‘Kid-Pro’ derby looking to reel in parent volunteers

The first-ever “Kid-Pro Am” fishing tournament was held in conjunction with the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship last July, giving youngsters a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to fish with a pro.
Now organizers are hoping to expose the catch-and-release tourney–considered the only one of its kind in Canada connected to a major cash derby–more to the parents.
Besides the experience of fishing with a pro, the anglers aged 10-14 learned about casting methods, the different types of rods and reels, and what lures work best in different conditions.
Rick Socholotuk, director of tournament services for the FFCBC, said he would like to see more parents get involved in all aspects of the tourney to help ensure it goes off without a hitch.
The inaugural “Kid-Pro” tourney saw 26 boats take out 31 kids, much to the delight of organizers Bill Morgenstern and Socholotuk, who is hoping for an even bigger turnout this year of both kids and pros (willing to take precious time out of their pre-fishing regime).
For their efforts last year, each pro received a certificate on stage during the final weigh-in thanking them for their participation.
With an expected increase in participants this year, Socholotuk envisions more parent volunteers will be needed to ensure the tournament continues to be another big catch.
While the exact day of the tournament has not been decided yet, and is still more than four months away, Socholotuk said it’s never too early to start planning.
A newsletter has been in the works asking anglers to participate in this year’s “Kid-Pro” tournament, and what day would they prefer to run it.
Because the FFCBC will start run Thursday-Saturday this year, Socholotuk figure the “Kid-Pro” would go either on the Sunday or Monday of that week.
He said an exact date will be decided by response from the anglers.