Tournament – Cape Fear Disabled
On Friday, May 11, 2018, the 20th annual Cape Fear Disabled Sportsman’s Fishing Tournament was held off of the Kure Beach Pier. Hosted by the Got-Em-On Live Bait Club, this tournament brings the community together for the first half of the day to catch some fish and have an all-around good time. Mark LeBlanc, who has been running the tournament for the past 4 years but has also been a volunteer for the tournament for 12 or so years before taking over, stressed, “It’s not about us. It’s about the kids.”
This year, there were approximately 400 participants, aged 6 to 96 years old, and over 100 volunteers, ranging from members of the Got-Em-On Live Bait Club, to members of the community who just wanted to lend a hand and experience the beauty of this particular tournament. Local shops also got in on the action, with places like Britt’s Donuts donating goodies for everyone who came out.
In short, this tournament is more about people coming together and having a great time than the competitive side of fishing, though there are still categories to be won.
All types of fish were fair game in this tournament, as long as they were caught off the Kure Beach Pier. This year, there were a total of 118 fish caught in a variety of species, including black drum, whiting, flounder, and more. There were winning categories for the most fish caught and the biggest fish caught, with second, third, and fourth place prizes for the next heaviest fish.
Billy Best caught the biggest fish this year, a 2.5 lb. black drum. Then second place went to Tim Bryant for his 0.85 lb. flounder. In third was Nancy Fields with a 0.7 lb. whiting. Rounding out the winners for the weight category was Brandon Lewis in fourth place for his 0.65 lb whiting.
Billy Best weighed in the heaviest fish in this year’s Cape Fear Disabled Sportsman’s Fishing Tournament (hosted by the Got-Em-On Live Bait Club) with this 2.5 lb. black drum caught off of Kure Beach Pier.
Rebecca Silver caught the most fish this year, with a total of 9.
The awards ceremony was held in Ocean Front Park, where the founder of the tournament, Kathy Hicks, also received an appreciation award to acknowledge and recognize all she has done to bring this event to fruition.
Hicks had a vision two decades ago for a tournament where people with disabilities could come together for a day of fishing and fun. Since many of the participants have never held a fishing pole or seen the ocean, this is an amazing opportunity for them to have a beautiful experience and receive support from the local community.
This year, in addition to the winning prizes, 25 fishing poles were given to members of the crowd. Leblanc warmly noted how cool it was to see their faces light up, “So many smiles in such a short time.”
Leblanc, Hicks, and everyone else involved are already looking forward to next year’s tournament, which will be held on May 10, 2019.
