Ben’s Bait & Tackle Shop in Garden River, Ontario used a popular annual event over the weekend to help raise money for a worthy charity.
The Sixth Annual Ben’s Bait & Tackle Derby, which was held on Saturday and Sunday and is hosted by Ben Belleau, who runs Ben’s Bait & Tackle, has saw a large increase since its inception. In the first year, the derby saw 17 boats enter in the derby, while this year the derby saw a record 74 boats entered which was six more than were entered in last summer’s event. All the money raised by entry fees is put back into the tournament as the money is split up between the derby’s top five entries with a percentage going to each.
On top of the money that is raised and put back into the tournament through entry fees, Belleau also used this year’s tournament to raise money for the Cancer Society as all money that was raised through the use of the boat launch, coffee sales as well as donations from the post derby meal, which was held on Sunday, all went to the Cancer Society.
Belleau also dedicated this year’s tournament to the memory of his sister, Elaine Solomon, who was a fixture in the tournament as a fish cooker and helped out in many different aspects of the tournament. Solomon passed away last fall.
Total money raised from the entries alone was $8650, which was split between the top five fish brought in during the two-day event. Top prize on the weekend went to Ed Deluney who brought in the big fish of the weekend as his biggest fish weighed in at 20 lbs, 85 oz. For his efforts,
Deluney took home the top prize of $3460. Brian Saccareccia took second spot with his 20.65 lb fish and earned $2162.50. Dave Cattling's top fish which weighed in at 19.15 lbs took third prize, which was 1730. Sam Morufas took fourth spot and $865 for his efforts while Soo Greyhound defenseman Jordan Smith, an avid fisherman when he’s not suiting up on the Greyhounds blueline, took fifth spot and earned $432.50.
The derby, which is one of the largest in the area, draws fishermen from all over. Plenty of local fishermen compete in the event as well, but the event draws fishermen from areas such as Sudbury, Brampton, Iroquois Falls as well as a number of fishermen from the United States, who come to the area to compete.
Ben’s Bait & Tackle Derby precedes a number of other derby’s, which will take place in the coming weeks including next weekend’s annual derby on the St. Mary’s River.