Bassmaster Elite could be canceled as officials weigh whether the tournament will happen

By Andy Gardner

Local public health experts and St. Lawrence County legislators discussed concerns about bringing anglers to the area for fishing tournaments who are coming from states that are seeing a recent explosion of COVID-19 cases.

The discussion took place during the board’s Finance Committee meeting held June 29 via Zoom and streamed live on YouTube.

“We have had a few phone calls with Bassmaster … there have been no answers. We’ve talked about some of the safety issues, some of the gathering restrictions,” said Dr. Dana McGuire, St. Lawrence County Public Health director.

She noted that as many as half of the anglers come from states with high rates of coronavirus transmission, like Florida and Georgia.

“Because New York state has made these regulations that are beyond what the county is in control of, I’m not sure it’s going to be a decision that’s going to be made locally,” said Dr. Andrew Williams, St. Lawrence County Board of Health president. “I can’t say as a physician and public health expert that bringing people from a high-risk area is going to decrease the risk of COVID.”

Legislator Dave Forsythe, R-Lisbon, said he has been fielding calls from constituents who are concerned that the tournament participants could spread the disease in the North Country, where the local infection rate has plummeted recently.

Legislator Tony Arquiett, D-Helena, urged the board to seek an official decision on the tournament from either the state or the local Emergency Operations Center.

“I would support our chairman urging the state or EOC to make a decision on the Bassmaster. We’re three weeks out,” he said.

Legislator John Burke, R-Norfolk, wanted to know if there’s a plan in place to test Bassmaster anglers, and if not, then why?

“It’s difficult to say at this time because we’re still in discussion whether [the tournament] happens or not,” McGuire said.

She added that the only state requirement for travelers from high-transmission areas is to quarantine for two weeks after arriving in New York. That means the anglers could have to arrive here soon in order to meet the mandate.

“For those people who come here from one of the states in the advisory, if they get tested and the test result is negative we still need to quarantine,” McGuire said. “Your test result is only as good as that day.”

She also said there are a lot of unknowns, and county public health officials are still in the process of understanding Bassmaster’s plan.

“The discussions we’ve had so far is to learn what their plan is and how it’s been modified from previous years,” McGuire said. “They have many ideas about what they would like to do.”

A big challenge with COVID is transmission from those who have the coronavirus but remain asymptomatic. McGuire noted that of the 23 people in St. Lawrence County who tested positive for the virus since phase one began, 18 of them never showed symptoms.

The Town of Massena recently canceled two big Fishing League Worldwide tournaments that had been planned for the summer, the Toyota Series 2020 Tournament (July 9 to 13) and Pro Circuit Championship (Aug. 24 to 29).