One hundred-fifty enthusiastic anglers joined Florida Oceanographic and Florida Sportsman Magazine as champions for the environment in the 7th annual Florida Oceanographic Challenge. This family-friendly, catch-and-photo event promotes responsible recreational fishing, and is for the benefit of Florida Oceanographic.
This year's tournament was dedicated to the memory of Zachary Pardo, a young man who loved the river and fishing. He also enjoyed participating in this tournament. Zachary, 18, died April 25. Many of his friends and family shared in this year's event. Sixteen-year-old Robin Ernst performed the touching song she wrote for her cousin Zach.
Camaraderie and friendly competition along with responsible angling and conservation are benchmarks of the tourney. At the awards picnic all entrants 12 and under received a rod and reel from Fish Florida, funded by the Fish Florida license plate. New tournament T-shirts, designed by Drew Wickstrom, and sponsored by John Pierson's Toyota of Stuart were provided to all entrants.
Rick Ankiel won the top prize for the
TreasureSlam Championship. Wyatt Pearson took the top honors in the
Youth division, followed by Paul M. Gable in the second spot and Baylor Bullock in third. Bradley Redington won the
17 & under raffle of an Airhead Viper tow-tube donated by Neely Marine Service. Then Bradley drew several more names of winners; each received a coupon for a free pizza from Papa John's.
During the awards picnic over 200 anglers and guests listened to the music of Jerry Tillman & friends. The crew enjoyed pizza and wings from Papa John's, watermelon & Susan Starr's exceptional shrimp fritters. Drinks were also provided. Additional sponsors included AT&T Yellow Pages, Gran Park Self-Storage, Southern Eagle Distributors, West Marine, Matt King/Northern Trust, Sea Tow, Penn Reels, Blooming Freedom, Snook Nook, Crowder Rods, DOA Lures, Red Tail Hawk Lures, Jordan Fields PA, plus many local tackle shops, charter captains, and local merchants. A
silent auction and raffles added to the excitement.
Visit our website for a complete list of winners and sponsors:
www.fos-cc.org.