On August 30 and 31st, 2003 the Ontario BASS Federation (OBF) held its annual Hank Gibson Memorial OBF Championship Tournament in the Town of Orillia.   Here anglers qualified from their respective Bassmaster Clubs across the province - ranging from the Windsor area in the west to Ottawa in the east.  Also within the OBF, are a couple of clubs from Nova Scotia and one from Quebec.  This year 112 Bassmasters competed as either boaters or non-boaters in the prestigious event ... one of only a few in the country where anglers actually fish as individuals instead of a team format.

Bob Peters, president of the OBF explained that "Our format, based on the American BASS model, allows anglers without boats to still compete at this high level of competition. Boaters enjoy the challenge of locating enough fish-holding waters for themselves for two days as well as balancing those waters with those possibly found by their non boaters.  Each day of the two day event, anglers are paired with someone new. This tournament also prepares our anglers for future BASS qualifying events” explained Peters."  From here, the top 12 anglers with the heaviest weights make up Team Ontario and travel to South Dakota in September 2004 to compete in the Citgo BASS Northern Federation Championships.  From there, the top angler from each federation will compete in the National Federation Championships.  Ultimately, the top five federation anglers, each from their respective divisions, will qualify for the Citgo Bassmasters Classic in 2005.  It's a long road for our federation anglers, but for grass routes anglers like us, it's a realistic goal to strive for", concluded Bob. 

Experienced bass tournament anglers from across Canada will instantly recognize that for a tournament based out of Orillia (where anglers can fish lakes Couchiching or Simcoe) that these weights are rather low.  Especially considering that in a major tournament the week before, two day winning weights were in the mid forty's .... Ah, but in the world of tournament bass fishing - what a difference a week makes! One explanation could be that typically around the end of August every year, Simcoe's legendary trophy smallmouths begin to disperse from their summer haunts and seek out their fall stomping grounds.  This transition period can often last several weeks ...over a month in some cases and some bass reach these areas earlier than others.  If that transition is just starting however, big smallmouth on the big lake can be very difficult to find, let alone pattern.   This seemed to be the case during the most recent OBF Qualifier Tournament.

Well known tournament angler Dave Chong however, did figure out a smallmouth pattern - at least for day one and managed to land five big rogue smallies for a first day weight of 18.52.  He travelled to Simcoe's famed smallmouth grounds and teased his bass into hitting in places were many others could not convince the scare, finicky bass to cooperate. On day two, his three smallmouth were enough to give him a large margin over runner-up Wil Wegman.  Wegman, who's gameplan focussed on the Simcoe smallies 'hopefully being turned off during the event”, travelled south all the way to Cooks Bay for more predictable yet smaller largemouth bass. For him, the long ride and rough waters paid off. “Placing 2nd in this tournament is kind of fitting”, Wegman remarked. “Simcoe's smallmouth undoubtedly deserve the honour of producing a first place finish here… I mean where else in North America can you expect to win a tournament with smallmouth averaging over five pounds each … as is sometimes the case on this incredible lake! I'm just thrilled Simcoe's 'other bass' - largemouths, were around, and that I have another opportunity to represent Canada at the Northerns next year.” 

Team Ontario 2004 is already planning their trip to South Dakota next fall. A 24 + hour drive, it will be a long, expensive trek for the 12 anglers … with seven of them hauling their bass boats all the way. The experience will be well worth it however and the knowledge that any one of them could continue on and become only the second Canadian angler ever to qualify for the Bassmasters Classic*, is a driving force for all 12. The waters there will consist of the historic Lewis and Clark Reservoir - supposedly not unlike our smallmouth waters of Cooch and parts of Simcoe. For all Team Ontario anglers … that suits them just fine!

For more Information, please contact:

Bob Peters, OBF President  1-866-466-7109

*In 1991, professional Canadian angler Hank Gibson of Keswick Ontario, became the first person ever from outside the US to qualify for the Bassmasters Classic. Hank traveled back and forth from Keswick to compete throughout the United States against their top pros in the Bassmasters circuit. In 1995, Ontario became the 50th BASS Federation which gave Canadian grass route anglers the opportunity to start their route to the Bassmasters Classic, on home waters. In 2001, Hank passed away and that same year the OBF renamed its Championship Tournament in his memory.