By Jamie Mountain
Staff writer, Fort Frances Times Ltd.
jmountain@fortfrances.com
You would think that after a quarter of a century of fishing the same tournament each year, it would get old.
But that’s not the case for Devlin’s Bill Godin who will once again be teaming up with Dave Lindsay as they try to conquer the waters of Rainy Lake and claim the title at the 25th-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
The tournament kicks off tomorrow and runs through Saturday at the Sorting Gap Marina in what is promising to be three great days of competition.
“It’s been a long time running and I guess I’ll probably fish it until it doesn’t happen anymore and hopefully that’s a long time out,” Godin said of the FFCBC, who finished in 25th spot last year with Lindsay as they brought in a three-day haul of 44.04 pounds.
“It’s been kind of a tough bite so far,” he added, while he was out pre-fishing on Monday morning.
“There was a lot of mayflies out here but they seem to be mostly gone now. We’re catching lots of fish, but lots of small fish.
“Hopefully in the next couple of days the bigger ones are gonna turn on a little better,” he remarked.
25 years of fishing the same tourney also means 25 years of making lasting memories.
One such memory that sticks out in Godin’s mind was how things went down at the 2005 FFCBC.
“The most memorable one was when me and Norm Lindsay, we took second place and his brother and his dad [Dave and Lee Lindsay] took first place,” he recalled.
“That was a pretty exciting tournament for all of us. I’m fishing with David now and he won it that year along with his dad.”
Godin has teamed up with Dave Lindsay for the last four tournaments and feels as though they compliment each other well out on the water.
“We do a couple of different things both of us, you know, and it works well for us,” he enthused.
“Last year we kind of struggled a little bit but hopefully this year we can turn it around a little better.
“Things change year to year, they don’t stay the same for sure,” he reasoned.
Godin also noted that he is pleased to see the turnout so far for this year’s FFCBC and is expecting to have a great time competing once again.
“Looks like they got a pretty goof turnout, I don’t know what the numbers are for sure right now,” he remarked.
“It’d be interesting to get it back up to 150 teams again, it’s a great time.
“All of the tournaments have been down a little bit in numbers, too, the last few years or so,” he conceded.
Conditions out on the water can change in the blink of an eye, but Godin is hoping the temperature will cool off a few degrees from what it has been lately.
“Hopefully it’s a little cooler than today,” he chuckled. “It’d be the kind of thing to get the fish going, too.”
Other anglers to fish all 25 years of the tournament’s history include Denis Barnard and Karl Howells (both of Fort Frances).
July 17 - 19, 2025
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