Bass2Billfish host Peter Miller will compete in the “Ding” Darling Tarpon Tournament. Image courtesy of “Ding” Darling Wildlife Service.
Host of the popular Bass2Billfish TV fishing program, Peter Miller, has signed up for the third annual “Ding” Darling and Doc Ford’s Tarpon Tournament, on Saturday, May 3, 2014, from Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille on Fort Myer Beach.
Florida-based Miller will be fishing with the team of longtime Sanibel fishing guide Ozzie Fischer. The former Team Yamaha will now be Team Bass2Billfish, named for the show that airs on NBC Sports Outdoors and the World Fishing Network weekly. Consistently rated the top fishing/travel reality show in the nation, Bass2Billfish reaches more than 8 million viewers.
“Peter and I fished together last summer for a show he did in Pine Island Sound,” said Fischer, who was instrumental in setting up the “Ding” Darling tarpon tournament format three years ago. “He has a love for fishing like I do, and I thought it would be good publicity to promote the tournament and show him how good fishing is here.”
Fisher’s family began chartering local waters in the early 1970s. “I’d go with my dad out of South Seas,” he remembers. “I got my own boat at age 12 and started chartering at age 24. My 17-year-old son, Christian Fischer, will be joining Team Bass2Billfish for the tournament.
The tourney’s catch-and-release format that Fisher helped design is similar to sailfish tournament formats, added Fisher, 42. “Miller is known for his competitive sailfishing, so I thought it would be a good fit.”
The entry fee into the catch-release-care tournament is $500 per boat; only 20 slots remain in a field of 50 boats. One hundred percent of the entry fees is awarded in prize monies to the teams that catch the most tarpon, with event sponsorships and silent auction donations going to support J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. Last year the tournament contributed $40,000 to the aid of wildlife at the refuge.
For tournament registration, visit www.DingDarlingTarponTourney.org or contact Birgie Miller at 239-292-0566 or director@dingdarlingsociety.org (hurry! — registration deadline is April 25).
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