Kid's Cup 2009 at Redfish Cup Tournament in Punta Gorda

The 2009 Kids Cup will take place at Fishermen’s Village in Punta Gorda on Saturday, April 25 starting at about 7:00 a.m. At safe light the anglers will depart the Village, and must get back there with their fish by 2:30 p.m. The top five young fishermen will qualify to fish a second day, Sunday May 3. Those kids making it it to the Kids Cup Top-5 will be fishing as part of the Redfish Cup show and weigh in on the ESPN-2 TV stage. The winner from the top five on the second fishing day is crowned Kids’ Cup Champion 2009.

This is an event just for kids, with no cash prizes. Corporate sponsors provide gifts in the form of free merchandise and all proceeds go to fund the Don Ball School of Fishing, a middle school program in Charlotte and Sarasota counties .

All the tournament fish are tagged with a plastic orange streamer tag prior to release, and 20 fish will also be implanted with a sonic tag. Cool to watch. After the tournament, the movements of the released redfish are tracked and posted online at http://charlotte. ifas.ufl.edu/seagrant/kidscup.


Junior anglers must be at least 10 years old, but not yet 17 to be eligible for the tournament. The angler must fish as an individual but must at all times be accompanied by a tournament guardian who is a parent or other adult over age 18 with written parental consent. For other rules and eligibility requirements see contact information below. As of April 9, 74 anglers had registered, and registration will be open until the Captain’s meeting on the 24th or until the angler limit is reached.

Even if kids are not participating, this event is a fun learning experience for kids and adults. The weigh-in is free and open to the public at Harpoon Harry’s. The final tournament event is part of Annual Redfish Cup Festivities.

For further information go to www.kidscuptournament.com or call 941-766-8180.