KEY LARGO, Florida Keys — Participants in Key Largo’s fourth annual Take Stock in Children Backcountry Challenge are to search for snook and redfish day or night throughout the Florida Keys Friday, Oct. 15, through Sunday, Oct. 17. The tournament raises funds for a statewide initiative to help improve the lives of Florida’s deserving low-income children.
Presented by the Rotary Club of Key Largo, the angling competition is to be headquartered at Sundowners Restaurant, mile marker 104 bayside. Activities are to commence at 6 p.m. Friday with a rules meeting and kickoff party. After the meeting, anglers are to head out to Monroe County waters to catch, photograph and release the largest of either species, submitting their cameras and score sheets to the Sundowners score table by 4 p.m. Sunday.
A Sunday evening cocktail hour is to precede the event’s awards dinner at 7 p.m. During the awards presentation, first-, second- and third-place finishers in the snook and redfish categories are to receive trophies. Top Guide and Ladies divisions trophies also are to be awarded.
The non-profit Take Stock in Children organization provides college scholarships and volunteer mentors to seventh-graders and older students who meet academic, behavioral and income criteria . Monroe County has 283 students in the program.
The tournament also benefits the Key Largo Fishing Guides Association Emergency Fund, which aids guides and their families in times of need because of accident or illness.
The entry fee for the backcountry tournament is $100 per angler through Oct. 13, and social passes are available for $40 each. After Oct. 13, the fee is $125 per angler.
For more information or to obtain an entry form, call tournament organizer Tony Delos Santos at 305-522-4724.
To find out about area accommodations, call the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-822-1088 or 305-451-1414, or visit the Florida Keys & Key West Web site at www.fla-keys.com.
