Grand Lagoon National fishing extravaganza set for Aug. 20-24

Rising fuel prices are like tentacles reaching into crevices of both the common work week and leisure time.

The inaugural Grand Lagoon National fishing extravaganza and entertainment experience Aug. 20-24 is looking ahead to try and ease some of the strain on expected participants.

Cost-saving rule changes have altered tournament rules to enable those competing in the Big Game and Offshore divisions to depart from their home port, rather than first checking in at one of the four Panama City Beach marinas helping host the event.

The change reads in part: Boats who have a home port that is not located in the St. Andrews Bay System shall not be required to depart from the Grand Lagoon as a condition of competition.

They still must have a representative from each boat check in at tournament headquarters, and all fish must be weighed in at the designated scale to be eligible for the cash awards and optional cash awards.

"This gives the boats that are going offshore an opportunity to head straight to the fishing grounds," said tournament chairman Bill Spann.

"Whether you are fishing from New Orleans or Panama City, they all head for the same place, which is about 120 miles out."

In essence, it could save some boats about half a tank of gas, Spann said. He said boats that fish in those divisions commonly carry anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of fuel, and "some of these boats get three gallons to the mile."

"The price of fuel is just outrageous," Spann said. "Some of the boats coming from New Orleans or Orange Beach will spend $3-5,000 just on gas. But the only place they can weigh in is here. We still had to have control of that."

Spann said that the tournament committee is approaching $200,000 in sponsorship pledges from both local and national levels, and said the
Tourist Development Council has come onboard as a sponsor.

Marinas involved are Pirates Cove, Lighthouse, Capt. Anderson's and Treasure Island. Spann said the rules alteration won't affect other fishing divisions as many of those entrants coming from outside Bay County trailer there boats here.

The tournament featured these divisions at its inception: Big Game, Offshore, Inshore, Flats, Dive and Party Boat. Two other categories, Charter Boat and Kayak, recently were added. Each encompasses several species of fish, including blue marlin, swordfish, wahoo, amberjack, trout, grouper and flounder.

Spann said red snapper has been removed as a tournament fish. New federal regulations prohibit red snapper fishing after the second week of August, he said. Spann said other eligible snapper would be included in those respective divisions.

"We regret that available science was unable to influence the management of the red snapper fishery," Spann said. "We look forward to helping governmental agencies develop long-term plans that hold forth the promise of enhancing the growth of the gulf's various fisheries.

"The tournament recognizes our responsibilities to the resources that we share and have adjusted our rules to a level beyond the requirements imposed by state or federal governments."

The inclusion of two new divisions increases the entry availability for what Spann called one of the most inclusive events in the nation. His only concern, he joked, was having to learn all the rules for the eight categories in time for the tournament.

Spann expects to have a winning purse of $1 million. He said that most of the purse will derive from entry fees that could range from as low at $150 to as high as $6-7,000 depending on division.

"We'd like to attract a crowd of 30-40,000 spectators," Spann said. "We thought that given the tremendous availability of marinas, restaurants and parking, let's make it a big tournament with 300 to 400 boats rather than just doing it for the elite part of the fishing world.

"We want to make this America's saltwater fishing tournament, and one of the reasons we're doing this is we're trying to do something that's the biggest of its kind in the country."