Pros share secrets at Bass Talk 2007

How many ways are there to catch a bass?
On one hand, you can fizz for a smallmouth bass.
They can also be enticed by drop-shotting, dropping down or dropping back.
For largemouth bass, you can wet a line in the junk with a Jig'n'Pig.
In deeper water, you can employ a Carolina rig.
If you are a little perplexed by these terms, fear not.
Several of the top Canadian professional bass anglers will be freeing up their time during the off-season to share their secrets as part of Bass Talk 2007.
With four sessions set to take place this year in Ontario, York Region will play host to one of the stops Feb. 10 to 11 at the Vaughan Regency Banquet Hall, at Jane Street and Langstaff Road. This event will be the only two-day session as the others in Perth, Huntsville and Hamilton are one-day affairs, said Dave Chong, an Aurora resident and one of the guest speakers.
Spawned from the U.S.-based BassMasters University seminar tour that came to Toronto in 2005, Bass Talk places an emphasis on providing a Canadian perspective on bass fishing through the experiences of some of the top tournament anglers in Canada.
"It was great to listen to guys like Denny Brauer, Jimmy Houston or Larry Nixon (famous U.S. bass tournament anglers)," Chong said of the old BassMasters University sessions, which were recently curtailed. "But a lot of the stuff they talked about didn't relate to bass fishing conditions in Canada."
Chong and other Canadian anglers pooled their knowledge to create Bass Talk. Launching their seminar last spring in Hamilton and doing so with just three weeks notice, they assembled six speakers and drew close to 100 anglers.
"All in all, it was a great success and we had great feedback," Chong recalled. "We accomplished a number of things and we were able to give people who had a thirst for knowledge what they wanted — Canadian bass pros talking about bass fishing in Canada."
In addition to offering valuable tips to those in attendance, close to $3,000 was raised for various charities including Casting For a Cure (the Canadian Cancer Society) and the Big Brother Big Sisters of York Region through various raffles and silent auctions.
"This year, we will be doing the same," Chong said.
Through the success of last year's event, Chong said organizers were approached by Vaughan's Bass Pro Shops to make Bass Talk 2007 bigger and better.
In addition to Chong, who won last year's Canadian Fishing Tour's One Day Classic in Belleville with partner Rob Lee, other tournament anglers slated to appear on this year's circuit include Doug Brownridge, Rocky Crawford, Derek Strub, Mike Desforges, Gord Pyzer (noted outdoor writer and angler), Karl Kolonka (host of Extreme Angler television series), John Bondy (a Windsor resident who was the lone Canadian competitor on the BASS circuit last year), and a yet-to-be announced competitor from the United States. Dave Mercer, host of Facts of Fishing, will emcee the event.
"If people want to learn about bass fishing, it doesn't get much better than this," he said with assurance. "Anyone who comes will benefit from it. We're educating anglers."
For more details, visit basstalk.ca