These big kings were caught by Celtic Knots with Capt. Steve Fritzson.
It’s that time of year again to dust off the rods and reels for the 25th Anniversary Sebastian Exchange Club Foundation’s (SECF) Blue Water Open Charity Offshore Tournament. With such a special anniversary, there will be many surprises.
Over the previous 24 years the tournament has raised more than $567,000, all of which has gone back to the community and the causes SECF supports.
The Exchange Club is all about the prevention of child abuse as well as supporting many area youth-oriented services and organizations. A few of these are Boys & Girls Clubs of Indian River County, Youth Guidance, Shiloh Youth Ranch, CASTLE, Sebastian Soccer, Sebastian River High School Crew, and the list goes on!
This year’s tournament will be held again at Capt. Hiram’s Resort on Indian River Drive in Sebastian. On June 1, there will be a captain’s meeting and party, starting with registration at 5 p.m. and the captain’s meeting at 6 p.m. This is a great party and an added benefit to the actual tournament. There will be all kinds of drawings as well as a live auction. We have an awesome shirt designed for this year’s tournament, which will be available for purchase.
On Saturday, June 2, fishing starts with lines in at 6 a.m. The weigh in starts at 2 p.m., with a cutoff of 5 p.m. If you haven’t been to one of these exciting events, now is the time. Fishing is predicted to be fantastic this year, and watching fishermen bring in some monster fish is very exciting. They will be vying for a chance to win part of a guaranteed $19,000 purse.
The four main-board payouts will be for grouper, kingfish, wahoo and dolphin. Payouts for the four categories are:
1st place-$1,250, plus a 25th anniversary bonus of $250;
2nd place-$600, plus a 25th anniversary bonus of $150;
3rd place-$400, plus a 25th anniversary bonus of $100;
4th place-$250, plus a 25th anniversary bonus of $50.
Some of the other divisions include Junior and Lady Angler. Along with the main board, there is a $1,000 prize for the largest Cobia and Amberjack. But wait… there’s more! The William Knapstein Memorial award is an additional $1,000 for the largest grouper. This is donated by his family in his memory. And… there is a bonus board payout of $200, plus a 25th anniversary bonus of $30 for the next 10 places knocked off the main board.
So bring the kids, come on out to Capt. Hiram’s June 1-2 for some great fun and a chance to support good causes.
For more information, visit www.bluewateropen.com or call Michael Natale at 772-664-0525 or event chair Eva Chapman at 772-783-5822.