June 15, 2022, Pittsgrove, NJ. The Ike Foundation® recently held its 7th Annual Ike’s Pro-Am Bass Tournament on the Chesapeake Bay in North East Maryland. Anglers from all over the region came out to support The Ike Foundation® and their mission to get more kids fishing and in the outdoors. It was a bright, beautiful day on the water but the fishing was said to be a little tough. With that said, the top five winners all had bags of over 17 lbs with the winners, Ewing and Riccio bagging 22.77 lbs. In the first place spot, they won the BassCat boat with a Yamaha motor as well as lots of other prizes, generously donated by sponsors of The Ike Foundation®. Those sponsors include Pro-Guide Batteries, Flambeau, Berkley, Mystery Tackle Box, The Bass University, Lowrance, Rod Warrior, RAM Mounts, Tackle Warehouse, TH Marine, Power-Pole and Rapala.
Not only was it an amazing day of fishing for the anglers competing in the Pro Am, it was really special to spend the day with kids at the Pro Am Kids event! We had children from the Boys and Girls Club and YMCA of North East, Maryland join us and over 35 volunteers from NJ, PA and MD came in to help us out! The kids caught a variety of species including perch, blue gill, and even catfish. Many of these kids were introduced to fishing for the first time that day and it was amazing to see the joy it brought them! Each child at the event went home with a brand new rod and reel, a Flambeau tackle box, an awesome bag of fishing goodies and, hopefully, a new found love of fishing.
Big smiles and big bass can be found on The Ike Foundation® Facebook and Instagram pages!
The two additional Youth Fishing Tournament Trail Dates are below and there are spots available for anglers and volunteers:
It is the hope of The Ike Foundation® that as participation grows, the tournaments will expand past the New Jersey/Delaware region. Youth anglers and boat captain volunters can learn more about The Ike Foundation® Youth Fishing Tournament Trail and register at https://theikefoundation.org/youth-tournament-trail/.
Special thanks goes to local South Jersey Walmart stores that donated fishing supplies for this event and future kids events hosted by The Ike Foundation®.