Trash Fish Classic

The Trash Fish Classic was started by two good friends who loved to fish. Occasionally they would catch something, but most of their time was just spent trying. During the spring of 2002, after several successful weekends of catching trout, the two friends decided it was time to test their skills at one of the region's local tournaments. This is when the duo realized just how good they were. They had no problem catching catfish, ladyfish, pinfish, stingrays and sharks, but catching a legal size trout was out of the question. That day the catfish bite continued at about the same rate as their beer consumption, which in turn led to the repeated quote of the day: "If there was a tournament for trash fish we would definitely win". It was on this day the Trash Fish Classic was born.

For our first tournament we set our sights high. After talking with all of our friends it looked as if we were going to have 20 boats or more for the 1st Trash Fish Classic. Needless to say, we were excited. In reality this is not how it turned out. The first year we had a total of five boats that participated. After purchasing 100 koozies for the big event we barely had any money to pay the winner. Everything turned out okay though, with the winners taking home $80 and over 80 koozies to split amongst them.




Our second tournament was a different story. We went from 5 boats and 17 contestants to over 25 boats and 80 contestants. We also drew an additional crowd of around 50 spectators. Not bad for our second year. Thanks to our sponsors, each contestant received a free T-shirt and a koozie with their entrance fee and the 1st place winner took home $500.00. This was a great improvement from our previous year.




Our third tournament was a great success, with over $1,000.00 in prize money paid out. The 1st place winner took home $500.00, 2nd place $250.00, and 3rd place $150.00, along with a $150.00 prize for the sponsor's division winner. We had 32 boats and over 100 participants along with dozens of spectators lining the beatiful beaches of Panacea, FL.




Our fourth tournament was, once again, a huge success, with over $1,100.00 in prize money paid out. We held steady with the same amount of boats and partcipants, however the crowd of spectators on the beaches was even bigger than before. Interest in the tournament is continuing to grow!




This year things are looking even better!!!! We have brought a total of 20 sponsors on board to help us with the event. Thanks to them we are going to pay out 3 places as well as provide free t-shirts and koozies with the entry fee along with many other prizes and givaways. Special thanks again to all who support the Trash Fish Classic. We couldn't do this without you!!