How one Canuck angler got to the world championship of bass fishing—the Bassmaster Classic

#1: Set Goals

The notion to compete in the Bassmaster Classic never really entered Sim’s mind until 2013, when he took a detour on a road trip to the southern U.S. while picking up a bass boat for a friend. “I drove over to Oklahoma and watched the Classic weigh-in as a spectator, along with thousands of other fans,” he says. “It was then and there that the dream to someday qualify for this incredible event hit me, but little did I know what was in store over the next couple of years.”

Sim began his quest to qualify for the biggest bass show on earth through tournaments with his own club, the Ottawa Valley South Bassmasters. From there, he was able to compete in the 2014 Ontario B.A.S.S. Nation Hank Gibson Provincial Qualifier on Big Rideau Lake. He made the top 12 and moved on as a member of Team Ontario. After that, Sim excelled in a series of increasingly competitive competitions, ultimately qualifying him for the 2015 Bassmaster Classic.