FLW Tour pros participate in charity bass tourney, oversee fishing clinic for Florida-based Boys and Girls club - Major League Fishing

FLW Tour pros participate in charity bass tourney, oversee fishing clinic for Florida-based Boys and Girls club

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FLW Tour pros recently volunteered their time participating in the Channing Crowder Charity Bass Tournament. The tournament raised money for the local Broward County Boys and Girls clubs.
February 3, 2014 • Allie Gibbs • Archives

Castrol team pro David Dudley and his team proudly show off their catch during the inaugural Channing Crowder Charity Bass Tournament.Last Friday, FLW anglers volunteered their time to come and fish alongside sponsors for the inaugural Channing Crowder Charity Bass Tournament. The tournament raised money for the local Broward County Boys and Girls clubs through sponsor boats and a silent auction. Takeoff was located at the Everglades Holiday Park and, although it was a tough day out on the water, the winning bag weighed in at 32 pounds.

The weigh-in was held at Ron Burgeron’s Ranch. FLW coordinated the weigh-in with tournament directors Chris Hoover and Bill Taylor to ensure that everything ran smoothly. The Florida Wildlife Commission was responsible for the fish release.

Keystone Light team pro Chad Grigsby prepares to depart the marina with his team during the inaugural Channing Crowder Charity Bass Tournament.Participating FLW Tour pros included: Zach Caudle, Chad Grigsby, David Dudley, Philip Jarabeck, Mike Surman, Darrel Robertson, Jeff Gustafson, Jacob Wheeler, Jim Tutt, Dustin Grice, Charlie Evans, Lionel Botha and Rich Dalby. Overall, the tournament went really well and the FLW team did a great job. Castrol team pro Mike Surman coordinated the event.

Castrol team pro Mike Surman takes some time out to help children from the local Broward County Boys and Girls clubs hone their fishing skills.On Saturday morning, 70 children from local Broward County Boys and Girls clubs arrived at C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines for a fishing day with FLW pros. Castrol pros Mike Surman, Philip Jarabeck, David Dudley and Darrel Robertson, as well as Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre and FLW Tour pro Clark Wendlandt were all in attendance to teach the kids about fishing. Rods and reels were donated by Gary Waingrow – a local angler who puts on various kids fishing tournaments – while Surman donated all the tackle.

Before the children arrived, Robertson pinched the barbs on the fishing hooks to keep any potential accidents at a minimum. Thankfully the kids were only hooked on fishing when they left and not each other’s poles! The kids were divided up into groups of 12 and each group was paired with an angler. Surman gave each group a crash course in fishing safety before letting them loose on the banks.

Members of the the local Broward County Boys and Girls club prepare to get some fishing lessons from FLW Tour pros.It was a hot morning, but the kids were all very respectful and thoroughly enjoyed the morning. Once the groups of kids and anglers claimed their spots on the bank, each angler gave a lesson in casting. However, it didn’t take long for the morning to turn into a clinic on how to get your bait out of a tree or how to fix a bird’s nest in your reel.

After fishing for a couple hours, it was time to head back to the pavilion where each kid left with a goody bag containing a hat, poster, FLW trading cards and baits. Quite a few of the kids mentioned that they couldn’t wait to come back to the park with a parent to fish some more. Overall it was a great morning and everyone had an enjoyable time.

To view all the photos from the event, click here.