2005 BASS Federation Championships
Report #3 - Day 2

By Will Wegman,
OBF Media and Conservation Director
Day 2 Report, Thursday April 28, 2005

Ontario BASS Federation Angler Bill Todd Weighs In Good Sack of Fish …

Today was do or die day for all 55 competitors as only the top three from each division will move on to fish Disney’s Bay Lake. On day one Bill had a rough time – blowing three decent bass that would have made all the difference to his final 3.10 pound weight. Yesterday we quoted Bill has saying that today he would be fishing for pride … and although we’re disappointed to report that Bill did not make the cut to fish Disney for the next two days … he did do himself, the Ontario BASS Federation and the rest of Canada proud by bouncing back with a decent limit weighing in at 12.3 pounds. In fact Bill moved up from 43^rd spot all the way to 21^st overall after two days.

“Today I caught most of my bass on spinnerbaits and it was a completely different day than yesterday” he told MC Ray Scott on stage.  “Yesterday I had 6 bass on and blew three of them – today I had 20 bass and only missed a couple”, he said. Conditions were a stark contrast to yesterday as the sunny, wind-free weather greeted anglers all day.

In the Northern Division the three anglers who will be moving on are: Thad Takes who weighed in 25.5 pounds, Jamie Fralick with 22.3 and Brian McNeil with 20.9.  Bill ended up with a two day total of 15.15 pounds and was 5^th in the Northern Division out of 11 anglers.

Conservation Meetings:

This morning we had two in-depth presentations from staff with the Environmental Protection Agency on mercury and contaminants in fish. Of interest was that mercury is found primarily in the protein portion of the fish …ie the fillets, whereas other toxins such as chlorodane, dioxins, and DDT show up mostly in the fatty tissue found in fish.  So, although most of us are accustomed to slicing off that fatty tissue in species like lake trout when we are cleaning our fish … the fact is that although we may be reducing our risks of consuming higher quantities of those toxins, the mercury is still there in the fillets. All the more reason to carefully check fish consumption guidelines … and for Ontarians those are found in our 2005/2006 issue of the Guide to Eating Ontario Sportfish.

Tomorrow, on day 3, all 15 anglers that made the cut will have their weight zeroed and start from scratch fishing the bass rich waters of Disney’s Bay Lake. It should be a cool deal out there … so stay tuned for full details here on Big Fat Bass.

From Florida, this is Wil Wegman signing off.