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Annual Children’s Fishing Tournament
By Toni Courtier
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Every year the first Saturday in June is scheduled for the Children’s Fishing Tournament with the weigh in and festivities held in Panacea’s Woolley Park. This year, on June 7th, the annual event will again start at 7:00 AM at the Port Panacea Marina. The last tournament fleet boat will leave the dock at 8:30 AM so don’t be late and don’t miss the boat! Children not going out on a family boat or with one of the fleet of volunteer Captains may fish from any safe location and bring their catch to Woolley Park.
 Weigh-in will begin at 10:00 AM and stop at 1:00 PM - NO EXCEPTIONS! Children must be in line before 1:00 PM in order for their fish to qualify. The two divisions are Fresh Water; which includes Bass, Pan Fish, and Catfish and then Saltwater: including White Trout, Speckled Trout, Spanish mackerel, Redfish, Flounder, and Whiting. Since this is an inshore event, no offshore, or reef species will be weighed. This means grouper, snapper, amberjack, etc. will not qualify. Absolutely NO Sharks, NO Rays, NO Hard Head, and NO Sail Catfish will be considered.
Enough about the rules; here’s the fun part…EVERY CHILD and that includes all participants from the ages of 3 to 15, will receive a t-shirt and goody bag as well as a hot dog lunch with chips and a drink. There will be games galore and trophies too. Last year we also gave away tackle boxes and fishing poles. The big giveaway is a trip to Wild Adventures for a family of 4 and includes some spending cash and a parking pass. Pretty cool for just getting up early on a Saturday. The way to win that is to just show up and have the winning ticket so there’s nothing fishy about it.
As is true with so many volunteer events we are always looking for sponsors. Your contribution of $100 will help ensure the success of this occasion and we’ll even print your name or company name on the back of the t-shirt! Enough thanks cannot be bestowed upon Ben Withers for his continued and unwavering, strong support of our annual tournament. He truly is a reason we are able to continue offering this wonderful fun day to all the children of our community. Thank you Ben.
Please send your contribution to:
Wakulla Children’s Fishing Tournament
PO Box 349
Panacea, FL 32346-0349
Oh, it has to be said… the alternate date is the following Saturday, June 14th if it rains on the first Saturday, June 7th. To inquire about becoming a volunteer fleet boat captain or for additional information you may call Steve Carlson at (850) 570-2146. Hope to see you there!
Photo courtesy of Jo Barksdale.
This article originally published on April 14, 2008.
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