem of Glenn Leroux and Trevor Zimak tied for first place — something that’s never happened in the 17-year history of the tournament.
Both teams finished the three-day tournament with 52.42 pounds, which led to a lengthy meeting behind the stage to determine how the situation would be sorted out. The official rules of the tournament state that in the event of a tie for first place, that it would be broken with a one hour fish off, but rough conditions on Rainy Lake and a steering issue for the Leroux and Zimak boat took that option off the table. The next way to break up the tie at the top was to have a coin flip, but neither team would have any part of that, so it was decided that all four anglers would hoist the FFCBC trophy.
The event finishes today with weigh-ins beginning at 3:30 p.m. today at the Memorial Sportsplex in Fort Frances.
A number of anglers from the Borderland are scheduled to compete, as well several teams that many people may recognize as the top anglers from the Midwest and Canada. Many of those anglers are expected to rev up their boats to also fish the two-day, catch-and-release International Falls Bass Championship scheduled for Aug. 23-25.
For more information on the FFCBC, see the website at www.canadianbass.com/ and look for results of the FFCBC in Wednesday’s edition of The Journal.
