WFN Ultimate Fishing Town Winner

ultimatefishtown

Congratulations to the town of Chapleau, Ontario on being named Canada’s Ultimate Fishing Town for 2011!!

More Than 500,000 Votes Cast as Chapleau Succeeds Port Alberni, BC as 2011 WFN’s Ultimate Fishing Town Canada

After casting more than 500,000 online votes at www.wfnfishingtown.com, Canadian anglers have selected Chapleau, Ontario as the 2011 WFN: World Fishing Network’s Ultimate Fishing Town Canada. The small village of nearly 2,500 residents succeeds Port Alberni, BC which earned the title last year. The announcement was made by Mark Rubinstein, President and CEO of World Fishing Network, North America’s only 24/7 fishing channel.

Representatives of Chapleau, ON will receive a $25,000 community donation to be used towards a fishing-related cause(s) and 10 WaveSpin Reels at a local ceremony emceed by Mariko Izumi, host of WFN’s popular fishing and travel show Hookin’ Up. The town will also receive national recognition from the honour and have a feature produced about fishing in Chapleau to air on WFN.

“The drive and determination of the community and its supporters across the country won the fishing crown for Chapleau. I am overwhelmed with excitement and pride that our community has been named WFN’s Ultimate Fishing Town Canada,” said Charley Plourde of the Chapleau Fishing Advisory Committee. “Chapleau has been hard hit by the downturn in the forestry industry and is working hard to rebuild itself through economic diversification. Being named WFN’s Ultimate Fishing Town puts Chapleau on the map as a fishing destination for anglers around the world and creates an opportunity for Chapleau’s tourism industry to thrive.”

Chapleau, ON, is home to the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve one of the world’s largest wildlife preserves. Located in central northeastern Ontario, Chapleau is geographically isolated with the nearest cities, Sault Ste Marie, Timmins and Sudbury nearly two hours away. It is best known for walleye, smallmouth bass, lake trout and northern pike fishing.

After more than 240 towns throughout Canada were nominated in March, a preliminary round of voting in April narrowed the field to 20 finalists. The competition quickly became a two-town race between a pair of Ontario towns more than 11 hours apart. Chapleau and Port Colborne traded places atop the leader board on a daily basis, but in the end Chapleau earned the title by the slimmest of margins.

“We commend all of the towns for their enthusiasm, passion and pride and wanting to invite anglers all across Canada to experience everything their town has to offer,” said Mr. Rubinstein. “WFN’s search for Ultimate Fishing Town was not just about finding the place to catch the most fish. As any angler will tell you and as Chapleau proved, the people are just as important a factor. Chapleau’s passionate angling community stepped-up to prove that their pride and passion is second to none.”

As the runner-up, Port Colborne, ON will be awarded $5,000 while the third place finisher, Port Hardy, BC will receive $2,500. WFN also partnered with four cable affiliates to award a cash prize to the town receiving the most votes in the areas they service. These include: Miramachi, NB receiving $2500 from Rogers Cable; Campbell River, BC being awarded $2,000 from Shaw Cable; Hastings, ON earning $1,000 from EastLink; and St. Catharine’s receiving $1,000 from Cogeco Cable. WFN also awarded $1,000 to Port Renfrew, ON, who is serviced by Bell, as the town receiving the most votes that is not serviced by any of these affiliates.

The 2011 WFN Ultimate Fishing Town Canada contest was supported by a trio of sponsors including: Oak Bay Marine Group, owners and operators of several world-class BC fishing resorts; Spectacular Northwest Territories, offering vacation ideas in magnificent wilderness surroundings in the Northwest Territories; and Prizing Sponsor WaveSpin Reels, the only reel with a tangle-free guarantee.

For more information, visit www.WorldfFishingNetwork.com.

20 thoughts on “WFN Ultimate Fishing Town Winner”

  1. Great news for a small northern Ontario town. Congratulations to Chapleau! I have been fishing in that area and it’s fantastic for walleye and pike. The thousands of lakes rivers and streams make it a great destination.

