OCARC holds another successful fishing tournament

The OCARC conducted its 34th fishing tournament this past weekend. It was another successful event for the association.

There were 230 participants that entered the OCARC Fishing Tournament in the waters around Orange County with 71 of the participants being younger than 16 years old. "That's what we always like to have is a lot of kids out here so they'll be fishing in the future," John Thomas the Director of OCARC announced.

This year's tournament was done in remembrance of two long-time supporters who passed away in the last year Dickie Colburn and Tom Windham. Dickie Colburn was the master of ceremony for the tournament when it started, and he supported OCARC in the columns he wrote on fishing for local newspapers for years. Thomas reminded, "He was just a great person. We are at a loss for his support and knowledge with his passing."

Tom Windham painted the designs for OCARC's fishing tee shirts for the last two decades. "We've lost two great people, great participants in the OCARC that have helped over the years. God bless them, they were two great people," Thomas acknowledged.

Several hundred people gathered at the City of Orange's Riverside Pavilion for the weigh in and award presentations on Saturday evening. All youngsters that fished were given a trophy. Winners in first through third place were awarded cash and trophies in multiple categories.

One of the top prize categories was the "Tom Windham" Bass sponsored by Dominion which awarded $750 to Riley Bray for his 3.59 lb. bass he caught. Larry Vincent and Jim Foster were prize winners for second and third.

In the "Stan Armstrong" Redfish sponsored by International Paper the winner was Casey Peco for his catch of a 7.73 lb. fish earning him $750. Second and third place went to Keith Barclay and Landon Capps.

Jeremiah Jordan caught a 4.10 lb. fish to win the Big Speckled Trout prize of $750 sponsored by Dow. Xander Beritiech finished second and Louie Peco was third.

In the Flounder category the winner was John Freeman who caught a 4.74 lb. fish which won him $300. Jeremiah Jordan and David Fairchild were second and third places.

The Sarge's Catfish winner was Alex Jackson with his catch of 19.97 lb. winning him $100. Second was Joseph Jackson and third was Milton Newton.

Thomas thanked all the people in Orange County for supporting OCARC over the years. He promised there would more fun fishing tournaments in the years to come.