June 4, 2002 – The annual pre-Father's Day Fishing Tournament in Frenchtown is set for Sunday, June 9 – a week before the annual three-day traditional Frenchtown celebration and a month ahead of the Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament.
Tournament chairman Teddy "Magic" Danet says there are no major changes in this year's rules, a release reported. Fishing will begin at 5:30 a.m. and conclude at noon.
— Entry fee is $25. For that, each angler receives a commemorative T-shirt and a gift pack provided by the tournament sponsors.
— Qualifying fish include: kingfish, tuna, mackerel, bonito, dolphin, barracuda, and amberjack.
— Nonqualifying fish include: blue marlin, white marlin, yellow fin tuna, mackerel, sailfish and all categories of shark.
— Anglers are allowed only one handline or rod and reel; maximum allowable boat length is 36 feet. There's no live baiting, no drift fishing, and boat must be moving at no less than 2 miles per hour during the fishing period.
— To qualify, a boat must be returned to the Frenchtown bayside by noon.
An anglers' meeting will be announced shortly. Pre-registration will be available at that meeting and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Joseph Aubain Ball Park concession building.
Prizes will be awarded at the Father's Day Frenchtown celebration, at 7 p.m. on June 16. Prizes to be awarded this year, according to Danet, are: $2,000 cash prize for the angler with the biggest qualifying fish; special prize category for youngest angler with the most weight of qualifying fish; several other prize categories, including angler with the most weight of qualifying fish, angler with the biggest kingfish, tuna, mackerel, barracuda, bonito, amberjack and dolphin.
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