    1. Hey GPG, you just knew that a Northern ON town would eventually win that title..it was a given!

      Outdoorsguy

  2. as it should be, although there are some great places in northern Quebec too, and probably northern any province, but they didn’t send in 500,000 votes, so really it has nothing to do with the quality of the fishing, it’s just a popularity contest

  3. Once again we agree on something Igster. This is nothing but a marketing ploy. I was born and bread in the north and never once knew Chapleau to be associated with world class fishing. The game preserve yes (Which I believe is the largest in the world Jeff).

    Sure there’s some good fishing in and around Chapleau but the same holds true for so are many other Northern Ontario towns like Marathon, Terrace Bay, Nipigon, Geraldton, Longlac, Gelicoe. Then there’s another class to the West like Rainy River, Kenora, Fort Frances, and Dryden just to name a few

  4. Trapper, it`s true there are so many other great fishing destinations in Ontario and across Canada. Of course, this is for marketing purposes both for the communities and the TV show, but I I don`t consider it to be a ploy (as a perjorative term). The Northern communities need all the help they can get to attract tourism business. It will as well attract the lucrative American business, although hopefully they will go elswhere to find lakes fed with bass. Chapleau is a central location that can produce interst for the entire area from North Bay to Timmins to Marathon.

  5. Quote “The Northern communities need all the help they can get to attract tourism business. It will as well attract the lucrative American business”

    I have no problem with promoting tourism but let’s not coat it with BS can you imagine how pissed off you’d be if you travelled from the southern states to Chapleau because you believed that it was Canada’s ultimate fishing town only to find out that “ultimate black fly festival” would be a more appropriate title.

    Personally I would think Kenora would be Canada’s Ultimate fishing town with it’s access to Lake of the Woods. Or even Thunder Bay with all of it’s surrounding variety of fishing opportunities including Lake Superior, Lake Nipigon (only 100 km East), and Lac de Ma Lac only to name a few.

    Hell Peterborough would be better than Chapleau considering it’s access to the Kawartha Lakes (Rice Lake, Chemong Lake, Pigeon Lake, Stoney Lake etc…..)

  6. @ GPG: Quote “The Northern communities need all the help they can get to attract tourism business. It will as well attract the lucrative American business”

    I have no problem with promoting tourism but let’s not coat it with BS can you imagine how pissed off you’d be if you travelled from the southern states to Chapleau because you believed that it was Canada’s ultimate fishing town only to find out that “ultimate black fly festival” would be a more appropriate title.

    Personally I would think Kenora would be Canada’s Ultimate fishing town with it’s access to Lake of the Woods. Or even Thunder Bay with all of it’s surrounding variety of fishing opportunities including Lake Superior, Lake Nipigon (only 100 km East), and Lac de Ma Lac only to name a few.

    Hell Peterborough would be better than Chapleau considering it’s access to the Kawartha Lakes (Rice Lake, Chemong Lake, Pigeon Lake, Stoney Lake etc…..)

    1. I suppose the old adage…”there’s no such thing as bad press” would apply here…since as long as people are talking about this contest – good or bad – the WFN has already won!

      It’s genius if you ask me and a great marketing strategy.

      Yes, obviously it is only a popularity contest…as are most political elections or school student council campaigns for that matter, but with over 500, 000 votes; this little town of Chapleau somehow generated a lootttttt of interest. Not bad for a community of less than 2500!

      I wonder how they drummed up so much interest..anyone know??

      Outdoorsguy

  7. @ Jeff…it’s small town Northern Ontario, they have lots of kin…..

    When you live in a small town there’s only three things to do. Drink, Hunt and F…..and when you ain’t drinking you hunt for something to f……

    1. trust me Trapper, my hometown is a 10th the size of Chapleau!

