Fishing tournament sends kids to camp

In the wee, wee hours (3 a.m.) of Saturday morning, Norm Morgan was out at Bidwell launch ramp anticipating the arrival of bass fishermen. Little did he know how many would actually arrive! It was The Salvation Army of Oroville’s first-ever bass fishing tournament, held on beautiful Lake Oroville. This event was put together by Morgan, an advisory board member and avid fisherman who managed to assemble various entities which helped make this event a big success.

Fifty-three boats entered the tournament, which meant 106 fishermen were out on the lake anticipating the “big catch.” The winners of this event, Kelly Eagleton and Chris Spade, received $760, which was calculated as a 90% payout from the funds paid by entrants. In total, 10 boats received monetary prizes.

“We also had prizes for the top three biggest bass caught” reported Captain Jim Gallop, corps officer. “We wanted to make sure that we had the participation of some of the best fishermen in California!”

The primary reason for the tournament was to raise money for the Army’s children’s camp. The Salvation Army of Oroville hopes to send at least 20 children to camp this year. To do this, they need to raise at least $3,000. “With the great success of the fishing tournament, we were able to cut that amount down substantially. We made over $1,200 from door prize ticket sales,” said Gallop.

A suggested donation of $1 per ticket was made. With that, the fishermen made great contributions towards winning prizes which were given to The Salvation Army before the tournament.

“While we are still hoping and praying for the extra monies needed for camp this summer, we are extremely grateful for the support given by the fishermen, as well as local businesses. They made this a success, and we hope they had a great time too!!”