The 2nd annual Lake Worth Lagoon Fishing Challenge, a citizen-science fishing tournament started on May 26th and ended on July 9th. Participating angler’s youth category was for ages 5 to 15 and adult category for 16 and older. Anglers recorded the location (within LWL), size, genus/species, day/time of their catch, including a photo for fish ID verification to receive the top angler awards.
The six weeks of the tournament bracketed the end of the school year, summer vacation, Father’s Day weekend and the notorious 4th of July celebrations on the Lake Worth Lagoon. The water and air temperatures where high, but the devoted anglers and their families were regularly logging catches!
There was a slight increase in the number of anglers this year, however, a significant increase in the number of fish caught and identified. Some species where triple the numbers!
The iAngler app, provided by the Snook and Gamefish Foundation closed the “leaderboard” for anglers to view their status and position on Thursday, July 6, the tournament closed on Sunday, July 9th at midnight. The “unknown” sparked a healthy competition of the last effort fishing days with a high number of catches. Anglers arriving at the awards event were anxious to know who WON!
Several PBC ERM Fisheries Biologists (Eric Anderson, Senior Environmental Analyst, Jenny Baez, Environmental Analyst, Matt Mitchell, Environmental Program Supervisor) verified the fish genus/species, downloaded and sorted all the catch data to produce graphs and area maps. This data will be saved and compiled with past years to provide valuable fisheries information to the scientists and management as they continue to plan, create and monitor restoration projects in the LWL. The scientists presented the awards and shared their experiences verifying the data.
The culmination of the Challenge ended with an Awards Ceremony hosted by the West Palm Beach Fishing Club. Awards were given to the top anglers, game fish category, weekly awards and the overall award just for “fishing the lagoon”. Other door prizes where randomly given out; everyone left a “winner”.
It was a community and family event that was a “WIN – WIN – WIN”. A win for families spending time together fishing and enjoying the Lake Worth Lagoon; A win for the professionals in the field that can receive important data that is associated with their enhancement and restoration projects in the Lake Worth Lagoon; A Win for partners/sponsors that collaborate and join to create an event that benefits all. We look forward to continued coordination with our partners.
It’s now time to evaluate the struggles and successes of the 2017 LWL Fishing Challenge to prepare for the 2018 LWL FC that will no doubt exceed our expectations! If you missed out on this year’s Challenge, visit the website, www.lwli.org/FishingChallenge and plan to take part next year. You will be glad you did!