Bass tourney prays for no more rain

FFCBC News Release

“It’s anybodies’ guess whether the Point Park dock will still be underwater in less than three weeks when 133 teams head across Sand Bay in the 8th Annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship” chairman Gary Rogozinski said today.
“Rainy Lake has peaked and dropped two to three inches since last Friday. Outflows have matched and are actually just below inflows which means levels will continue to drop barring any major rainfall. If the trend continues, levels will be approximately one foot lower by the time the tournament starts”.
“But I cannot predict what Mother Nature has in store for us over the next three weeks so if we don’t get any more rain and the dock hasn’t been structurally damaged by the high water, we’ll be following our usual schedule. Our challenge is having a contingency plan, just in case” Gary continued.
“The hundreds of spectators who line the dock at the point early each morning are really important. Anglers, particularly those fishing the FFCBC for the first time, are always amazed when they see all the people on hand cheering every team as they take off.”
“There isn’t another place we could use” Gary mused. “We’ve talked about moving the flight starts to the Sorting Gap Marina, but doing that poses some problems. Our main concern is safety. Although we use a trickle start, sending boats up the river and under the Ranier lift bridge could create a traffic jamb. A rule prohibiting passing until past the first buoy in Sand Bay would help, but if one team has difficulty handling the current in the rapids or under the bridge, there is the potential for an accident.”
“So right now it looks like we will have to hold the official start at the Point even if the dock is still underwater. On the bright side spectators may enjoy a refreshing walk along the dock carrying their footwear. We hope the water won’t be more than ankle deep though kids playing out there are not deterred by the high water” Gary commented.
“The bigger challenge is handling the afternoon check-in. Our volunteers have lots of very important duties and need a large dry area to work from. As each flight returns, they record each team’s exact arrival time. They also board every boat to count and record their catch and the condition of the fish. This is entered on the team’s weigh-in form and given to the captain who subsequently gives it to the weigh master on stage” Gary explained.
“Most people are at the Sorting Gap Marina to watch the weigh-ins so never get to see all the volunteer work done each afternoon on the Point Park dock. The information is critical because there are penalties for checking-in late. Therefore, I don’t think it is going to be feasible to do the all this if the dock is still awash.”
“We have been discussing a couple of possible solutions. One involves getting permission to use the floating docks in front of Rainy Lake Sports & Tackle. It looks like we could dock and check eight boats at a time there but may have to have more space. Angler Services director Tom Fry has some other ideas to explore and his most important consideration is safety.” Gary said.
“The prospect of teams flying across Sand Bay, under the Rainer bridge, down the rapids and the across to Rainy Lake Sports & Tackle raises lots of concerns. It would be much better to have some houseboats anchored in Sand Bay where the official return time would be recorded and then relayed by radio or phone to the check-in station in the upper river. This would eliminate the time pressure and we could have some strict rules about proceeding down the river slowly and safely” Gary continued.
“The action taken by the International Joint Commission, ordering that water be stored on Namakan Lake to stem rising levels on Rainy Lake is really good news. Rick Walden of the International Rainy Lake Board of Control said last week that “we will still be very, very vulnerable in the upcoming weeks to rain storms but we are starting to see a turnaround”.