Fishin' For The Cure Raises $29,000; Local Anglers Show Well

Fishin' for the Cure, a Montana-based organization that builds public awareness of childhood cancer and raises funds to support childhood cancer research, hosted it's seventh annual Montana fishing derby.

The event on Aug. 16 at Rock Creek Marina on Fort Peck Lake was attended and supported by nearly 200 gracious people – with 38 fishing teams and 107 fishermen – helping raise money for childhood cancer research.

Major sponsors were Mitchell's Oilfield Service, Walleyes Unlimited of Montana, Walleyes Unlimited chapters of Glendive, Glasgow and Fort Peck, Rock Creek Marina and Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

Derby Results

Walleye Species

First place:  Larry, Beth and Austyn Mindt, and Bailee Fink of Sidney with 26.62 pounds.

Second place:  Kirk Boyer and Adam Morehouse  of Glasgow with 20.98 pounds.

Third place: Scott Woodward, Kristi Bogar, Mark and Karla Jones of Glendive with 16.36 pounds.,

The Larry Mindt team of Sidney caught the largest Walleye at 12.38 pounds.

Northern Pike Species

First place:  Jane Jarvis, Greg and Myrna Sadorf of Fort Peck and Glendive with 38.12 pounds.

Second place:  Reg and Jordan Gibbs of Billings with 37.8 pounds.

Third place: Shawn Schock, Al VanCleave, Donny Malia and Wendy Ruggles of Shepherd with 34.7 pounds.

The Eddie Mindt team of Lambert reeled in the largest Northern at 15.1 pounds.

In addition to the fishing derby, an event called "Be Brave and Shave" was held, where children and adults collected donations to shave their heads to raise awareness for childhood cancer.

On the roster was Mikayla Sky Prescot of Fort Peck, who followed in her sister's footsteps from last year.  She was joined by Kale Fasting of Bozeman, and Laiken Oellerman of Glendive, as well as Gloria Hungate of Stanford. Gloria and a few friends have been faithfully manning a lemonade stand at the local farmers markets throughout the year to raise money for donations.

Many other supporters led fundraising efforts prior to the derby, including Team Tate of Glendive, which held a bake sale in honor of friend and classmate Tate Beggar who lost his life to childhood cancer. Several others held garage sales, set up lemonade stands, and two little boys even had their birthday guests bring donations for FFTC instead of presents.

The total fundraising efforts of this year's derby yielded more than $29.000. With the incredible support, Fishin for the Cure is able to help fund the most promising research grants to help find new treatments, and hopefully a cure, for a disease which claims seven children every day.

Lynnette Siegle, mother of Matt Siegle and Secretary of FFTC, said, "Our goal is to cure childhood cancer one lake at a time. We have expanded our dream to include tournaments in North Dakota and Arizona."

To get involved, contact Lynnette at 406-599-8092.