Safeway to again sponsor KidPro at Fort Frances Canadian Bass Tournament July 21-24

Organizers of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship are already gearing up for the 15th Safeway KidPro Tounament, held in conjunction with the championship.

Almost 500 young anglers have had the chance to fish with the tournament anglers through the KidPro contest.

Canada Safeway will for the fourth year sponsor the Safeway KidPro, which kicks off the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship on July 18 from the Sorting Gap Marina in Fort Frances.

The Safeway “KidPro” tournament provides a day of fishing on Rainy Lake under tournament conditions to youth 10-14 with a professional tournament angler.

In addition, “The Outdoor Educator”, Rick Socholotuk provides a day of classroom instruction to all the kids who register for the tournament. The instruction includes rules of fishing safely, fish handling, photographing fish, and handling lures, rods and reels.

“It’s a great program for these young people,” said Socholotuk, who began the KidPro tournament in 1996. “It gives them a one-on-one learning day with some of the best anglers in North America. The kids learn. The pros enjoy teaching the kids and often this often leads to lifetime friendships. It may even lead them to tournament angling.”

Andrew Rogozinski, who was one of the original youth in the KidPro, remembers riding fast across the water in a big bass boat. It is one of his first entries into his log that chronicles every day on the water. Today, he participates as a pro.

“It gives me a chance to give back to the community and maybe put a fishing spark in a young person’s mind like the pro did for me as a kid,” he said.

Canadian Bass Championship teammates John Craig and Larry Hullett annually contribute hats and rods to the KidPro tournament.

“I know some of the kids are not as well off as I am,” noted Craig. “And I know often that their parents don’t have as much time as I do to take their kids fishing and I remember how much fun it was for me to have my dad take me fishing. I hope that it may help get them away from the TV or video game into the outdoors and an enjoyment of fishing. It sure gives me a good feeling to see those kids out fishing with the pros.”

The youth winner of the tournament receives a replica mount of their winning catch. All fish caught are photographed, measured for length and girth, and immediately released. The winning weight is then calculated later in the day. Each youth receives a copy of all the pictures that they take with the pro for a lifetime of memories.

Joe Thrun who has won the tournament five times with his fishing partner Jim Moynagh said this about the Safeway KidPro; “I think it is a real opportunity for young people to learn. I can’t imagine how excited I would have been at that age to fish with anglers and have the excitement of traveling so fast across the water in a bass boat. I hope we create an excitement with these young people for fishing that will last the rest of their lives”

Speaking on behalf of Safeway, John Graham, public affairs manager, noted that Safeway is pleased to support this part of the tournament and have Safeway associated with this community festival in Fort Frances. “It is a great opportunity for the youth of the region to fish with a pro. We hope that some of the youth will eventually find their way into the big tournament.

“Fort Frances is a great community and I’m proud that Safeway is again putting our support behind such a special community event as the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship”, said Kevin Langford, store manager.”