Levi’s Benefit Tournament
Written by Matt Harrup
Tourney Director
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Seventeen anglers gathered at Parkway Marina on Smith Mountain Lake early on the morning of October 7th 2017 for a fishing tournament. But this wasn’t just a regular fishing tournament, they were fishing for a cause. Everyone was fishing for five year old Levi Shull who has hydrocephalus, a condition that is also known as water on the brain. Hydrocephalus is a caused by cerebrospinal fluid that backs up in the brain with no where to go, sometimes requiring a shunt to drain off the fluid from the brain to the stomach. Levi unfortunately has had 12 surgeries due to the 50% failure rate of these shunts. But if you have ever seen him you would never know as he is a very active little boy.
It was a cool morning compared to what had been seeing all week with a little fog. Due to the slight fog and a few boats showing up just before blast off, all boats were held until safe conditions. At approximately 7:15am all seventeen boats were sent off one by one and told to be back at 3:30pm for weigh-in.
The start of the day presented very calm glassy conditions on the water where it was very easy to see shad breaking the top of the water, possibly running from a bass or striper or maybe they were just playing around. The water temperature was around 72 on the low end of the lake and a touch higher at the upper end, with the usual crystal clear water conditions we are accustomed to seeing at SML. As the day went on and it heated up it brought out more boaters to enjoy the day as it was going to reach temperatures around the eighty degree mark making the main channel very active with some wakes. Around lunch time the clouds rolled in and around 2:30 it started to rain from the state park area back towards the dam.
About three o’clock Levi and his family showed up to watch the weigh in. As they waited for the scales to be set up Levi and his older sister could be found playing by the waters edge looking for shells and checking out all the boats coming and going. Around 3:30 all boats that were weighing in had showed up and were line to show off what they had caught. The first bag showed very quick that we were about to see some nice ones. Levi stood by with his family to watch and with every fish you could hear him oohing and awing no matter the size. About the fourth bag weighed, a pig was pulled out of the tub and held up, it would weigh in at 6.02 pounds taking the big fish lead and that bag would also take the lead with 18.87 pounds. Two bags later thinking we already had the winner established a two person team unloaded their bag in the tub and we all knew it would be close. After weighing the big fish at 5.35 pounds the rest were weighed and we had a new leader with 19.64 pounds. The remaining boats weighed in and concluded the weigh in. Before we handed out checks Levi’s mom helped all of us understand what hydrocephalus was and explained the long journey Levi had already had. Now understanding why we were there to raise the money the checks were handed out as follows; Third place went to Clay and Jeff Ross weighing in 13.5 pounds, second place went to David Martin weighing in 18.35 pounds and also winning big fish with 6.02 pounds, and first place went to Ben Reynolds and Zach Lovern with 19.64 pounds.
Afterwards some of the anglers came over and talked to the family and Levi as other anglers loaded up their boats and headed home. After all was said and done we had raised over $750 to help pay for the medical expenses, which was 50% of the entry fee as well as donations from anglers present and not present. I myself can not count how many times I heard Tabitha and WT, the parents of Levi, thank everyone for their support. After everyone had left Tabitha and WT passed on to me to thank each and everyone who participated or donated to help make this benefit a success. And from myself thanks again to all that showed up to fish, that donated and that volunteered their time to help organize and execute this benefit for Levi. Keep an eye on thebasscast.com for our next benefit. Tight lines…….
In second for the boaters Ross Burns of Columbia, South Carolina weighed in two five bass limits with a total weight of 30.65 pounds. He anchored his catch with a 4.48-pound kicker fish. Burns collected $1075.00 for the effort.
Jason Burroughs of Hodges, South Carolina placed third with two five bass limits that had a combined weight of 28.77 pounds. Burroughs took home a check for $875.00.
Louis Kraft of Salisbury North Carolina weighed in the biggest bass for the boaters at 4.90 pounds. Kraft took home $640.00 for the bass and because it was the biggest bass of the tournament, and he caught it on an ABU Garcia reel, Kraft also took home a new ABU Garcia SX spinning reel valued at $160.00.
In the Co-Angler Division Jonathan Carter of Greenville, South Carolina won with a total of six bass that weighed 13.82 pounds. He anchored his catch with a bass that weighed 3.24 pounds. He pocketed a check for $5000.00 for his win.
The biggest bass for the co-anglers was weighed in by Ronnie Brown of Cherryville, North Carolina. The bass weighed in at 3.55 pounds, earning Brown $225.00
