Welcome to this unique episode/article of The Fish’n Canada Show. 

Now, when we say unique, we mean UNIQUE. In this episode, you don’t see any gear prep. No mapping sessions. No fishing lodges. Heck, on this show, you don’t even see Ang or Pete catch a fish!

On this Fish’n Canada shoot, we travelled to the eastern region of Canada and we covered a fishing tournament.

Now we realize, some of you are saying, “you guys always travel to Canada’s east coast AND you’ve also covered tournaments in the past”… and, you’re right. This event, however, is different.

It’s called the Pan American Black Bass Championship. 

Pan American Black Bass Championship: The History

This is a special kind of fishing tournament which, as the name implies, has an international component. In this two-day event, you’ll see some of the top competitors from Canada, United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Colombia, Turtle Island, the Wolastoqey First Nations, and even a contingency representing China all compete for international bragging rights and the elusive gold medal!

So, let’s take a step backwards and tell you a bit about the organizers of this great event.

In 2018, the Canadian International Sportfishing Association, or CISA was formed by five competitive anglers; Bob Izumi, Phil Hegarty, Dave Chong, Rick McCrory, and Joe Ford. 

It’s a non-profit, Canadian fishing organization that facilitates the ongoing participation of Team-Canada fishing duos, in the Pan American and World Championships. 

These events are governed by The International Sport Fishing Confederation and the International Federation of Sport Fishing in Fresh Waters.

The ultimate goal here is to achieve the inclusion of sportfishing in the Olympic games! Similar to the World Olympics, these international events bring qualifying teams from participating Countries together to compete for the chance to win the Gold for their Country on a Pan American and/or World stage.

Can you imagine including fishing in the olympic games???

It’s all about pride here!

Canadian Bass Fishing

Since we were covering the 2024 Pan American Black Bass championship, we thought it would be nice to give you a little history of Canada’s participation.

In 2018 Canada Bass competed in their first Pan Am Black Bass championship at Lake Okeechobee, winning a silver medal. 

In 2019 Canada competed in the world championship at lake LAKE EL CUCHILLO in Cheena Mexico finishing 5th. 

In 2019 Canada hosted the Pan Am championship in Cornwall, Ontario winning gold. 

In 2020 Canada won gold at Lake Guerrero Mexico in the Pan Am championship. 

In 2022 Canada finished 7th at the World Black Bass Championship in the USA.

In 2023 Canada finished 6th at the USA hosted pan am. 

And this ultimately brings us to the 2024 Pan American Black Bass Championship, which was hosted in beautiful New Brunswick, on the Saint John River. 

The Saint John River: Showcasing Canadian Bass Fishing

The CISA had a serious task ahead of them when seeking a location for this 2024 event that would represent bass fishing in Canada.

When looking into the Canadian geographic range of the “black bass”, AKA Smallmouth and Largemouth, one would think it would be next to impossible to choose a best-of-the-best location when setting up an international tournament. 

To name a few contenders, Vancouver Island is scattered with smallmouth bass lakes, and the lower mainland of BC has both largemouth and smallmouth.

Manitoba and Quebec have “loads” of untouched Bass lakes.

Ontario has the highest Bass population in the country.

And then, there’s New Brunswick. 

Bass in New Brunswick?

Well if you’re a fan of the Fish’n Canada Show, then you’ll already know about the bass population there.

For those of you who’ve never experienced, or even heard of, Bass in NB, you’re gonna’ here!

When Ang and Pete first discovered the population of Smallmouth in New Brunswick, they quickly figured out that this area of the country had something very special.

Introducing, the Saint John River

Ang and Pete have literally caught hundreds upon hundreds of Smallmouth from the Saint John River in NB.

We’ve produced a multitude of episodes on the Saint John over the years, covering the diversity and significance of this incredible fishery, (muskie, sturgeon and striper) but this one was all about bass.

Pete and Ang shot a couple of Fish’n Canada episodes on the Saint John back in 2016, and again in 2023, and let us tell you right now, it was burgeoning then, and it’s still growing today. 

It’s the perfect choice for this event. 

Trust us, catching fish will not be a problem here!

Our Locations

The city of Fredericton in New Brunswick was home base for this event. It’s ideal in not only infrastructure but a great location sitting on the bank of the Bass-rich, Saint John River. 

With an estimated population of over 65,000 people, this is the perfect location to have such a prestigious event.

And just as an FYI, we’ve never met an east-coaster that didn’t love anything and everything when it comes to fishing!

