When competitive fishing meets science

You’re unlikely to find many anglers more excited about this summer’s BASS Federation Nation Eastern Divisional final than my friend and fellow Aurora, Ontario, resident Wil Wegman. While Wil won’t actually be competing in the July 22 to 24 event on Ontario’s Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching, he’ll be keenly taking note of the fish that are caught. That’s because his fishing club, the Aurora Bassmasters, has been given the green light to piggyback on the tournament for its ongoing Bass Research Project.

Namely, Wil and company will be conducting a major bass sampling during the big-league competition, measuring the lengths and weights of each fish that is caught, as well as taking scale samples for aging. They’ll also be tagging the fish—some 1,000 in all likelihood—more than doubling the number of bass the group has tagged over the past three years. According to Wil, the new tagging effort will help researchers get a better handle on the bass population dynamics in Simcoe and Couchiching (Wil’s day job is with Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources).

And as an avid bass angler himself, Wil will of course be watching the tournament itself with keen interest. For starters, the July event marks only the second time the divisional has been held in Canada. And, no doubt, the 12 members of Team Ontario—the only Canuck anglers in the event—have a good shot at taking a place on the podium. They do, after all, have the home-water advantage over the seven U.S. teams. In any event, the top-placing angler from each team earns the right to move on to the National Championship. Rest assured, we’ll be watching closely, along with Wil. Stay tuned.