LEE CO., Fla. — A local area fishing tournament is helping a non profit protect families from drunk driving.
It’s called ‘Fish Like MADD,' hosted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Southwest Florida at Fish-Tale Marina on Fort Myers Beach.
Proceeds will be supporting drunk-driving education along with mitigation campaigns in the area. Today’s tournament is all about raising drunk driving awareness.
Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports that just last year there were a total of 399 impaired driving crashes in the state of Florida. 367 of which were fatalities and 280 were reported injuries. MADD Southwest Florida is looking to reduce those numbers.
This is a catch and release tournament so anglers will be tossing their catches back once they’ve caught them. This will also only be taking place in Lee County waters.
There are a few prizes to be won, other than bragging rights. First place will be awarded to the boat that has the most inches for their longest snook, redfish and sea trout in total length. If no boat catches all three fish, the winner will be determined by the total length of fish submitted. So you don’t need all three types of fish to win the total length.
In the event of a tie, the team that caught their fish first will be the winner. Second and third place will follow the same format with cash prizes.
Today’s tournament got underway at 7:00 this morning. Winners will be announced at Fish-Tale Marina tonight at 6:00.