As for the headquarters for take-off and weigh-ins, that took place just up the road from Fredericton in a quaint little town called Nackawic.

We’ve visited here a few times now and we can honestly say, it’s one of the friendliest areas we’ve been to in all of Canada.

Opening Ceremonies

A typical bass tournament in Canada starts with a quick “night before” orientation meeting, registration etc., followed by everyone splitting up and heading back to their accommodations.

This event was much different. CISA Vice President Joe Ford and his team had gone above and beyond in setting up an opening ceremonies event like no other. 

Ang and Pete have known Joe for quite some time and he told them, “boys… I want to blow everybody’s minds with this opening ceremony”… 

And, man, mission accomplished!

Even the kids had fun at this event

From teams having their national anthem played through the PA system, to a guest appearance by Pat Roach AKA Randy from the Trailer Park Boys, these guys hit this one out of the park!

Friday Night Meeting, Orientation etc.

As in most competitive sporting events, this Pan Am tournament continued with orientation meetings, registration, individual and team photos, and so on.

It was a great time for everyone involved to get reacquainted with their teammates, as well as a friendly competitors’ handshake to their opposition.

As all the hustle and bustle was taking place, we had a chance to pull some of the higher-profile anglers aside for a few words…

Interviews with greats like Bob Izumi (top) and Jeff Gussy Gustafson helped the audience get a feel for the celebrity personalities

Day 1

Morning

With all of their pre-fishing done, the media taken care of, and all the tackle prepared, this group of eager anglers were ready to make that first cast of the event.

We remember these mornings from back in our tournament fishing days and let us tell you, the nerves on these guys are off the Richter scale. 

This is the time when mental toughness is a real asset!

For those of you who aren’t really versed in team bass-tournament fishing, here’s a quick breakdown.

• Each two-person team is allowed to keep five bass to weigh in. 
• Each fish must be a minimum of 12 inches long.
• They can be all Smallmouth, all Largemouth or a combination of both.
• Each two-person team’s daily weight will be the total of all fish brought in, from one – five 

Take Off

So then came the big moment… blast-off time!

Dropping that shifter into forward, hearing your boat number called out, hammering the throttle, skimming across the Saint John River, dropping the trolling motor in, and making that first cast of the day… It’s so damn exhilarating!

Fishing

Ang watches closely as Jacob Wheeler & partner Brett Carnright fish a rock point

After shooting the take-off etc, by the time we hit the water, with the arduous task of following a portion of the teams, AND with the fishing on the Saint John being so good, most of the teams were already well on their way catching their limit.

Bob Izumi with a couple of nice Saint John Smallies

Fortunately for us, the first team we came upon was none other than team Canada’s Bob Izumi and his partner Adam Foster. They already had their limit filled out and were in the “culling” stage. As was predicted by pretty much everybody in this tournament, catching fish wouldn’t be an issue… it was boating the big ones… those hi-3 to 4-pound fish…

Weigh-In

Ang signs an autograph as the weigh-in commences

With all the “one more cast”s behind us, it’s time for the day-one weigh-in.

This is a crucial moment in any fishing tournament in that fish handling becomes ever so important. 

Now is the time in which they are taken from the confinement of a perfectly regulated livewell, put into a transfer bag, walked up to the holding tanks… “be careful not to drop em’ boys and girls”, and wait to be called up to the stage.

Every ounce counts, so fish handling and fish care is critical.

Here’s an interesting tidbit for you, Jasper Yuzhang from team China just put through, the first-ever Largemouth Bass to be weighed in a professional tournament in all of New Brunswick… congratulations Jasper!

Now although we did see the “odd” Largemouth being weighed in, Smallmouth is king in this part of the world. They’ve been here for a long time, and their numbers have increased dramatically.

Tyler and Trey with an incredible catch of NB Smallmouth Bass to take the day one lead

So when all was tallied up, the top 3 teams after day one of the 2024 Pan Am Black Bass Championship in New Brunswick Canada stand as; 

In first place, is Team 37 TYLER WILLIAMS & TREY MCKINNEY from Team USA with 5 bass weighing 18.75 pounds

In second place is team 39 ALEC MORRISON & NICK HATFIELD also from Team USA weighing in 5 bass at 17.46lbs

And rounding out the top 3 is team 29 COREY GAFFNEY & ADAM HOWELL from Team Canada with 5 fish coming in at 17.3 lbs  

Can these teams keep it up for two days in a row… or, will someone make a charge from below. 

Check out part 2 to see the final results.