      Why do you think I love hunting and fishing so much..wont comment on the others, though, for fear of incrimination..hehe

      Outdoorsguy

  8. Trapper, we could argue which town (or region) in Canada is best until the fish start jumping into the boat. The fact is Chapleau is a great area, no doubt. You mentioned a few big lakes, well they are great if you are looking for big-lake fishing. The Kawarthas are great too, if you like to be in the middle of dense cottage country and big cities. All three coasts offer different types of deep sea fishing as well, if that’s your thing. The point is, Chapleau is a great area for fishing, and they won the contest this year. Congratulations! What I like about Northern Ontario is well, where I was born, but also the variety of fish, wildlife and habitat that it offers, and it’s within 8-10 hour drive from Ottawa. In one day you could fish a big lake, jump to smaller back-country lakes, then all the way to a north-flowing river, then to a small stream for trout, and be back at camp on time for a huge fish fry.

    About the contest, from what I could see, one person could place one vote every day of the contest. I had many friends on Facebook promoting it and encouraging votes. I went on the site but decided not vote. I didn’t want to give all the sponsors (and their friends!) my contact info. I thought it was a good win-win situation for the communities and the TV show, but the prizes were a little light in my opinion, and nothing for the participants.

    1. For those of you who hadn’t noticed the latest comment rec’d on a older post from Ex Hunter Ted Reid..regarding his recent firearm registry incident.

      I wonder if scraping the gun registry will finally put an end to this crap:

      I have not hunted or even fired a firearm for over 18 years. I have two shotguns and a 30.30 rifle which used to hunt with. I have never commited a crime with a gun nor will I ever. I made the mistake many years ago of registering my hunting guns. They were actually my Dad’s guns passed on to me. He passed away in 1998 and the guns were at my parents home. I moved to another province and since I did not plan to hunt I arranged to have them stored at my best friend/hunting buddies house. Apparently my gun owners registraion had expired in 2009 and I was unaware until March 2011 at 9:00pm on a Sunday night when I received a phone call from a provincial police officer telling me I was in violation of a criminal code for not renewing my licence. I nicely told him the truth and he responded with I’m in violation of another criminal code since the guns were not in my possesion. I have been trying to have them transferred to my friends possession licence but he was unaware that his had also expired and had to take a course to renew his license which of course takes some time. In the past two weeks (this is June 2011) I have received two messages on my answering machine upon returning from work from the same officer telling me that they are prepared to take this to the next level (whatever that might be) if it is not resolved right away. Why am I being treated like a criminal? I used to be a hunter, my guns are in very safe hands and I am being harrassed.
      Way to go gun registry and officer nothing else to do but harass innocent people. Go catch the criminals and leave us law abiding citizens alone!!!! There are shootings in the cities everyday. Go try and catch them or is that too much work. I guess we are easy prey for the lazy.

      It makes me sick!!!

      Ted Reid

  9. @Ted: Quote” Way to go gun registry and officer nothing else to do but harass innocent people. Go catch the criminals and leave us law abiding citizens alone!!!! There are shootings in the cities everyday. Go try and catch them or is that too much work. I guess we are easy prey for the lazy.” END QUOTE

    You had my sympathies until I read this.

    It’s irresponsible gun owners like you and your buddy that create these situations. If you truly had explained your situation to the officer the way you explained it to us then I bet that hte officer would be more than accomodating. However the second you throw in a comment like the last paragraph the rules change. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a responsible firearm owner that would qualify to take possession of them for you…….if you can’t find one Jeff knows my e-mail address and I fix it in less than 24 hours for you.

    1. Sorry Trapper..I must be out of it, you lost me with all this..

      Outdoorsguy

    1. Trapper, its the gun registry stuff..I will need to read back through that old post I suppose.

      Outdoorsguy

      1. Wow..I just posted the 4000th comment on the Outdoors Guy…wonder if I win a prize?

        Tell you what, whoever the lucky person is to post #5000, I will put together a nice prize package for them!!

        Outdoorsguy

  10. Nice post Ted Reid. I hope you can resolve all of and avoid a fine or criminal record.

    Hopefully PM Harper can finaly put an end to this fiasco by abolishing the long gun registry, he did mention it during his speech from the throne.

    As far as the second vialation that the Officer warned you about, it is perfectly legal to loan a firearm to someone as long as the firearm is kept with the ownership card.

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