Plenty of fishing events coming up

If you’re looking for fishing events that support worthy causes or those offering a change of pace, you’ll have a good selection to choose from over the next two months.

A traditional favorite is the “Catchin’ for a Cause” bass tournament, which will be held from 5 a.m.-1 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Arlie Moore Day Use Area at DeGray Lake.

The tournament will be sponsored by the Baptist Medical Health Center and the Hot Spring County Relay for Life Team.

Entry fee will be $80 per boat, with 50 percent going to prize money. There also will be an optional $5 big bass pool, as well as an optional $5 trash fish pool for those that catch drum or gar. You can register the day of the tournament without paying a late fee, but day-of registrants will be required to pay in cash.

For more information, contact Kim Burrow at (501) 337-6819.

FIRST RESPONDERS

Also on Sept. 8, Arkansas Police and Firefighters will hold its last buddy bass tournament of the season on Lake Ouachita at Brady Mountain Recreation Area.

The Arkansas Fraternal Order of Police and Arkansas State Firefighters Association will each receive 10 percent of the entry fees. The Arkansas Court Officers Association will receive 5 percent. The remainder of the entry fees will be awarded in prizes, with 40, 20 and 15 percent going to first, second and third places, respectively.

There also will be an optional $10 big bass pool. The angler that catches the biggest bass of the tournament will win 75 percent of the big bass pot, and the second-place winner will receive 25 percent.

Entry fee is $100 per team. For information or to register,

CATFISH TOURNAMENT

The Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail Super Event will be held Aug. 17-18 on the Mississippi River at Helena-West Helena.

The winner, based on a minimum 50-boat field, will win $5,800, and second place will win $2,500. Third place will win $1,900.

Eligible waters will be the Mississippi River from the Interstate 55 bridge at Memphis to the U.S. 82 bridge at Greenville, Miss.

The weigh-in site will be the Cherry Street Pavilion at Helena. The Edwardian Inn at 317 Briscoe St., in Helena and the Isle of Capri Hotel and Casino will be the official lodging sites.

Entry fee is $350 per team, plus an additional $20 for the big fish pool. There will be a $25 late fee for entries submitted within 15 days of the tournament.

For more information, contact the Cabela’s King Kat Tournament Trail at (502) 384-5924 or visit kingkatusa. com.

WOMEN’S FLY FISHING

White River Trout Unlimited Chapter 698 will hold “Lines, Leaders & Lipstick,” an event for women that want to learn how to fly fish, Aug. 4-5 in Cotter.

Presented by Carolyn Hellmuth, the Fly Fishing 101 class is designed for beginners and will introduce participants to fly fishing vocabulary, fly selections, and workshops on rigging and casting.

For experienced women fly fishers, additional workshops will be held inside the Northwest Arkansas Youth Center in Cotter. Lori Sloas of Berry Brothers Guide Service in Cotter and Gina Leitle of River Runners Outfitters in Branson will present a workshop titled, “How to Rig Your Rod for Different Types of Fishing.”

Other workshops will include, “Learning to Read the Water Generation on a Tailwater,” “Boating Safety,” “Fishing from a Kayak,” “Knot Tying” and “How to Pick the Right Wader.”

Jane Hatchet, president of the Cotter-Gassville Chamber of Commerce, originated the event to better engage women anglers. Trout Unlimited has been instrumental in attracting more women to the organization, thus forming the Women’s Initiative Workgroup at the national level.

Registration for the event will close today. For more information or to register, contact Sara Thorne at (870) 453-4212 or emptycreel@yahoo.com.

Women’s Initiative leaders in the other Trout Unlimited Chapters are Kim Dollins of Heber Springs (TU Chapter 722) and Jill