Matt Divine and his wife, Rebecca, were sitting in their Lake Clarke Shores home as their kids
Josh, 10 and Ceci, 8, were getting ready for the end of the school year and summer vacation. Matt observed that the kids were becoming much too comfortable with their devices. He wanted to get them out of the house as he contemplated their summer and decided he was going to do something about it. The family discovered the inaugural Lake Worth Lagoon Fishing Challenge, which was a perfect fit! “The competition aspect of the tournament, and the internet-based leaderboard made you eager to get points on the board,” said Matt. The family would look at the weather and tides to determine when was the best time to fish each week, and then plan their week. They ended up fishing all over the lagoon, from North Palm to the Central area and into Boynton and Lantana. Matt said the kids really enjoyed catching different species that they had not seen before. They would focus on strong tides, both incoming and outgoing, when there was a lot of action. It built their confidence quickly. They like the 24/7
prospect of the tournament. You could go anytime, just to get out for a little bit. They particularly liked the overall division – where any fish counts!
Well if you missed out on last year, it’s back and bigger and better than ever! This FREE tournament has been extended, to give everyone more opportunity to win more prizes, have more fun and catch more fish! The dates are May 26th to July 9th. Registration will be open before May 1st – so get that taken care of right away so you are ready to go at www.ianglertournament.com/node/1108. You take pictures of your fish from the Lake Worth Lagoon and submit them along with information about your catch to qualify for weekly prize drawings, as well as the overall contest awards. Imagine, every week that you fish and submit a catch photo, you could win a prize! You can also win a prize for going fishing and not catching a fish, simply report your fishing activity. There are two separate divisions, youth is age 5 to 15 and adult anglers are age 16 and older.
Photos must clearly include the assigned challenge identifier and the whole fish to receive points. Anglers will receive one (1) point for each individual fish caught, logged and verified during the challenge. To receive points, anglers must log the following details with each photo submitted:
- date of catch 2) time of catch 3) species caught 4) location of catch 5) length of catch.
All catches and species identifications will be verified by a panel of fishing experts prior to awarding of points and are subject to change. Photos that do not meet the requirements as
provided will not be eligible for points.
Prizes will be awarded for youth and adult divisions in the following categories: · Overall (top total points) · Sportfish (top total points for the following species: snook, red drum, spotted seatrout, tarpon and bonefish)
Participants are encouraged to submit fishing activity even if they do not catch a fish. When someone reports that they went fishing, but didn’t catch a fish, that still provides valuable information related to the environment and fishing activity. Eligibility in random prize drawings is not dependent on catching fish. Catch and release is encouraged, along with good fish handling practices.
The tournament is intended to get all us of involved in collecting and submitting information about our lagoon. If you are involved with youth groups, whether through sports, school or church, spread the word about this great, fun way for kids to join in. Help them get registered, or have them help you get registered! Let’s all unplug this summer and enjoy the beautiful outdoors and our Lake Worth Lagoon fishing hole!
We recently published an article about all the improvements in the Lagoon, so if you have your February edition, pull it out. There are some great tips in there for areas to consider fishing. If don’t have a copy, here is a link to the article “Get out on the Lake Worth Lagoon, the ICW or other Estuaries”
The West Palm Beach Fishing Club is donating incredible prizes worth almost $2000 for the tournament. The six weekly drawing winners will be awarded a Penn Battle II 3000 rod and reel combo valued at $130. ENGEL coolers as well as Penn Battle II 3000 rod and reel combos will be the prizes awarded to the individual category winners and the overall drawing winner.
The Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management, and its partners in the Lake Worth Lagoon Initiative, collaborated with the Snook & Gamefish Foundation and the West Palm Beach Fishing Club to create the Lake Worth Lagoon Fishing Challenge. Following the success of the inaugural 4-week-long event held in 2016, the challenge was expanded to run from May 26 through July 9 in 2017. Visit http://www.pbcgov.org/erm/lwli/FishingChallenge/index.htm for all the details, including rules and helpful fishing links.