Charity event combines bass fishing with helping others

Four years ago when the Wayne County Bassmasters were searching for a cause to support, they found the perfect fit within their ranks.

Luzerne County resident George Bowers, who is a member of the club, is the founder of the non-profit Fishing for a Cause. The organization conducts numerous charitable events focused on helping children and families during the holidays, including an annual gift delivery of fishing rods and reels to kids who are in the hospital during Christmas and a yearly monetary donation to a struggling family. All of the work is funded by donations from local businesses and a charity bass fishing tournament held every October at Lake Wallenpaupack.

For the Bassmasters, partnering with Bowers on the charity tournament was an easy choice.

“We like to join in charity events and it turns out one of our members, George, has been running a charity fishing tournament for years,” said club member Brian Werner. “We decided to partner and make it an annual thing.”

This year’s tournament will be held at Lake Wallenpaupack on Oct. 25. It’s an open event, meaning anyone can compete, and 10% of the proceeds goes to Fishing for a Cause. The other 90% is used as prize money for anglers, making for a lucrative pot that attracts a crowd even when the fall weather takes a turn for the worse.

During last year’s tournament, heavy rain and high winds made for challenging conditions on the lake, but 23 two-man teams still turned out to compete for a $2,300 top prize.

“There’s a lot of good competition, but a lot of the anglers come out just to support the charity,” Bowers said. “The bass fishing community in northeastern Pennsylvania loves to help others, and they show up for things like this.”

Bowers started Fishing for a Cause in 2001 after his newborn daughter spent several weeks at Geisinger in Danville.

“While we were in the (neonatal intensive care) NIC Unit, I saw people bringing blankets, gifts and doing different things to help the children,” Bowers said. “That’s when I thought to combine fishing with making the people happy.”

While Bowers depends on donations in addition to the bass tournament to fund the organization’s charitable events, this year presented a bit of a challenge.

When businesses closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, Bowers decided not to solicit donations as they were already facing hard times during the pandemic. He also cancelled a yearly raffle that raised money for the cause because he didn’t want to burden the businesses that donated prizes in the past.

But Bowers will admit he underestimated the power of generosity, even when times are tough.

“It was unbelievable the amount of people that still chose to donate to the charity this year, anything from $35 to $500,” he said. “I didn’t want to bother my sponsors during a rough year, but many of them contacted me asking to donate.”

As a result, Bowers will once again be able to conduct the annual rod and reel donation to children in the hospital, and he has enough money to help two families in the area this Christmas.

“We do it all at Christmas because that’s a time of year when families can use the money and kids in the hospital really appreciate the gifts,” Bowers said.

And the money raised from the upcoming bass tournament will provide for more gifts and even more smiles.

Bowers said he chose to hold the tournament in October so it doesn’t conflict with events held by other bass fishing clubs, which have mostly concluded for the year. It’s also a good time of year to catch large bass that have been feeding all summer – an important element for a tournament that determines winners based on the overall weight of their catch.

Registration begins at 5 a.m. and Bowers and several volunteers arrive at the lake long before that to get ready. By the time the weigh-in is complete at 3 p.m. and all the fish are released, it makes for a long day.

“It’s a lot of work but it’s well worth it,” he said. “After doing this for so long, we have it down to a routine. The bass anglers in this area really step up when they’re needed for things like this.”

Werner said participation in the tournament has increased every year, and as a result they’ve expanded the cap on boats – up to 50 this year. The more boats the better, he said, because it equates to a larger prize pot and more proceeds for the charity.

“This is one of the largest dollar value tournaments in the area, and that interests guys,” Werner said. “But aside from the cash prizes, when they know that a percentage of the proceeds is going to a good cause, people are more likely to participate. That’s why it continues to grow every year.”

• This story originally appeared in The Citizens’ Voice.