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A New STAR Rises


Get ready for the inaugural CCA Florida STAR Tournament By Jim Williams, Chairman Emeritus, CCA Florida


T


HE CCASTATEWIDE TOURN AMENT AND ANGLER’S RODEO (STAR) has been a summertime staple for anglers in Texas


and Louisiana for many years, and on May 23, anglers in Florida will finally have an opportunity to get in on the action with CCA Florida’s inaugural STAR Tournament. Thanks to the successful


STAR blueprint developed by CCA Texas and CCA Louisiana, Florida has a proven formula, but as Florida’s STAR Tourn a ment Director Leiza Fitzgerald states, Florida is putting its own spin on the tournament. Like the other STAR tournaments,


the CCA Florida STAR will run from Memorial Day through Labor Day, allowing for 108 days of competition. By catching one of 80 tagged redfish, anglers could win a pick-up truck, Contender 22 Sport, Pathfinder 2200TRS, Hell’s Bay Waterman and many other great prizes. Other division prizes in the CCA Florida STAR will include col- lege scholarships, Power Pole shallow water anchors, Shimano fishing tackle, Raymarine electronics, Costa Sunglasses, gift cards — nearly $500,000 worth of prizes in all. And perhaps most exciting of all, youth anglers are eligible to win a share of $100,000 in scholarships. The Youth Division includes kids ages 6 to 17 and will award at least 12 college scholarships. Youth Division species


8 KELLEIGH GORSKI


CCA Florida also worked with the


Snook and Gamefish Foundation to create


its own state-of-the-art smart phone app that will allow


anglers to enter fish right from the boat.


include cobia, speckled trout, snook, sheepshead, jack crevalle and ladyfish, giving even the youngest anglers the opportunity to compete for scholarships. By working with the Florida Fish


and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the Florida STAR has added a


www.joincca.org


few unique features of its own, such as the Conser - vation Division that will help FWC study Florida’s fish- eries. FWC’s research arm, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI), is rearing the redfish that will be tagged and released on Florida’s west coast in late May. Each fish caught will help further the science of fisheries management and conservation, with the hopes of ultimately improving future hatchery efforts.


Conservation is the name of the game, and in the Conservation Division anglers will record and share data about all of their catches to give FWC even more information to better man- age the resource. CCA Florida also worked with the


Snook and Gamefish Foundation to create its own state-of-the-art smart phone app that will allow anglers to enter fish right from the boat. The Catch-and-Photo format is another new wrinkle that allows all fish that are caught to be eligible for prizes. Best of all, prizes are not awarded based on the largest fish of each species. The Open Category, complimented by cate- gories for kayaks, fly, ladies, guides and youth, and the Guide Division, which will award prizes for simply signing up STAR entrants, are other distinctive features of the Florida STAR. The licensed Guides Division is designed to recruit more participants


TIDE


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