These Bass Fishers Won 1st Place at the Inaugural Battle of the Bass, And They Won 1st Place Again This Year
by James Coulter
Lamar Farrow and his friends attended the inaugural Battle of the Bass tournament more than four years ago. They won first place again this year at the fourth annual.
Farrow owes his success to his more than 30 years of bass fishing experience. Aside from being able to win this year’s event, he appreciates being able to give back to a good cause like Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Tampa Bay. Not to mention he loves the rush of fishing, he said.
Farrow and his team won first place with a catch of more than 29 pounds during the fourth annual Battle of the Bass Tournament hosted last Saturday at Camp Mack in Lake Wales.
More than 33 boats attended this year’s event, which started at 5 a.m., and nearly a dozen weighed in later that afternoon at 3 p.m., explained Amy Hollington VP of Development for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Tampa Bay.
First Place winners receive $5,000 from the tournament entry fees. The remainder of the proceeds goes towards Big Brothers, Big Sisters and their mentoring program. This year’s event raised at least $20,000. With their mentoring program costing $1,500 per match, these proceeds will help fund nearly a dozen children and their mentors, Hollington said.
Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Tampa Bay services nine bay area counties with their one-on-one mentoring programs for at-risk youth. More than 100 children will be able to be mentored due to the proceeds from this year’s fundraiser.
Hollington owes their success to the leadership of Darrel Davis and his wife, Tammy, both members of their board of directors. Of course, the beautiful weather, despite the stormy forecast, also helped, she said.
“We had a beautiful day, it was beautiful, we were thrilled that the weather held out for us,” she said. “We had great local support for our rafflers and our auctions to cheer on our raffles on our way in.”
As a pro bass fisher, the bass tournament was how Darrel Davis decided to contribute to his organization. He and his wife have been overseeing the past four events, and they have proven successful every time.
This year’s event coincided with two other major fishing tournaments that drew in more than 400 boats on the water. Despite this, their turnout proved decent, and they hope to draw in 150 to 200 boats next year, he said.
“Camp Mack is a gracious host for letting us be here, it was pretty awesome,” he said. “Hopefully, we can grow…if we get the word out and people know what is going on.”
