March 6 & 7, 2010

Cabela's Boise, Idaho 

Click The Picture to Enlarge It !!!  

 The Real Story !!!

It was a beautiful sunny day March 6, 2010 and we gathered at Cabelas in Boise, Id. ready to provide an opportunity to many young kids. With the lanes in order, the targets in place and the poles all rigged it came time to start the event !!!

                We had representatives from the IBFN Junior Club,  State Team Members, Club Members, also the IBFN State Youth Director and IBFN State Secretary spent the day putting smiles on many, many young faces.

                We enjoyed all the thrills of watching a young face break into a huge smile as they learn how to pitch, flip, and cast. Our Junior club members spent the day showing each and every kid how to perform these different techniques !!! Al found a way to entertain and teach at our lure tying and techniques table while Cheryl and Pam scored our competitors. We had Steve and Dan rotating on the scoring table as well as the techniques and fish stories while Stacy and Dot signed up the youth and gave out certificates & treats.

                We had quite a few younger kids that took advantage of the opportunity even though they were under the competition ages. They all had a great time, however, I recall one 5 year girl that had more fun trying to cast than I do catching a 7lb largemouth bass !!! Every cast her eyes lit up like the sun, the smile was so big it filled the rest of her face and she would bounce up & down 2 or 3 times every cast --- no matter where the jig landed…. You can’t describe the wonder feeling that comes with this !!  

                Another beautiful sunny day showed up March 7^th and we held our third qualifying round for the finals which are later in the day !!! The kids came out and the competition was on !!!

                We saw the young and the older kids all striving to learn as well as compete at a high level. We had great support again. The Boise State University Fishing Team came out and assisted with the event along with more IBFN Junior Members and IBFN Club members. They joined all of the first day support staff to bring joy to the faces of all of our competitors !!!

                We saw over a hundred competitors and many non competitors step to the line and learn about casting!!!

                It was time for the Finals !!! Parents lined the lanes with cameras in hand and anticipation of their child’s performance. One by one we watched the top finishers compete… it became obvious that many of them had a goal in mind … They wanted that new fishing pole, tackle box or tackle that Cabela’s so graciously donated. The competition was close. . . So close we had to have a cast off for 2^nd & 3^rd place in the 11-14 age group !!!

                After the dust settled and the poles were laid gently aside we had our ceremony. All of our competitors were winners. We called them up one by one, every kid received a “Top 25 Certificate” and a great bag of baits for their accomplishments !!! It then became time to present the top 3 places in each age group !!!

                Cabela’s proudly stepped to the table with a great hat and tackle while the IBFN Youth Program presented a 3^rd place plaque to Sedona Storks-9 and Nathan Heffner-12 . Next Cabela’s presented our 2^nd place winners a great tackle bag with tackle to put in it and again a 2^nd place plaque to Riley Carter-9 and Dakota Rubal-11. Finally the time had come …. First place … Cabela’s  presented a great fishing pole and tackle box to our first place winner while the IBFN Youth Program presented a huge plaque  to the winner in the 7-10 year old category Baylee Storks and the winner in the 11-14 year old category Tanner Calhoun !!!

                But wait after all the fun and great stories we have one that will go down in the record books !!! Our first place winner in the 7-10 group came down Saturday and had a great time learning to cast and watching her sister do the same. That evening I had the pleasure of calling our top qualifiers from Saturday’s 2 sessions. I spoke with Baylee’s parents to let them know their girls were top qualifiers and  invited back for the finals….  They came back and Baylee won her division !!! That’s not the end of the story… Saturday was her birthday and this 8 year old girl wanted to come to the Casting Kids Competition. . . Well Happy Birthday Baylee … You dream came true, First Place and a great birthday both !!!

Congratulations to all our great competitors !!!

A very special Thanks To Sage from Cabela’s … An Advocate for the Youth !!!

He represented Cabela’s as the event coordinator and is the reason We will bring our program back !!!