On November 7th the CBAF held its annual Toys for Troops’ Kids tournament on the Delta. About 500 toys were donated by the teams participating in the event as well other generous folks who were not fishing the tournament. It was an awesome day despite a very tough bite. It was all about honoring the Veterans currently serving in the military and their kids. Toys for Troops’ Kids is an organization that distributes new toys to local military bases where they are given to children whose parents are deployed overseas during Christmas to help insure the kids have a great Christmas. We are so grateful to all those who brought toys.
The emcee for the event was Dave Tencati, CBAF V.P. and Tournament Director. Our guest speaker was Master Gunnery Sergeant (retired) Bret Smith who shared about how God had preserved him and kept him strong during his various tours of duty in combat zones. Bret was honored with a special plaque by CBAF which signified our appreciation for all those who have served. We gave special recognition to all the men and women in the bass fishing community who have been or are currently in military service for our country. We are proud of them and appreciate their sacrifice.
The event was won by Zack Thompson with a five-fish limit weighing 22.4 lbs. Zack, who fished by himself, took a check for $1555 including a Big fish check for $370. Zack donated a large portion of his winnings back to CBAF for our Kids Bass Camp (Thank you Zack). His closest competitors were the team of Jason Cordiale and Cassandra Caron with 10.61 lbs. and finishing out the top three teams were Merl Nunes and Nick Welton with 9.25 lbs.
To give you an idea of how tough the bite was only 17 of the 42 teams weighed in. But that didn’t seem very important when they realized what this event was really all about.
Thanks to Russo’s Marina for being a great host and to Hook Line and Sinker for the hot coffee and making their tackle shop available for the fishermen in the morning. There were many others who made this event a great success and we thank all of you. We also want to give a big thank- you to Big Ed’s Bar-B-Q for donating his time and providing a great feast for all those attending.
