To say that June 5th is a special day would be an under statement. Eight years ago when our son came out of the delivery room to tell us we had a granddaughter -- little did we know that she would turn into an award winning angler. But, coming from a fishing family I guess this was no surprise.
On Thursday -- June 5th Savannah Ward age 8 of Ft. Pierce, Florida took 2nd place in the Junior Division of the Kingbuster 400 in St. Augustine, Florida. Out of a field of 100 Juniors there were only 33 fish weighed in. Hanna Damon of Eustis, Florida was in the lead with a 22.80 pound king that took 1st place. Savannah's king weighed in at 22.45 pounds. She just missed 1st place by a few ounces. The 3rd place fish weighed 18 pounds and caught by local angler Brandon Mayo of St. Augustine.
As we waited for the Team Pursuit boat to come to the weigh in dock we saw Hanna go up to each angler and congratulate them on their catch. I think she was very anxious when she saw Savannah and her dad bringing up Savannah's kingfish. As we all watched the officials weigh Savannah's king Hanna was pacing back and forth. As soon as she saw the weight she came right over to Savannah and told her congratulations. After the SKA interview Savannah went to Hanna to congratulate her on her win. Hanna's Mom told Savannah that it was so close and maybe she should have used a bigger bait. Savannah was quick to tell her that they used the biggest bait that they had and everyone had a good laugh.
I think that other than the awards ceremony the best part of the day was when the interviewer for the SKA had the crowd sing happy birthday to Savannah.
Savannah fishes for Team Pursuit lead by her dad -- Capt. Rob Ward. Rob ran down to Daytona to put Savannah on the fish that she caught. They were fishing in 40 feet of water and she caught her king on a live blue runner. Savannah's biggest kingfish to date is a 32.94 pounder she caught last August in New Smyrna Beach. The other Team Pursuit members on board that day were Eric Hess, Jay Sizemore and Danny Maness.
For her 2nd place finish Savannah received a check for $400.00 and prizes worth about $1100.00. The next kingfish tournament for Team Pursuit will be on June 20th and 21st in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
Savannah is a student at Lawnwood Elementary School and will start 3rd grade there in the fall. She is also a very active member of the Junior Teen Anglers. Savannah had two 1st place wins, two 2nd place wins and a 3rd place win this past season. Junior Teen Anglers is for the 5 to 11 age group and there is also a Teen Anglers for the 12 to 18 age group. For more info on either just go to the web at www.teenanglers.org.
Capt. Joe & Cammie Ward
PROUD GRANDPARENTS!!