CCA Florida STAR Awards New GMC Truck

CCA Florida STAR Awards New GMC Truck

The inaugural CCA Florida STAR Tournament presented by Yamaha got off to a fast start with three tagged reds landed in just the first week of action, and one caught before the tournament officially started. By the fourth week of STAR, there had been seven tagged redfish caught.
However, Jerry Bergeron, of the CCA Tampa Chapter, was the first to not only land one of the 120 tagged redfish released along the Florida Gulf coast, but also to be a CCA member and registered in the tournament. As the first official winner in CCA Florida STAR, Bergeron won a 2015 GMC 1500 crew cab pick-up truck provided by Conley Buick GMC valued at more than $40,000.
“It was an exciting first week to say the least,” said Brian Gorski, executive director of CCA Florida. “We knew it was just a matter of time before a registered angler caught one of those redfish, but the suspense kept building to see who would be the first lucky winner. We couldn’t be happier for Jerry.”
Bergeron renewed his CCA membership and registered for the Florida STAR Tournament on April 8, but had previously fished in the CCA Texas STAR Tournament and knew what was possible. He was on the hunt for a tagged red with his wife, Nancy Mach, in Cockroach Bay using live shrimp. He saw a tag as he was reeling in the fish, but was unsure if it was a research tag or a STAR tag. When he discovered what he’d caught, he made a frantic call to Tournament Director Leiza Fitzgerald.
“When I got the call he was so excited I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. So I wasn’t sure what had even happened,” said Fitzgerald. “Once we got the story, we were all too excited to speak!”
His STAR success is a particularly fitting reward for Bergeron, who recently battled cancer. Shortly after his last treatment, he bought a boat and fished his way from Tampa across the Florida Panhandle, across Louisiana and all the way down to Brownsville, Texas.
“My thought was that none of us know how much time we have left, and so I was going to make sure I spent as much time doing what I really enjoy as I possibly could,” he said. It was on that trip through Texas that he learned about the CCA STAR tournaments, but it was Capt. Mike Anderson of Reel Animals who reminded him the tournament was being offered for the first time in Florida this year.
Bergeron’s lucky catch on May 27 was followed by the capture of two other tagged reds in the same day, one in the Panhandle and the other in Pasco county. Both would have won the anglers a Hells Bay Waterman or Pathfinder 2200 TRS with custom trailer and Yamaha outboard if they had been registered in the tournament. Those angler’s misfortune means the next CCA member who is a registered angler to catch a tagged red can still win a boat/trailer/motor package.
“As much fun as it was to see Jerry claim his new truck, it is equally heartbreaking to explain to people who caught a tagged red but weren’t registered what they almost won,” said Fitzgerald. “We’d like to avoid those conversations altogether. So if you haven’t registered yet, go online and do it before you wet a line. We want to see more people like Jerry win these great prizes.”
The CCA Florida STAR tournament runs until Labor Day. Visit www.CCAFLSTAR.com to register or for a complete list of divisions, verification locations, and rules.