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Great Exuma Island, Bahamas set to host Exuma Celebrity Bonefish Classic May 12-15
Great Exuma Island, Bahamas set to host Exuma Celebrity Bonefish Classic May 12-15 WHAT: Exuma Celebrity Bonefish ClassicWHEN: May 12-15, 2006WHERE: George Town, Great Exuma, Bahamas GEORGE TOWN, Great Exuma, Bahamas (April 13, 2006) The pristine island peninsula of February Point is the locale for the upcoming Exuma Celebrity Bonefish Classic, part of the popular Bahamas Celebrity Bonefish Series.
The four-day Classic is set for May 12-15. The event and Series is part of the larger Redbone Celebrity Tournament Series, which includes approximately 30 fishing events each year. Proceeds from the event - and from all events in the Series benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Some of the best flat fishing in the Bahamas is available for anglers who take part in the tournament held on the largest of the 365 Exuma Islands that stretch over 100 miles southeast of Nassau.
Entrants in the Exuma Celebrity Bonefish Classic will be paired with celebrities or other entrants, and all teams will be assigned a professional guide for the duration of the tournament. Contestants will catch, photograph and release as many fish as possible, and a point system awards weighted values for each fish caught. Entrants will participate in a competition that includes accommodations as a top-shelf resort, a gala auction, tournament fishing with a celebrity, gourmet meals and opulent prizes. Dallas native Edward Herring earned three titles at last year's event, winning grand champion angler honors, teaming with Jeff Joyce of Atlanta to capture the team championship and earning the fly division title as well.
Joyce caught the largest bonefish at last year's event, and fishing legend Stu Apte was first runner-up to Herring. Apte and Don Cornish were also runner up team champions, and Kendall Dames was named top guide of the event. The Exuma Celebrity Bonefish Classic has grown from the seed planted in 1988, when a handful of anglers, fishing guides and sports celebrities organized a tournament in the Florida Keys village of Islamorada. The group focused on just two of the available species: redfish and bonefish.
The ground rules were simple - win, the angler must catch and release at least one of each. The initial tournament was designed to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and in 17 years Redbone tournaments have contributed approximately $8 million to the CFF. The inaugural Islamorada event was a great success, and the "redbone" moniker was born. The current format of the individual tournaments can include freshwater, offshore and flats fishing.
The ultimate goal of the CFF is to cure the fatal hereditary affliction, and Redbone founder Ellis and his wife, Susan, have passionately supported the cause not only because of the foundation's noble research efforts, but also for a very personal reason: their daughter, Nicole, was diagnosed with CF as an infant in the mid-1980s. Nicole is now a college student, and has witnessed first hand the advances made in the treatment of the disease. The environments in which the Redbone events take place have played a major role in their success. The Florida Keys, for instance, contain miles of clear flats with acres of turtle grass and marl, features that create a welcoming habitat and a diverse fishery that includes bonefish, tarpon, permit, redfish and snook.
Tournaments are also held in such diverse locations as Massachusetts, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Costa Rica, Pennsylvania, Ohio, the Bahamas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Louisiana. Mercury Marine, the official outboard engine of the Redbone events, began its support of the Series in 1992, and the collection of events has drawn the attention and support of big-name celebrities such as the late baseball great Ted Williams, baseball stars Mike Schmidt and Wade Boggs, football legend Ken Stabler and the late broadcasting icon Curt Gowdy. For more information on the Bahamas Celebrity Bonefish Series and/or the Exuma Celebrity Bonefish Classic, visit on-line at www.redbone.
org or call 305-664-2002 or 1-877-FISH-CF. The CF Foundation's web site is www.cff.org .
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