Ben Woo Owner of B1 Tournament Organization Found Guilty in Massive Bass Kill!

Bass Tournament Organizer Fined $9,000 For Not Following Licence Conditions

By Luigi De Rose

The hammer finally fell on Ben Woo and the B1 Tournament Series. On November 10, 2020, Woo has been convicted and fined $9,000 and had his Ontario recreational fishing licence suspended for five years as a result of improper fish care, discarding dead bass improperly and not notifying the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) of the large fish kill according to the tournament licence. 

The infractions occurred during July 13-14, 2019 at their B1 two-day bass tournament held on the St. Lawrence River near Gananoque, Ontario where they suffered a staggering 195 dead bass, many of them smallmouth over 4-pounds. The Ontario Crown determined that fish care stations during the weigh-in process was inadequate.  

Ben Woo and staff later dumped 188 of those dead bass into the garbage, which is an illegal act as no game fish or wild animal is allowed to be wasted without proper steps taken to fully utilize it. 

The MNRF received several calls regarding the incident and the investigate was started on July 15, 2019. 

For the full official statement from the MNRF click here