The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) TrophyCatch program awarded its Season 6 Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat and trailer, powered by a 200 hp Mercury Marine outboard, guided with a MotorGuide trolling motor and anchored with a Power-Pole, to Benjamin Porter from Jacksonville.  

The boat giveaway was hosted at the Bobby Lane Cup at Camp Mack, a Guy Harvey Lodge, Marina & RV Resort, on Dec. 1. Five finalists took the stage to participate in a reverse drawing that concluded with Porter winning the Phoenix boat package.

“I was excited just to be a finalist.” said Porter. “It changed my perspective on the whole program. I still can’t believe I won the boat. This is life changing.”  

TrophyCatch awards one program registrant a Phoenix bass boat package after each Season’s conclusion. Anyone may register for free to win the annual Phoenix bass boat package by registering for the TrophyCatch program at TrophyCatch.com. No catch submissions are required to win.   

“We were thrilled to be able to award the beautiful Phoenix 819 Pro boat package to Benjamin Porter at the Bobby Lane Cup,” said KP Clements, TrophyCatch director. “Our TrophyCatch partners are so gracious to offer these amazing rewards to our anglers to bolster their commitment to conservation and excitement for the sport of bass fishing. This is all possible because of Phoenix, Mercury Marine, Power-Pole and MotorGuide.”  

The Bobby Lane Cup is an annual youth fishing tournament hosted by professional angler Bobby Lane. The tournament is held on Lake Kissimmee with the goal of furthering the love of fishing in our youth and to raise money to provide scholarships to those students involved in the sport of bass fishing. The 2018 tournament had 371 kids who fished in the tournament, 34 kids who participated in the Reel Kids casting event, 185 boat captains and a total event attendance of approximately 2,441 people. Nineteen $1,000 scholarships were awarded to youth anglers at the event.

TrophyCatch is a partnership between FWC biologists, anglers and fishing industry leaders such as Bass Pro Shops, that rewards the catch, documentation and release of largemouth bass weighing 8 pounds or heavier in Florida. To be eligible for club-level prizes, anglers are required to submit photos or videos of their catch to TrophyCatch.com showing the entire fish and its weight on a scale, before releasing it back into the water. FWC biologists use TrophyCatch data to make informed decisions about the management of Florida bass fisheries and to promote the catch and release of trophy bass.

The FWC encourages anglers to join TrophyCatch as citizen-scientists that assist in fisheries management and the conservation of Florida’s lakes and rivers. A TrophyCatch mobile app is available for download on both Apple and Android devices. For more information about the TrophyCatch program, email Amber Nabors at Amber.Nabors@MyFWC.com.