JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It is always quite a sight when a junior angler comes to the dock to weigh a fish that is bigger than he or she is. However, it is not all about weighing the biggest fish at the annual Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Junior Angler Tournament, it is about so much more.
"The smiles are priceless," said tournament director Steve Thompson. "The time that they are out on the boat is so important to the future of our sport. I remember when my kids were just small and taking them out to fish, there is nothing like it."
More than 70 boats with 173 junior anglers on them left Sisters Creek Marina Tuesday morning for the tournament. The "Sweat Equity" out of St. Augustine was the first boat to weight fish and all five junior anglers on board caught at least one fish including 10-year old Zoe Lacovara.
"I just heard the line go whoosh! and we all took turns reeling it in but I got it in, said Zoe. "It was pretty hard. It took me like 9 minutes just to get it close to the boat."
11-year old Giancarlo Negron was also on board the "Sweat Equity" and caught the biggest kingfish on board at more than 13 pounds. He said that everyone was excited when they brought it on board.
"We were all high-fiving and fist bumping and after I got so tired that I threw a bean bag down and took a nap," said Negron.
There was more celebration aboard the "Mega Bite" out of Jacksonville Beach when 10-year old Emma Pugh brought the early leader in the tournament onto the boat, a king that weighed in at 32.65 pounds.
"We were just trolling along and we heard the line start going and so we started reeling it in. We fought it for a long time and when we finally got it to the boat, it was a big one," said Pugh.
It is all about family on board the "Mega Bite" as Emma's father Greg Pugh told us. He won the main tournament in the mid-90's and said this week of fishing is a big deal to him.
"Emma is our youngest. We have two other kids and it is just a good time to be out on the water. She is a water-holic to begin with, so we all just enjoy being in the ocean."
It is not all father-daughter bonding at the Junior Angler tournament. Kim Platt has taken her two kids fishing since "they could barely stand."
"I started fishing with my dad when I was seven years old." said Platt. "I'm just glad that both my kids get to enjoy the same experience. It is a great time to spend with your family and teach them that fishing is good. Also it keeps them out of trouble."