Tournament seeks to lure ‘Little Bobbers’
While adult anglers vie for cash rewards, the main focus for this year’s Bobby Holloway Jr. Memorial Fishing Tournament by organizers will be the kids.
Dubbing the youth participants as “Little Bobbers” organizers of the event are doing their best to make sure that every child who wants to fish will have an opportunity to do so.
“We realize that not all of the children who want to participate have parents with boats so, we have made sure that anyone who wants to come out for the day will have a ride out on the water with the best supervision possible. We have enlisted the help of six professional anglers who will be happy to have kids aboard and try their best to make sure they have a successful outing,” said youth coordinator Darsey Stearns-Smith. “This tournament is dedicated to Bobby Holloway Jr., a young man who loved the outdoors and fishing in particular, so it is only right that every kid who wants to fish during the tournament can do so.”
According to Smith, this year, her committee has already secured the services of the guides who will not only provide room on their boats for children, but also will assist them in locating, hooking and landing fish.
This year’s tournament is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 26, out of the Lee County Fisherman’s Co-op on Maria Drive in St. James City, however, a special evening prior to the event has been set aside just for the children who will be participating.
“We will be holding a special Little Bobbers Kids Captain meeting at Southwest Capital Bank on March 22. We will be treating the kids to hotdogs or food from Mel’s Mullet Wagon and we have four activities lined up just for the kids,” said Bobby Board member Elsie Stearns. “We are hoping to have a great turn-out for the kids and this evening devoted to those who have registered will be a fun time for everyone.”
According to Smith, the Little Bobbers meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and professional anglers will be present to give lessons on fish identification, casting a rod and a cast net and knot tying. Each registered child also will receive a captains bag and once the teams have formed they will pick a name for their team. In addition, each child will receive a rod and reel and those who participated in last year’s tournament will receive a tackle box. The Little Bobbers must be ages 7 through 12 and permission slips and registration forms can be acquired by calling Darsey Stearns-Smith at 340-3492.
On the day of the tournament, everyone is welcome to attend the final weigh-in at the Fishermen’s Co-op when the last fish reach the scales at 3:30 p.m. During the weigh-in, several auction items will be offered as well as a barbecue and fish fry. The food served at the end of the tournament will be prepared and served by volunteers and dinner during the Captains meeting will be provided by the Lazy Flamingo Restaurant in Bokeelia.
Proceeds from the Bobby Holloway Jr. Memorial Tournament have totaled more than $200,000 and has benefited the Pine Island community in many ways including scholarships for college-bound students, donations to the Pine island Elementary School, Little League, children’s summer programs, Pine Island Fire Explorers, youth swimming lessons, the FISH Christmas Basket Brigade and more.
For more information about the Bobby Holloway Jr. Memorial Fund or the fishing tournament, visit hollowaytourney.org