The 2007 International Falls Bass Championship, planned for Aug. 24 and 25, should be the most exciting tournament ever held in International Falls, according to organizers.
“All the past tournament champions are coming back, several good anglers who have won other high profile tournaments, along with several local teams that are very good anglers are also fishing,” stated Gary Potter, president of the championship’s board. “We are going to have an arts and craft festival, and live entertainment under in the Family Fun Zone Tent.”
Potter said the tournament, in its third year, is a success.
“We were able to go from a tournament in year one that was half full, to last year’s tournament that was filled up immediately after the tournament with a waiting list,” he stated. “The success of the International Falls Bass Championship is directly related to the support received from the community of International Falls. The whole community should be very proud of the fact that we are known as Minnesota's premier bass tournament by the tournament anglers. They are all impressed with the number of volunteers, and how friendly the town is toward them.”
The board is made up of Potter, Scott Crowe, Tanis Lauzon, Brad Carlson, Roger Luettjohann, Heidi Wegner, Mark Wild, Dan Traska, Dave Peterson, Christa Heibel, Brenda Jones, Tom Walter.
And there the group is always looking for people to help and share their ideas about the tournament.
“We are trying to perfect all aspects of the tournament especially from a fish handling aspect before we move up the number of teams,” he stated. “We want to keep our perfect fish handling record intact. The tournament has not lost a fish in two years due to our fish handling procedures. Every fish that we have weighed in at Smokey Bear Park has been released back into the lake or River alive.”
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