In the past, the tournament has revolved around saving as much of the $500 FR&R money as a team can while fishing for 10 days (it isn't a true "tournament" in the since like a bass tournament is). This year, however, they've added a new twist. Rather than competing just for themselves, each 2004 Trout Bum team will be required to raise money for a nonprofit group connected to fly fishing. Each team will be fishing for a separate charity in hopes that both the charities and the anglers are competing. This is the sort of competition in which everybody wins. The winner and a runner-up will be determined by how much fly-fishing fun the team or individual got from the FR&R money and also by how much money they raised for their chosen organization. Basically, the editors will be evaluating four criteria: 1) the number of days each team's money lasts; 2) the amount of creativity each team shows in stretching a buck; 3) how much money raised for the team�s charity; 4) the quality of the entire adventure (the editors admit that this one is the most important).
I am part of Team Ozark Chronicles and are fishing for Hooked On A Cure (www.hookedonacure.com). Hooked On A Cure solely exists to raise money as well as awareness for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through fly fishing related events. All the money that we raise for the Trout Bum tournament will go to Hooked On A Cure and then on to St. Jude. We are all very involved with the conservation of our fisheries, now is our chance to help future generations of children have the opportunity to fly fish by supporting us on our trout bum adventure, while in turn supporting St. Jude.
Our trout bum journey will be taking us to the tailwaters of Missouri and Arkansas in hopes of landing some legendary brown trout. We will leave St. Louis at 12:01am on July 9th and will head to Lake Taneycomo where we will fish for 2 days. From there we will head to the Beaver Tailwater for one day on July 11. On July 12 - 15 we will be fishing the waters of the White River below Bull Shoals and the Norfork River. We will then head to the Little Red River to chase trout on July 16-17, and we will wrap up our adventure in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas on July 18 while fishing the beautiful Spring River.
You can follow our adventures on the Fly Rod & Reel web site (www.flyrodreel.com) or on my web site Ozark Chronicles (www.ozarkchronicles.com), on both sites we plan to post daily updates and photos of our trip and the people we meet along the way.
I have to say, the support we have recieved from the St. Louis area fly shops has been top notch so far (thanks to T. Hargrove Fly Fishing, Feather-Craft, and ClearWater Fly Shop for all thier support), but I am turning to the internet for more help, as we want to win the title of Trout Bums of the Year and give that additional $5,000 that Ford has pledged towards the winning teams charity to Hooked On A Cure.
We are selling raffle tickets (all of the money raised through raffle sales will be donated to Hooked On A Cure) that will be drawn after our trout bumming adventure (currently we plan on drawing the raffle tickets on July 24) for some really cool prizes. Raffle tickets are 1/$5 or 5/$20 and can be be bought at T. Hargrove, Feather-Craft, or Orvis fly shops in St. Louis. You can also purchase tickets via the mail by sending me an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] The grand prize of the raffle is a hand planed 7-1/2ft, 4wt, 3pc, 2 tip, bamboo fly rod made by Ron Caimi of TroutCamp Rods (www.troutcamprods.com). Ron's rods are quality workmanship and cast like a dream. Now is your chance to buy a ticket for a chance to win your very own bamboo fly rod.
But the prizes don't stop there. Other raffle prizes may include a 9-0ft, 4wt, 7pc, Graphite Custom Fly Rod & Orivs BBS Reel Combo (donated by a conglomerate at ramblingreports.com), an Iowa Weekend Fly Fishing School (donated by guide Rich Brown), a Full Day Fly Fishing Trip on White River (donated by guide Jim Traylor), a 4hr Wisconsin Fly Fishing Guide Trip (donated by guide Rich Brown), a Loon Fishing Tackle System (donated by Loon Outdoors), and we are still talking to others about donating raffle prizes.
You can have a chance to win one of those cool raffle prizes, while helping a fellow VFB member win the title of Trout Bums of the Year, all while helping the kids that benefit from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through Hooked On A Cure.
I don't know what the rules are about posting messages like this to the list. I read the rules at virtualflybox.com and it prohibited commercial messages. What I ask is that if you are interested in purchasing raffle tickets or learning more about the trout bum contest that you PLEASE EMAIL ME OFF LIST AT [EMAIL PROTECTED] as to not take up a lot of list members times whom may not be interested in hearing about the Trout Bum Tournament. If you have any questions and want to know how you can help, please do not hesitate to contact me via telephone at 314-704-4189, or shoot me an email (offlist pleast at [EMAIL PROTECTED]). We need your help.
Tight Lines, Matt Tucker www.OzarkChronicles.com
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