ICAST event delivers fun on the fairways and lakes of Rosen Shingle Creek.
Jim from FWC manned one of the four fishing holes and he helped anglers make decisions on what to use. Here he is posing with one of the successful anglers.
TV personalities, retail buyers, and bass fishing professionals gathered together on Tuesday before ICAST to play in the 4th Annual Florida Sportsman Bass & Birdies Classic. This year we returned to Rosen Shingle Creek for this fantastic kickoff event. Eighty-one golfers graced the greens for the best-ball scramble combined with bass fishing. Florida Sportsman’s Bass & Birdies Classic donates all proceeds to Keep America Fishing. The event raised $2,800 in proceeds that will go to Keep America Fishing.
Shingle Creek is the headwaters of the Everglades, and this was evident in the beauty of the course. Arrowheads, lily pads, mottled ducks, turtles and more surrounded each pond on the course. Growing up in Florida we dream of fishing these high-end golf courses knowing they hold trophy bass.
Industry leaders have sponsored Bass & Birdies for multiple years. These leaders include Yamaha, Fishing Nosara, COSTA, YETI, Trophy Catch, PowerPole, Daiwa and Bass Pro Shops. Each sponsor provided donations to be raffled off in support of Keep America Fishing. The trophies were supplied by Ross Myers of Bass Fishing Trophies (BTO.com) who did a fantastic job once again creating a trophy worthy of the event.
This day the weather was hot but so was the golf and fishing. Many golfers returning from years past have learned to stack their teams with great golfers and a fisherman who could give them the edge needed to get the best score possible. I saw both great drives and terrible drives; lucky putts and not so lucky putts. It was a fun day to watch golf in the Sunshine State.
Each team had an angler of their choice to fish at each of 4 different holes designated for fishing. These holes were crewed by FWC and volunteer fishing club members from Central Florida. This year there were better bass caught than before. With most fish in that 14- to 16-inch range there were a few that were 20 inches and above as well. Plenty of fish overall, and they were active.
Much to my delight, we ended the day by going to their banquet room for a fantastic American lunch of hotdogs, hamburgers,…
