TrophyCatch Season 11 ends with award of bass boat package at tournament
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) TrophyCatch program wrapped up its 11th year, December 2, 2023, at the Bobby Lane High School Cup fishing tournament in Lakeland, Florida.
Youth angler Curtis Collins was selected as the winner (see photo on left) of the grand prize of a brand-new Phoenix bass boat package, in a reverse drawing of five randomly selected participants.
“Most of the fishing Curtis has done is from a pier or off our dock,” said his mother, Amy Collins. “So, it comes as no surprise that he has wanted a boat for a while. Several months ago, he decided he wanted to get his boating license. On Sunday he completed the boating license, but the even more interesting fact is that the very next day, Monday, we received word that Curtis was one of five finalists for the Trophy Catch boat!”
Curtis enjoyed a practice sit in the driver’s seat (see center photo) as the winner at the final drawing event. The boat package and giveaway was made possible by TrophyCatch conservation partners Phoenix Boats, powered by Mercury Marine, guided by Lowrance and anchored by Power-Pole Total Boat Control (see winner with prize donor representatives, photo on right).
TrophyCatch Hall of Fame Ceremony
On November 11, 2023, another celebratory event, the TrophyCatch Hall of Fame Ceremony, was held to celebrate the biggest catches of the 2023 season at the Bass Pro Shops, Daytona, Florida location.
Eleven anglers, who caught Hall of Fame bass weighing 13 pounds or more, were celebrated at the event, and each received a free replica mount of their giant catch.
Program participant Chad Dorland was crowned as Hall of Fame Champion for the heaviest approved catch of the season, a 14-pound, 1-ounce bass from Orange Lake.
About TrophyCatch
Because TrophyCatch is a catch-and-release program, all catches celebrated in the program continue to swim Florida’s waters, waiting to be caught again. While the prizes provide a fun incentive for anglers, the program's real payout is the data obtained by the program's submissions that helps guide the FWC’s bass research and management. This data continues to yield surprising new insights about Florida’s most popular freshwater sport fish.
TrophyCatch is a largemouth bass conservation program designed to promote the responsible catch, documentation and release of trophy-size bass, while rewarding anglers for their contributions to the fisherie's research and management. Your participation in TrophyCatch helps the FWC better understand and conserve Florida's freshwater fisheries.
For more information about the TrophyCatch program, email KP Clements at KP.Clements@MyFWC.com.
For information about fishing Florida’s most popular waters, see the FWC’s Freshwater Fishing Forecasts at this link: MyFWC.com/fishing/freshwater/sites-forecasts.