October in Central Florida gives anglers a cool experience. Fall arrives with shorter days bringing cooler air and water temperatures which get the fish moving and biting. It also means that the 13th Annual Central Florida Shad and Crappie Derby is coming soon! With the crazy COVID year to date we are hoping to top the largest number of registered anglers. Since fishing is one of the best ways to social distance and stay away from crowds, we expect to have another stellar year. The last three years we have had more than 1,100 anglers register and fish the Derby. Checking in with the local fishing tackle stores, they say that they’ve never been as busy as they are now.
Safe light Monday November 1st begins the 13th Annual Shad and Crappie Derby for four months ending Monday February 28th at Sundown. For the die-hard anglers who want to be fishing on Nov. 1st we are having an “Early Registration” meeting at 6:30 pm on Thursday October 28th, to be hosted at Celery City Craft Beer Garden in downtown Sanford, located at 114 Palmetto Ave, Sanford, 32771. This will be an outdoor event and very casual as always! All anglers are required to have the Derby Photo- Token in their pics they submit and to measure fish on the official ruler – grab your photo token and ruler at the early registration or at a sign-up location near you. For the anglers that attended the Awards Event last year, Celery City Craft Beer Garden is the same host location.
Central Florida Shad and Crappie Derby is proud to announce Academy Sports + Outdoors will be the Presenting Sponsor! We are excited to have them aboard – Academy Sports + Outdoors will help make this season a huge success, they are a big reason this is a “FREE” community event. We are always looking for product sponsors to award our winning anglers, there is still time to get involved. All of the prizes we give away come from local businesses and fishing industry partners. This year we are shooting for $5000 PLUS in prizes and gift certificates to be awarded to the winners. Last seasons’ winners walked away from the awards event with huge smiles on their faces and more stuff than they could carry to the car in one trip. Tell your friends and family to come and join us because the DERBY IS COMING!
