Big Dog Fat Cat Fishing Tournament - Big catches hauled in

by Bill Wummer on 2 Aug 2014 Captain Bill Wummer surpassed his prior four-year fundraising efforts for various Palm Beach non-profit organizations at the 2014 Big Dog Fat Cat KDW Fishing Tournament. With 170 boats participating, the tournament held at Palm Beach Shore's Sailfish Marina paid out $50,000 in cash and prizes-including a Loadmaster Trailer-and $4,000 each to the Big Dog Ranch Rescue, Riviera Beach Maritime Academy and Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center.

The $10,000 Grand Prize was earned by a 45.5 pound Kingfish caught by the Native Son fishing team. The $5,000 first prize Aggregate prize went to Team Pennyless/Loadmaster for its 123.3-pound weigh-in.

The annual event is part of a trio of tournaments that comprise the new King of the South Championship Series and draws fishing teams from across South Florida. Sailfish Marina provides an excellent backdrop for a variety of parties and street festivals hosted over the weekend, including the post-tournament awards dinner and ceremony, with valuable silent auction prizes and raffles awarded throughout the evening.

The sponsor list is a who's who of the fishing industry, including Contender, Jupiter, Sea Hunter, Viking, Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County, Boating South Florida, Plantation Boat Mart, CBI, Tito's Vodka, Corona and Admiral Nelson's Rum among many others. Captain Wummer's sponsors from his own SKA Fishing Team, Spiced Rum III, are also involved, including Yamaha, Tuppen's Marine and Tackle, Loadmaster Trailers, J Camm Luhrs, United K9 Special Patrol, Medical Center of the Palm Beaches, Gordon & Donor PA, QB Law, Ocean LED and Latham Marine.

'I am so grateful for the support of ALL the people who come out to help at this event!' says Wummer, 'We all love to fish, but we are aware of supporting those less fortunate including the disabled and abandoned or mistreated animals. This year, we added the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy which in its eighth year is training high school student for jobs in the marine industry; we consider that a valuable resource in our community.'

The date for the 2015 Big Dog Fat Cat tournament has already been set for July 11th, so mark your calendars now and don't miss the most fun, fund raising event of the season. For more information contact Capt. Bill Wummer (bwummer@bellsouth.net)or visit the website.