Grand Gulf Bass Club spearheads Lake Chotard benefit tournament
Temperatures rose into the upper 90s on Aug. 20, turning Lake Chotard into a sweat-inducing sauna. But boats were still jostling for position at Chotard Landing Resort in the afternoon heat, eyeing the weigh-in results and trying to decide if they should weigh in a fish.
Those anglers were vying for hourly payouts, but what they were really doing was raising money for the area’s Special Olympics athletes.
“This is very important,” Area 10 Special Olympics Director Pauline Vessell said of the benefit tournament.” This is our only fund raiser for our area; they raise all the money we use during the year.”
This year marked the 15th year of the event, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for local Special Olympics athletes. Anglers raised $12,000 during this year’s tournament, said tournament organizer Ronnie McGowan.
“This pays for charter buses, uniforms, travel,” Area 10 Special Olympics’ Sandy Hearn said. “If it wasn’t for this (tournament), we couldn’t do what we do.”
This was a record year for the tournament, which attracted 81 boats to handily beat last year’s record of 64 boats.
Anglers begin fishing at safe light and can weigh one fish in each hour. The heaviest fish of each hour earned money for the angler who landed it.
Unlike most tournaments, however, anglers’ entry fees are not used for payouts.
“We have sponsorships …and those merchants and businesses in Vicksburg and surrounding areas, they’re the ones who pay this payout here,” said McGowan, who along with his Grand Gulf Bass Club members spearheads the event each year. “Their … sponsorship into the Area 10 Special Olympics is what makes this possible.”
Such donations allow the $100 entry fee paid by each team to go directly to the Area 10 Special Olympics.
“That means this year $8,100 goes to the Area 10 Special Olympics right off the top,” McGowan said.
Other money is raised by raffling off a boat, sold to the organization at cost by Mississippi Marine of Brookhaven, and collecting donations for food served during the event.
“We feed these guys, we give away door prizes, and all of that is paid for by our sponsors,” McGowan said.
There also are activities for those with special needs, including bank fishing.
This year’s event was different from years past in that the facilities were still recovering from the record Mississippi River flooding, which really did a number of Chotard Landing Resort.
Owner Jerry Johnson said that, despite the damage, he was pleased to have his facility serve as the headquarters of the event again.
“It’s a good cause,” Johnson said. “It’s for those children who have special needs, and it allows (parents) to send them to Special Olympics tournaments.”
He feels so strongly about the cause that he gives up the opportunity to capitalize on the tournament, even this year when the money could be used to put his business back together.
“It’s not a money thing for me,” Johnson said. “I donate everything I make, even the launch fee I collect, back to them.
“It’s a loss for me, financially. It’s a gain for me in the way I feel after it’s over with.”
And McGowan said there are many anglers who have fished the event annually for years simply because of they share Johnson’s sentiments.
“This really wouldn’t be possible without these fishermen here,” he said. “I mean, we’ve got 50 to 55 boats that these guys have been here for years. I can count on them every year to be here.”
Participating is just a no-brainer for anglers like Paul Powers, who goes by “Brown Egg” on the MS-Sportsman.com reports forum.
“I like to fish. I like to have the kids outdoors,” Powers said. “I fished the tournament five years ago with my little nephew, and every year we make it a habit to fish the tournament.
“It’s just something fun to do for a good cause.”
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