07/13/2026
🎣 The Bait Store 304 Panfish Tournament🎣
What an incredible tournament! A huge thank you to every angler, parent, volunteer, sponsor, and supporter who came out and helped make this event a success. We had 21 anglers sign up, including 10 kids, and it was amazing to see so many families enjoying the outdoors together.
🏆 Tournament Results
🥇 1st Place: Hunter Ross – 6/6 Fish – 3.3 lbs
🥈 2nd Place: Corbin Poggi – 6/6 Fish – 3.0 lbs
🥉 3rd Place: Lucas Ross – 6/6 Fish – 2.9 lbs
4️⃣ 4th Place: Willow Conner – 6/6 Fish – 1.9 lbs
5️⃣ 5th Place: Chaston McGinnis – 6/6 Fish – 1.4 lbs
🎖️ Heaviest Panfish
🐟 Bentley McLavahlin
⚖️ 0.6 lbs
📏 9¼ inches long
📐 8½ inches girth
Congratulations to all of our winners!
What made this tournament even more special was watching the kids compete. They absolutely showed out! The kids took every placing spot except 1st place—and they even beat me! 😂 I couldn’t be happier. Watching these young anglers catch fish, have fun, and build confidence is exactly why I love putting these tournaments together.
The fun didn’t stop with the tournament awards either. Every kid had the opportunity to win extra prizes on top of the tournament placing prizes! Thanks to our incredible sponsors, they went home with trading cards, fishing gear, tackle, clothing, and much more. Seeing those smiles made every bit of planning worthwhile.
Now it’s time to start looking ahead to our October 17th Catfish Tournament, and I truly believe it’s going to be our biggest and best event yet!
📍 Sign-ups, the Captain’s Meeting, and all of our vendors will be set up at the Washington Lands Volunteer Fire Department.
⚖️ The official weigh-ins will be held at the boat launch, so anglers can get back in quickly after a night on the water.
We’re working on bringing you an even bigger experience with:
• Many of our familiar vendors returning.
•Hopefully we can get the MadKatz trailer in!
•I’m also working on getting Joe’s Flies to bring their pop-up display.
• Several local bait makers selling custom lures, jigs, rigs, tackle, and more.
•Every vendor that sets up will also be contributing prizes to the tournament!
Even better… every kid who enters the October tournament will receive a catfish rod and reel combo!
We Need Your Help!
We have a lot of combos still donated from Bass Pro Shops - Triadelphia, WV, but we can always use more! If you have any old catfish rods, or reels collecting dust, please consider donating them. I’ll be setting up a drop-off box where you can leave unwanted fishing equipment. We’ll make sure it gets into the hands of kids who can use it, keep it, and hopefully create memories they’ll never forget.
This is about much more than winning a tournament. It’s about introducing kids to the outdoors, getting families together, building friendships, and making sure the next generation has every opportunity to enjoy the sport we all love.
Thank you again to every participant, every parent, every volunteer, every sponsor, every vendor, and everyone who has supported The Bait Store 304. None of this would be possible without this amazing community.
I had an absolute blast putting this tournament on, and I hope to see even more of you at our October 17th Catfish Tournament. Let’s make it the biggest event we’ve ever had! 🎣❤️
