Texas Transplant
Well-Known Member
Our Bass Club annually sponsors the Hooked on Fishing - No On Drugs tournament for kids in the York/Rock Hill, SC area. This past Saturday was it.
This was my first year to participate, and it was a great time. We do this in conjunction with both the Rock Hill and York Police Departments, Lowe's and WalMart. Several other businesses also chip in.
It's held at the Worthy Boys Camp, run by the combined police departments. At the camp, they have many activities for the kids, including fishing in a good sized pond, and horseback riding.
The pond is about 3/4-1 acre in size, and contains shellcrackers, blue gill, bream, catfish and bass. We provide fishing equipment for any child that doesn't have one. Parents come along to help/assist their children, and we provide the muscle to get it setup, weighin facilities, and the trophy presentation.
This year we had about 100 kids and various parents/relatives and grandparents. Tournament time starts at 10:00AM (through 2PM), so the kids started showing up at 7:45AM (of course!). The pond is staked out so that each child gets about 5 feet of bank. They are given numbers when they register, and that turns out to be their assigned spot.
Biggest duty that we have is to act as real time weigh masters. They set up 1 team of weigh masters for each 50 kids. Kids catch a fish, put it in a weigh bag (Wal-Mart blue!) and take it to the weigh master for weighing. Minimum weight is 2oz (regardless of size). Hot dog lunch is provided and sno cones for a treat.
At the awards ceremony, the police representative talked to all the kids for about 15 minutes about 'choices'. Then we gave out the generous door prizes (donated by WalMart), and then announced the winners.
Four catagories of kids (4-17 years old), with trophies for each three places - plus a big fish trophy. First and second receive rod/reel combo's, along with the big fish winner.
After each award, pictures are taken (just like the pro's), and then everyone else who participated is given a small trophy along with a goody bag of 'fishin stuff' from WalMart (again).
All in all, a very long day, but one that is very productive. Nice to see all the parents out there, along with their children. As usual, some of the kids just happened to draw a spot that sat right over a bluegill bedding area. Top fisherman, caught about 42 fish, including the bigfish - an 11oz bass. He took home two trophies, two rod/reel combos and the biggest smile you have ever seen. All this from a 50lb soaking wet 6 year old.
Can't wait till next year!
Sorry, no pictures to post. Seems as though the wife took all the film from the camera bag after vacation!
Tex
This was my first year to participate, and it was a great time. We do this in conjunction with both the Rock Hill and York Police Departments, Lowe's and WalMart. Several other businesses also chip in.
It's held at the Worthy Boys Camp, run by the combined police departments. At the camp, they have many activities for the kids, including fishing in a good sized pond, and horseback riding.
The pond is about 3/4-1 acre in size, and contains shellcrackers, blue gill, bream, catfish and bass. We provide fishing equipment for any child that doesn't have one. Parents come along to help/assist their children, and we provide the muscle to get it setup, weighin facilities, and the trophy presentation.
This year we had about 100 kids and various parents/relatives and grandparents. Tournament time starts at 10:00AM (through 2PM), so the kids started showing up at 7:45AM (of course!). The pond is staked out so that each child gets about 5 feet of bank. They are given numbers when they register, and that turns out to be their assigned spot.
Biggest duty that we have is to act as real time weigh masters. They set up 1 team of weigh masters for each 50 kids. Kids catch a fish, put it in a weigh bag (Wal-Mart blue!) and take it to the weigh master for weighing. Minimum weight is 2oz (regardless of size). Hot dog lunch is provided and sno cones for a treat.
At the awards ceremony, the police representative talked to all the kids for about 15 minutes about 'choices'. Then we gave out the generous door prizes (donated by WalMart), and then announced the winners.
Four catagories of kids (4-17 years old), with trophies for each three places - plus a big fish trophy. First and second receive rod/reel combo's, along with the big fish winner.
After each award, pictures are taken (just like the pro's), and then everyone else who participated is given a small trophy along with a goody bag of 'fishin stuff' from WalMart (again).
All in all, a very long day, but one that is very productive. Nice to see all the parents out there, along with their children. As usual, some of the kids just happened to draw a spot that sat right over a bluegill bedding area. Top fisherman, caught about 42 fish, including the bigfish - an 11oz bass. He took home two trophies, two rod/reel combos and the biggest smile you have ever seen. All this from a 50lb soaking wet 6 year old.
Can't wait till next year!
Sorry, no pictures to post. Seems as though the wife took all the film from the camera bag after vacation!
Tex
