Canadian BASS Elite Series Pro Jon Bondy
Toyota Texas Bass Classic April 13-15/07
By Wil Wegman

Part Five
April 16th, 2007
Well the big Toyota Texas Bass Classic is over and I didn't think it could happen but it did. A 15 pound lead in a bass tournament on day two going into day three is usually something that will almost guarantee you a tournament win if you are ‘on fish’ - but the Toyota Texas Bass Classic was no normal tournament. And when there are four man teams instead of two - or one, with total weights coming in ranging from 20-120 pounds, any guarantees are futile in the first place!

Read Part Five here...

Part Four
April 15th, 2007
Well the big Toyota Texas Bass Classic is in its final day and the 40 four person teams are now down to top five. As noted yesterday, it would have been almost impossible for Canadian Jon Bondy and his team mates to make the cut and they didn’t, ending up in 18th spot overall. The weather continues to play a major role in the inaugural event after rain, hail, and even tornadoes raced through the area Friday night, anglers were faced with heavily overcast skies, falling temperatures, and a 25 mph north wind. Some teams were battling four foot high waves out on Lake Fork. Who says southern impoundments don’t get rough? Certainly not those who found themselves fishing on their knees yesterday just so that they don’t fall out of the boat!

Read Part Four here...

Part Three
April 14th, 2007
Well the big Toyota Texas Bass Classic is underway and the 40 four person teams are off to an exciting start. Part of that excitement was the weather. In fact for awhile, there was a question as to whether the afternoon flight would occur as a storm front continued to move toward Lake Fork and officials considered shortening the day due to safety concerns.

Our own Canadian angler Jon Bondy and his team mates Matt Herren and Sam Swett were captained by Denny Brauer and did not fare as well as they had hoped. The first official press release that I received from organizers showed that they had weighed in a total of 25 pounds for 34th spot overall. But, after hearing word that the pending major storm at this huge “outdoor event” resulted in some computing issues and may have caused ‘some issues’ with that original release, I decided to hold off until I was certain the results were accurate.  Good thing too – waiting showed that Jon and his partners had moved up a few spots in the standings. So, at the start of day two we can now publish these day one results. 

Jon and his team mates are actually in 25th spot with 35.04 pounds.  Sitting in first is the team captained by Alton Jones with an awesome combined weight of 82 pounds. 

Read Part Three here...

Part Two
April 12th, 2007
Well the big Toyota Texas Bass Classic is almost here and competing anglers are making last minute tackle adjustments and re-spooling their lines for one of the most unique fishing tournaments they have ever fished. Many have the feeling that this event could very well offer a whole new dimension to the sport of competitive bass angling.

Today, I heard from Dave Mercer, who as we have already reported, will co-MC the big event in Texas along with Fish Fishburne. Dave   remarked that the tournament hype down there rivals that of the Bassmasters Classic; the biggest bass tournament on the planet. “As soon as you drive out of the DallasAirport, you begin seeing billboards advertising this thing – and everywhere you go in town, the people are talking about it and they can hardly wait for it to get started.” Dave told me. He too is very excited about this event and is having a great time. Instead of tying him up on the phone for too long with more details, he was quite willing to share his blog with us – so thanks Dave and we look forward to hearing more from Texas as the event unfolds.

Read Part Two here...

Part One
Jon Bondy of Windsor Ontario is a rare breed here in Canada. He is a full time fisherman, who at 34 years of age has never had a full time job other than fishing. He has competed in tournaments since he was 16 years of age and has guided full time for 13 years. Jon is recognized as one of the premier full time multi-species fishing guides in the Windsor-Detroit area and is fully licensed to fish both U.S. and Canadian waters.  Logging over 200 days every year on the water from March to December he is a busy guide who has clients from as far away as Japan.

As his prowess with a rod and reel grows Jon finds himself fishing bigger and bigger tournaments – often traveling south of the border to compete in some of the larger events. In 2005 while only fishing five major events Jon secured two ‘Top 10’ finishes in Bassmaster tournaments, including one second place spot. In 2006, Jon completed his rookie season on the Bassmaster Elite series. This is the premier professional circuit in North America.  His best 2006 finish was on Table Rock Lake, Mo where he took 5th place overall. He's won over $117,000 during the last two seasons and qualified last year to fish the 2007 Bassmasters Elite Series. Jon is the only Canadian pro who qualified for this series!

Read Part One here...