YORKTON - The diversity of sport continually surprises me, and in writing these articles twice weekly, also thankfully inspires too.
For those who know me well, I have a certain passion for fishing – never getting out to cast a local water early as often as I should given the overstuffed gear bags in the basement.
So when I came across a posting about a ‘Team Canada’ being involved in the 2024 XVIII Bass Fishing World Championship in Italy I was immediately intrigued.
A bit of research and I found that Pete Garnier had been captain for the Canadian team.
A few Facebook messages later and a telephone interview was arranged.
Garnier said the recent championship held at Italy’s Lake Bolsena was a rather special event, among a number of international bass fishing events the Canadian International Sportfishing Association (CISA) oversees sending teams too.
“It’s pretty fantastic,” offered Garnier.
While Garnier captained the team in Italy he quickly tipped his hat to noted angler Bob Izumi.
Several years ago Izumi was invited to a Pan American bass event, and “just threw a team together with like-minded anglers,” said Garnier, adding that experience would be the seed which grew into CISA.
With an association formed Garnier said Canadian bass fishing opened the doors to major competitions held “very much on a world scale.”
For example, the 2023 Pan American Black Bass Championships was held at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and this year Canada hosted the fifth annual championships, prestigious events will take place on the St. John River, in New Brunswick.
Garnier said hosting the event in late September “was a pretty huge undertaking,” but the effort was worthwhile given the event’s success. It helped the host team finished second only to the U.S..
Next year the Pan Am event shifts to Mexico with Garnier and daughter Elise qualifying to go.
So how do these bass events work?
Garnier said a qualifying event is held, and for there typically a team of six – usually with an alternate – is selected. In competition team members hit the water in pairs. At the end of the day “they are scored as a team” based on fish caught.
What challenges the teams most is usually fishing unfamiliar waters in an environment different from local lakes.
“There’s an unwritten rule a bass is a bass is a bass no matter where they swim,” he said, then quickly adding the caveat “it depends on the lake.”
In that regard bass tend to be found in varied water conditions.
“As a species they’re (bass) extremely adaptable,” said Garnier.
For example in the United States bass are often found in manmade lakes.
“We don’t have a ton of experience with that,” he said, noting manmade lakes with bass are rarer in Canada.
In 2023 the World Championship was on Lake Sabor (manmade) in Portugal. Garnier said in the lake’s creation terraces of olive trees were flooded.
“There’s tons of standing timber,” he said, adding that creates “tons of bass habitat.”
At that event Garnier said Team Canada was feeling good about its chances.
“I think we had a real chance to win it,” he said, adding ultimately they slotted in eighth which was middle of the pack.
This year on “the largest volcanic lake in Italy” Canada inched up to seventh. Garnier said the lake was something different “with a maximum depth of over 500 feet.”
Garnier said he sees only better things ahead in terms of Canada’s success, fuelled in part by CISA and more recently by the success hosting the Pan Am event, which should pay off in more eager support in terms of support moving forward.
