Terry Monaghan spent the past five days on Lake Nipissing, trying to get a feel for the lake leading up to the 2018 Ontario B.A.S.S Nation Provincial Qualifier hosted by North Bay Bassmasters.
On Saturday, day one of the Hank Gibson Provincial Qualifier, he managed to catch his five fish limit.
“That’s good, but not a great weight. The fishing was tough all week, so I got what I expected to get,” said Monaghan.
“It’s actually a bigger lake than what it looks like, so there’s a lot of water to cover. I think the local guys will have an advantage because they’ll know where to start. When someone who has never fished the lake comes here, you don’t know where to begin, so you have to start pecking away.“
His strategy for Sunday during day two of the competition is to head back to where he left off, and go from there.
Gord Collins from Lindsay, Ontario wasn’t so lucky, reeling in two small fish.
“The conditions weren’t too bad most of the day, but I just couldn’t find any good size fish,” laughed Collins.
Team Aurora’s Mike Grietsma is starting day two with a combined weight of about six pounds.
“It was pretty fun. I managed to get a couple. It would have been nice to get a few more, but it’s always fun fishing.”
Teams from across the province compete each year in the Hank Gibson Provincial Qualifier. It has been at least 10 years since North Bay last hosted the two-day tournament.
“We have 92 teams, so it’s almost a full field. We were pleasantly surprised by the turnout. There’s a lot of pretty good anglers here from all across the province, so I think there’s going to be some pretty good final weights this weekend,” said Brian Milne, President of North Bay Bassmasters.
“We opened it up to the entire lake, and that includes the West Arm down by Lavigne. Basically, anywhere a boat can get to on the lake, they’re allowed to fish it. That’s why sometimes doing a pre-fish is so important, because if you have time on the water, there’s no substitute for that. So the successful angler usually spends a lot of time on the water.”
A number of competitors and their families arrived earlier in the week.
“They rent cottages, they rent camps and they’ve been pre-fishing all week long. The economic spinoffs are significant,” said Milne.
The 10 top boaters and 10 non-boaters will go on to form Team Ontario. The teams finishing in 11th place are the alternates.
The goal is to continue advancing through a series of tournaments leading up to the “biggest fishing event in the world,” the Bassmaster Classic.
See: It's all about that bass, 'bout that bass
During day one of the competition, there was a challenge for a few teams requiring assistance after their boat broke down.
The day itself started off overcast, and eventually, the rain moved in.
“If it’s an overcast day it will actually be a little bit easier to fish because the fish are out roaming around. On sunny day’s they’re in covered areas. It’s just a slight bit easier to fish for them on an overcast day,” explained Ontario B.A.S.S Nation President, Dave Spence.
Ontario B.A.S.S Nation oversees just over 20 clubs across the province.
Boaters weigh in a maximum of five fish per day, and non-boaters weigh in three fish daily. The winning teams will have the best two day total.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s small mouth or large mouth. But that doesn’t mean if you catch five bass you stop fishing. What you do once you have your five bass, if you catch another one, say you have one that’s a pound and a half, and you have one that’s three pounds, well you can cull the pound and a half fish, and keep the three-pound fish. This is what we call, culling the fish,” said Spence.
Conservation is of the utmost importance.
“The fish that are caught will come into a staging area where we have a water trough. From there they will come into another staging area with some more water troughs constantly running. They will be weighed and set back into the water. We have a live release boat. We also have a fisheries biologist, as our conservation director, so he’s on top of all the fish care and oxygen tanks to make sure that the fish go back healthy.”
Spence expressed his appreciation for all the local support.
“The community response has been excellent. It’s been great. They’ve been very receptive to us. It would be nice if every city would respond the way North Bay has.”
Weigh-ins for the final day of competition start Sunday at 3 p.m.
