On Saturday, July 1st, Reel Blessed Chapter of Fishing’s Future held our 4th event of the year. It should have been our 6th event; however, the weather forced us to cancel our January and February events. This event is our toughest of the year as it is an advanced class where we teach how to fish with artificial baits.

Tania and I arrived at the Port Saint Lucie Botanical Gardens at 7:30 a.m. We had our son Devin along with us as he made a last-minute trip to come visit for the holiday weekend. Our volunteers started arriving shortly after we did to help set up. We finished setting up just in time as the families started arriving.

We were expecting a good turnout as we had 41 participants signed up, and I had two families texted me Friday night asking if there was still room as registration was closed. Knowing we always have a percentage of no-shows, I told them to come. When the event started at 9:00 a.m., we had 9 families with a total of 26 participants. With the small group, we had a great volunteer-to-participant ratio with 13 volunteers.

We opened our event with a prayer and then introduced our volunteers and mentioned our sponsors. Since we hold these events at no charge to the participants, I feel it’s important to spread the word about our sponsors. After our introduction, we went over water safety and then broke the families into three groups, even though we had 4 stations (Tackle, Knot Tying, Casting, and Rod Setup).

Once the groups were split up, we passed out tackle bags with all the tackle the families would need for artificial bait fishing, as well as basic freshwater. We bought the bags from Bass Pro Shop in Port Saint Lucie, FL, as they gave us a 20% discount. Salt Strong provided us with paddle tails, Forest to Seas Adventures provided us with Fair Hope popping corks, A&S Jigs provided us with jig heads, Danco Pliers provided pliers, and Boomerang Tool Company provided us with SNIP fishing line cutters at cost. Reel Blessed also provided hooks, bobbers, a notepad, and split shots. We were planning on giving out one bag per family; however, since we had so few participants, each child got their very own tackle bag.

Once the tackle bags were passed out, each group went to their respective station. We spent about 50 minutes going through the stations, and then we went fishing. It was a very hot day, and unfortunately, only two fish were caught in the 40 minutes we fished, but the families all seemed to be having fun.

After all the families returned, we passed out bagged lunches provided by Synergy Magnet School! We are truly blessed to have such great partners! Providing lunches was very important to Tania and I as too many families do not have meals together.

We had two activities after lunch. The first was a trash clean-up for all the kids. We gave the kids 5 minutes to collect as much trash as they could, and the one who collected the most won a prize. Once again, we had a small group, so I handed out Slam Shady paddle tail packs to each kid who brought back trash! The kids were so excited.

We then finished with my favorite part: having the kids thank their parent/guardian for bringing them and telling them they love them. Tania and I pray that all those who went fishing this weekend had a blessed and safe trip. May those who go out this week have a blessed trip with tight lines and good times.

The Treasure Coast Chapter of Salt Strong is now holding monthly meetings in Fort Pierce. The meetings are being held on the 4^th Thursday of the month. The next meeting will be July  27^th. These club meeting are for inside members only. If you would like to become an inside member here is what the membership includes: access to the in-person meetings as well as all the other perks such as 20% off all tackle, Smart Fishing spots, and insider information on trends in your area. We will also have guest speakers at our meetings and we will be holding monthly tournaments. Click the link below to get a FREE pack of slam shady or a 10-Day Test-Drive of The Smart Fishing Spots App and The Salt Strong Insider Club . . . And We’ll Ship You $35 Worth of FREE Lures, an “Inshore Fishing Manifesto” Book (Physical copy) & Decals – Yours to Keep Even If You Cancel!