Virtual Meeting and Speaker Joey Ford, January 26th 7pm

We will be hosting a virtual (Zoom) meeting on Tuesday January 26th starting at 7 pm. From 7 to 7:30 we will present our preliminary tournament plans and schedule for the 2021 season. At 7:30 we will be joined by Kawartha Lakes (among other areas) guide and tournament angler Joey Ford. Joey will talk about fishing Rice Lake and his jump to fishing the Bassmaster Opens! A link will be sent out to club members shortly.

2021 AGM Update

Thank you to everyone who came out and participated in our annual general meeting and thanks to our new executive and committee members for stepping up to help (list of executive and committee members can be found here).

Motions and Resolutions Passed:
Motion 1) Dead Fish Rule Changes: That FCBM tournament anglers shall come to tournaments prepared to harvest any dead fish deemed to be dead* (or too close to death for successful release*) by the tournament director. (* i.e. a dead fish penalty has been accessed for that fish). Under no circumstances shall dead fish be put back in the waterbody nor shall it be placed in the garbage or allowed to be wasted (as per Ontario Fishing Regulations).
Note: It should be noted that conservation and health of fish caught during our tournaments is one of our highest priorities (see also Resolution 1 below) and it should be noted that only one dead fish penalty was given during the entire 2020 season.
Motion 2) Creation of Tournament Director as full executive member position.
Motion 3) Elimination of Secretary executive position
Motion 4) Speaker Coordinator(s) position added
Motion 5) Purchase of buffs for club members (motion tabled until spring, other purchases and uses of monies proposed)

Resolution 1) That Forest City Bassmasters (FCBM) evaluate and examine a variety of tournament options that focus on fish care and conservation – led by the executive and tournament committee and based on best practices and scientific evidence. That FCBM members accept flexibility in tournament types that consider such factors and water and air temperature, water quality, live well capacities, common depths of capture (barotrauma issues). That FCBM act as leaders in this area.

October Update

Just a quick update after our October virtual meeting. Near unanimous voting results from two propositions: 1) Membership fees for 2021 have been reduced to $60. High school aged (over 16) members are still $40 and affiliate (second club) memberships are $30. 2) We will look into Forest City buffs (or other swag) to be distributed to our members and report back.

You can now start sending payments in (electronically) for the 2021 season. Reminder that we need to have enough signed up before year end so we don’t lose our ratification with B.A.S.S. – so please do so at your earliest convenience.

2020 Lake St. Clair Tournament Results

A giant 12.04 lb bag of largemouth anchored by the tournament big fish of 5.70 lb gave Owen Mueller the win on Lake St. Clair during a rainy and wind filled day. Tonk King finished second with 11.60 lb and Davis Zink came in third with 10.30 lb. Mueller notched the clubs third biggest fish and both Mueller and King added records to the top five 3-fish limits. That wraps up our shortened season for this year. Fishing was good when we were finally able to get out with lots of club records set. Hope to see you all next year!

2020 St. Clair River Results

A windy day on the river made for some tough fishing but our top three managed to find some big limits and big fish. Two top five club 3-fish limits were caught and our club’s second largest big fish was recorded. Congrats to Aaron Hathaway in 1st with 12.45 lb., Matt Kelly in second with 11.32 lb., and Mark Biesinger in 3rd with 9.12 lb. and a big fish of 5.92 lb.

2020 Rondeau Bay Tournament Results

Huge smallmouth anchored the bags of all of our top three for this tournament. Felicia Pavelich wins her second club tournament this year with a huge 12.34 lbs for a three fish limit along with big fish honors at 5.48 lbs. Matt Kelly (10.34 lbs.) and Jeromy Lee (9.28 lbs) came in second and third, respectively. All five club three fish bag record entries were eclipsed in this event and two club big fish record entries were added. A great day of fishing even with a 2 hour thunderstorm interruption!

2020 Week 2 Virtual Tournament Results

Anglers in this event were able to watch in real time the lead change five times in the last few hours of the tournament. With minutes remaining Mark Biesinger took the lead from Alicia Raytrowsky and held on for the win with 93.75 inches! Alicia finished second with 90.25 inches and Richard Elliott (who also held the lead for a while) in third with 89.50 inches. These virtual events were great fun, we’ll definitely be doing these again next year!