Fishing festivities: Graduates take to the open waters
SANIBEL, Fla. (BVM) — All year long, the effects of COVID-19 have been felt nationwide, and the majority of those effects have been negative. For the high school class of 2020, it meant no school dances, no graduation and the loss of many of their sports seasons. But in an attempt to ease this burden for Lee County seniors, Captain Jason Miller, owner of Reel Therapy Charters, had a plan.
This plan turned into what he named the ‘Take a Graduate Fishing 2020 Tournament.’ It was a fishing tournament open to all seniors in Lee County, with teams of four taken out on private charters. What Miller did was collaborate with other captains in the area, supply the students with all the appropriate gear and equipment, work with local restaurants on supplying a nice dinner, and more local companies on donations for prize giveaways.
As successful as it was, it was never expected to become what it did.
His inspiration was actually a FaceBook page called “Adopt a senior: Lee County.” On this page, area seniors posted a few photos of themselves, a biography stating what they are planning on doing post-graduation, and then attached an Amazon wishlist with smaller items they hoped to obtain for the next chapter of their life.
“My wife got really addicted to this page and started adopting all these kids,” Miller said. “So I started looking around and noticed that a lot of the kids were taking fishing photos and using them as one of their three or four profile photos.”
So the natural thing for Miller to do was offer a free half-day fishing charter for four randomly selected students. Upon posting this donation via the ‘Adopt a Senior’ FaceBook page, kids and parents alike showed lots of interest. People started sending Miller messages of their prize catches and asking for him to pick them.
“That’s when I decided I can’t just take four kids.” Miller said.
At one time, the event had over 100 graduating seniors signed up and prepared for the tournament. But on the week of the event, 30-40 dropped out with either their parents expressing fears of COVID-19, or the weather. The day of the event had 20-25 MPH winds, and a chance of rain. Luckily, the rain held off for the event, and Miller did everything he could to ensure the health and safety of the participants.
“We had face shields for everyone so that they could protect themselves, as well as us captains,” Miller said. “We also did a temperature screening upon arrival to make sure nobody had a high temperature.”
All in all, 60 seniors still showed up and made the most of this unique, cost-free opportunity. Prizes such as hotel stays, fishing charters, fishing gear, clothing, restaurant gift cards and rounds of golf were all given away to winning teams and students with the largest catches.
In what Miller described as “a year turned upside-down,” he wanted to provide a memorable experience for the graduates who have lost so much.
“They need to know that what they’ve done this year hasn’t gone unnoticed. We are proud of all they’ve accomplished, not just this school year, but in their 18 or 19 years of life,” Miller said. “Hopefully when they think of their graduating year, they think about the day on the water with their friends where they caught the biggest fish of their life.”
