Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship

The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is a catch and release smallmouth bass fishing tournament held on Rainy Lake and hosted in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. The annual tournament was first held in 1995 and takes place each July.

The Frances Canadian Bass Championship celebrated its nineteenth year of competition in July 2013.

The dream of a catch and release smallmouth bass tournament on Rainy Lake first surfaced after the In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail held its first annual championship on Rainy Lake in the fall of 1990. Many of the anglers that fished that walleye tournament were amazed with the quality of the smallmouth bass fishery on Rainy Lake.

In April 1994 a meeting hosted by Lionel Robert, of Weighmaster Tournament Systems was held in the Fort Frances Town Hall Committee Room. The feasibility of hosting a smallmouth tournament was discussed with attendees that included the Rendezvous Trail, The Kenora Bass International, the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Frances Downtown Business Improvement Area, the Fort Frances Economic Development Office, the Ministry of Natural Resources, area business owners, tourist camp operators and anglers.

Discussion at that meeting lead to the Rendezvous Trail working with Lionel Robert during the summer of 1994 to lay the foundation of the first tournament scheduled for the last week of July 1995.

In August 1994 the Town of Fort Frances and the Rendezvous Trail sponsored a representative to report on the Kenora Bass International, which at that time was in its seventh year.

Planning proceeded for the inaugural tournament during the fall and winter of 1994/95 with the Rendezvous Trail using the tournament as an opportunity to promote Fort Frances and Rainy Lake as a tourist destination.

In spring of 1995 a community involvement meeting was held. That meeting resulted in local businesses coming forward to sponsor the inaugural Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.

The first tournament featured 47 teams. The tournament was the subject of a 30-minute episode of Don Lamont’s syndicated fishing show The Complete Angler. In spite of not attracting the hoped-for number of entries and not turning a profit the event was a success.

In the late fall of 1995 the Ontario provincial government withdrew support for local tourist organizations and it became apparent that the Rendezvous Trail would not continue to remain active. The tournament was spun off from the founding organization and early in 1996 Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship Inc. was created as a non-profit corporation.

...
Wikipedia