Alabama/Florida: Bass Tournament, April 2012

Long before dawn, Saturday, April 21, Live Oak Landing on Alabama’s Tensaw River was alive with the sounds of 162 teams making last-minute preparations and launching boats for Florida’s 16th Annual Log A Load For Kids bass tournament.   The teams blasetd off in three flights, each hoping that at the end of the day they’d have the heaviest five-fish stack of Mobile-Tensaw Delta bass to claim the guaranteed $5,000 first-place check.

Longtime friends and first-time teammates Lee Grandquest and Travis Glidden, both of Mobile, won by more than a pound.   Their impressive 16.63-pound limit was anchored by a 4.42-pound largemouth.   Tournament committee member Bob Moore, with the Florida Forestry Association, said between entry fees and a live auction held at theTournament’s conclusion, organizers hoped to raise close to $20,000 to benefit the Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital in Pensacola, Florida.   Over the last 15 years, Log A Load For Kids has raised more than $617,000 for that Hospital.

“We weren’t real sure how much participation we’d get being the first time we’d held it on the Delta, but with 162 boats, we’re real pleased with our first one,” said tournament director Glen Williams.   “We hope to make it bigger and better each year.”