And they’re off!

At 7 a.m. on Thursday, the eighth-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship officially began under an overcast sky on Sand Bay.
After both national anthems and the traditional angler’s prayer, defending champs Steve and Kent Ballan (Team #1) roared off with a wave to the cheering crowd lining the shoreline and government dock at Pither’s Point.
“It’s great,” said Linda Hamilton, whose son, Scott, is one half of Team #77. “It’s really nice to see all the boats on the water like this.”
Hamilton was among the large number of spectators who took in Thursday morning’s launch, which took about an hour and 10 minutes for all 133 teams to depart.
“It’s pretty neat,” said Gary Saurer, a local resident who enjoys watching the morning launches at least once during the three-day derby.
“It’s good to go down to the Causeway and see them rocket under it,” he enthused.
The teams embarked in groups of 30, allowing for a 15-minute break between each group.
Each team was instructed what time to be off the water today and then with a final “good luck” from emcee Jim Cumming, they speed off eastwards over Sand Bay.
The weigh-in Thursday and tomorrow starts at 3:30 p.m. under the big tent at the Sorting Gap Marina. The final weigh-in Saturday gets underway at 2:30 p.m.
A few of the anglers were surprised at the sizable turnout of spectators on the dock early Thursday morning.
“The local support here is just tremendous,” said Paul Kielb of Appleton, Mn. (Team #131) as he surveyed the crowd. “It’s just really well-organized.”
“Everything is great as usual,” said Ted Krause of North Branch, Mn. (Team #121) as he awaited the final group’s launch. “This is the championship we look forward to the most.”