Fish For Life Tournament
Local anglers cast a line to help cancer patients, fund research Sixteen walleye teams and 19 bass teams participated in the inaugural Fish for Life bass and walleye tournament July 27 at the Youghiogheny Reservoir.
The charity tournament was for the benefit of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society of Southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Nearly $2,100 was raised for the Society, which was the big winner on the day. The Society spends 76 percent of every dollar raised for patient services and cancer research, so in the end everyone is a winner.
There were also big winners on the water as the top teams in each class won plaques and monetary prizes.
In the walleye class, the team of Jim Gynn and Dave Jenco took first place with three walleye weighing 10.07 pounds.
Second place went to Ryan and Bryan Riggar with three walleye weighing 9.16 pounds, and the duo of Bob Stone and Joe Sommers was third with two walleye that tipped the scale at 4.90 pounds.
Rich and Mark Fike, the 1996 Cabella’s National Walleye Champions, finished fourth with one walleye that weighed in at 4.85 pounds, enough to also win the Big Fish Award and the “lunker” pot.
Fifth place went to Paul Horvath and Allen Baird with one walleye weighing 4.13 pounds.
The team of Jake Fazenbaker and John Brewer captured honors in the bass division with a basket of six largemouths weighing 12.16 pounds.
Vernon and Dave Sines were second with six bass totaling 11.23 pounds.
Also in with six bass (7.83 pounds) for third place were Lee Nelson and Mark Burich, while Terry and Brad Weese also had six (6.77 pounds) to finish in fourth place
Rounding out the top five were the team of Jim Pocratsky and Bob Baker with four bass weighing 6.20 pounds.
The team of Will Brantner and William Brantner, Jr. landed the biggest bass of the day. Their lunker weighed 3.88 pounds.
In all, 40 bass and 16 walleye were weighed and measured.
The tournament was the brainchild of Scott and Debbie Gates. Debbie is a cancer survivor.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Coordinator Chris Phillips said, “Scott and Debbie called and said they wanted to do a fishing tournament because Debbie was a cancer survivor. They got in touch with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society because they had walked in our Light the Night Walk last year on a team called Prayers for Pappy, and they wanted to do something big this year. So they planned the tournament.
“We came up with a logo that was designed by Allen Lake Designs in Fairchance. We had a great deal of local support with monetary and merchandise donations.
“It’s the first year. We put it together in three months. We have a year to plan for next year, so it’s really going to grow, and I hope we’ll have a full field on both sides.”
She noted that the weather was perfect. It rained at 4 a.m., and then it got sunny and the clouds cleared out, making for a beautiful day on the lake.
Phillips then said, “It couldn’t have gone smoother today. The Army Corps of Engineers was very supportive.
“You can’t imagine how giving the people in our community and the surrounding communities are. Not just Fayette, even though that’s where the Light The Night Walk takes place in September, but all the surrounding communities down into West Virginia and Greene and Westmoreland counties supported the event.
“We had some youngsters out there, fathers and sons, and even some women fishing with us. It was nice to have a good representation across the board.”