Two long-standing record-setting bass tournament debates are finally over! One – who will break the Canadian record of 29.90 pounds (five fish) and two, what body of water in Ontario will do it? The majority of bass anglers picked either Lake Simcoe or Lake Erie as the host waters most likely to produce five monster bass averaging at least six pounds apiece to break that magical 30 pound benchmark. As for who would do it, many had their money on late fall trophy bass specialists Bob Formosa and Jason Saliba. These three time winners of the Bass Pro Shops Lake Simcoe Open are consistently either winning or close to winning late fall bass tournaments on Simcoe and they surely have those oftentimes elusive bass figured out.
Neither Simcoe Nor Erie Does It:
Charles Sim and Nigel Touhey set a new Canadian record of 30.35 pounds for five beautiful fat smallmouth bass on Lake St. Francis. This sleeper trophy bass lake , borders eastern Ontario and south western Quebec on the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Its no surprise to see tour professional and Ottawa Valley South Bassmaster club member Charles Sim break the record. Charles is no stranger to big fish and is one of Canada’s premier tournament anglers with multiple wins in Canada as well as top money finishes in U.S. Commenting on Big Fat Bass message board Charles said “It was an amazing day for me after a terrible week on Erie. (Referring to the B.A.S.S. Northern Open on Lake Erie the previous week) Nigel and I were beside ourselves when our first five fish totaled 28-12! When that 7.15 jumped 50 feet out it was panic time!” To break a record like this, a giant kicker is usually required and big fish of the tournament, a 7.15 smallmouth did the trick.
Frenzy on Saint-Francis produces new Canadian Record.
Lake Saint Francis
About Lake St. Francis Sim said “ These fish are just so big and grow so fast it's amazing. I hope it stays like this for years to come.” This was certainly no fluke to have the record broken on St. Francis, as the “Frenzy on Saint-Francis” produced five bags over 25 pounds including a 27.65 pound bag produced by Jean-Martin Landry and Carole Lavoie. This was an amazing feat considering the limited 20 team field.
This incredible catch comes just four weeks before Canada’s premier one day bass fishing event - the Bass Pro Shop Lake Simcoe Open scheduled on October the 24th out of Orillia on Lake Simcoe/ Couchiching. It was anticipated that the original 29.90 lb record might be in jeopardy this year as a field of 100 teams including some of Canada’s and U.S. best anglers hit the famed trophy waters competing for a possible $50,000.00 first prize. One thing a new record always does is motivate others to break it before the dust settles and 200 anglers on Simcoe will certainly set the stage for that to happen.
The debate about which lake in Canada has the largest bass or where the record will be broken will go on forever and although three or four lakes are always thrown into the argument, what is missing is the fact that there are so many lakes that are producing bigger fish and have the potential for records. Before Sim and Touhey broke the record on St.Francis, eastern Ontario and Quebec were rarely mentioned in the debate but anglers from that region knew all along that something great was growing.
This begs the question: “Are bass in Canada getting bigger?” And, if at least anecdotally the answer appears to be yes - then WHY? Is the extended growing season caused by climate change allowing our bass to eat more in spring and late fall? Are invasive species like the prolific goby making a difference in the overall size of bass? Are zebra mussels making the water that much clearer – allowing smallmouth to see their prey from greater distances and capture them easier? Or …are Canadian anglers just getting better at finding and catching big fish.
The answer is probably a mix of all of the above. We don’t know what the long term effects of the spawning bed-raiding round gobies will be. In the long term, they could potentially have a catastrophic effect on future bass populations. For the short term though smallmouth from Lake Erie and Lake Ontario definitely appear to be bigger.Georgian Bay, the forgotten fishery, has an abundance of baitfish, crayfish and now gobies as well. Ad to this the rising average water temperature and little fishing pressure and you have a recipe for monster smallies
The 2009 BPS Simcoe Open under favourable weather conditions has the potential to set a new record and thanks to Charles Sim, Nigel Touhey, and Lake St-Francis the buzz is getting louder and if you can’t be there to compete … at least come out to the free weigh-in at 2pm in Orillia on October 24th. You could see history in the making and another record fall right before your very eyes!
