Kid-Pro tourney catching interest

Both novice and the pro anglers alike joined forces this past Sunday at the Sorting Gap Marina to participate in the Kid-Pro fishing tournament.
Now, in its third year, its clear interest is still growing.
“When we started three years ago, we only had 13 boats. This year we had 35 kids out on the water and that is a record,” enthused Rick Socholotuk, Kid-Pro organizer at the end of the day.
The tournament went from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., beginning with a triple start–meaning the boats left in numerical order. Each child had a number and the lower the number the earlier the boat left.
“If a pro has two kids in it, then it will leave when the lowest number is called,” explained Socholotuk with less than a minute until the boats depart. “This tournament is a paper tournament, meaning the team will measure all fish and write them down, then pick the three largest fish that are caught to pick the winner,” he added.
And for the children that participated in the tournament, it would be the experience of a lifetime.
“All the kids that fished in the tournament during the last 3 years are ineligible for the next Kid-Pro fishing tournament, but I hope you guys all get together and do this again,” said Socholotuk after the event was over.
Support for the event came not only from the organizers of the event, but also from the participants involved.
“It is really great that Fort Frances is doing this for the kids,” said Dave Lindsay of team #9, who generously doubled the size of his team when a pro failed to show up for the event.
Jimmy Klick shared the same type of enthusiasm. “Hey, if you guys get the kids out here next year we will find the boats for them,” he remarked.
A tournament such as Kid-Pro is a learning experience for the kids as well as the anglers.
“I think a lot of the anglers were more hyped up than the kids were,” chuckled Socholotuk. “Believe it or not, these fishermen are out to get their names in lights like ‘I caught the big fish’,” he added.
Socholotuk stressed these fisherman use this tournament as a practice run for the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship later in the week.
“Every adult fisherman in the ‘Kid-Pro tourney’ is participating in the Fort Frances Bass Championship. Many of the fisherman use the Kid-Pro to make sure all systems are working with their boat,” said Socholotuk.
The winner of the tournament was announced yesterday at the Parade of Boats. Team #13, Mike Gerstner, Tom Pearson and Eric Ardon won with the Kid-Pro tournament with a 16.5 inch bass.
They were presented with the award yesterday evening at the Sorting Gap Marina.