18th Annual Maine Special Olympics Tournament 32.07 Lbs Wins It All!
Brent Bonenfant and Frank Perkins
And The Winners Are
Brent Bonenfant and Frank Perkins partnered to win this 18th Annual Maine Special Olympics Bass Tournament held Sunday, May 6 at Lakeside Motel and Marina on Lake Cobbosseecontee in Winthrop.
Asked where he fished on the lake, Brent admitted to doing some pre-fishing. picking out about 5 spots that seemed productive, and then he and Frank concentrated on just those spots on tournament day. Seems like the plan worked! 32 pounds of fish!
Congratulations to Brent and Frank, who also choose to donate $100 of their prize money to Special Olympics. A nice touch!
Can you spot Andy in the plaid shirt?
Andy and Sherry, owners of the Lakeside Motel and Marina, are extremely proud of the work done by all of the bass fishing organizations that collectively helped raise well over $7,000 for the Maine Special Olympics! $1,750 in entrance fees from the anglers, many donations from cooperate sponsors as well as individual donations including those from bass fisherman, sale of food after the tournament, and a 50-50 raffle accounted for the funds raised. It was a successful day indeed!
This tournament was originally organized by Andy and Sherry 18 years ago with the support of bass fishing organizations. Money raised in part pays the prize schedule while the rest, along with all donations, goes directly to Maine Special Olympics. There are no administrative costs. All time is donated. Over the lifetime of this tournament over $90,000 has been raised to benefit Maine Special Olympics.
What a great effort! Well done folks!
Releasing the Fish
Catch and release is now very prevalent among those who fish Lake Cobbosseecontee, and as far as the tournaments on the lake are concerned, it is mandatory. It is indeed interesting to attend a weigh-in and to see the care taken to preserve the lives of the fish. This writer watched as dozens of bags of fish were emptied back into the lake in front of the motel around the docks. It is a pleasure to report that not one fish was seen belly-up! In fact the released fish seemed to be in very good condition and rather quickly vacated the area in which they were released. Good news!
Click on these photos
Look closely. There goes another one now!
Check out the following candid shots of the tournament. Click on the thumbnails for additional information. Enjoy!
Kids had a great time too!
In fact, some even fished with their Dads or watched 'em (the fish that is) swim off to parts of the lake unknown!
Takes two to carry! Must be some real biggies or is it just a lot of water?
And then it was over for another year
Large donations from cooperate sponsors and individuals as well were announced by Andy, and again as has been the case for 18 years, the Maine Special Olympics came away the big winner!
