http://www.tillsonburgnews.com/ArticleDisp...e&e=1726424
Casting for a Cure
Posted By By Jeff Helsdon
Posted 2 days ago
About a dozen anglers spent 12 hours on the water looking for big bass and doing their part to find a cure for cancer.
Langton-area resident Ryan Bonin was behind the fundraiser, which was held on Deer Creek on Aug. 19. He is an editor and cameraman for television angler Dave Mercer’s Facts of Fishing.
After Mercer lost his mother Ann to cancer, he started Casting for a Cure to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. That organization has raised close to $100,000 for cancer research. Bonin and crew added $3,170 to that total.
When Bonin’s wife Ginny’s grandmother Irene Anderson was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decided to hold an event to help Mercer’s cause.
His concept was to have participants fishing for 12 hours straight and collect pledges.
“It’s just like a walkathon, but it’s a fishathon,” he said.
The Frogmore resident decided to have the event at Deer Creek Conservation Area so as not to limit who could participate. Participants showed up with canoes, bass boats and crafts of different descriptions.
“I want to keep as many people involved as I could,” he said. “A lot of guys have kayaks and smaller boats.”
Bonin knew from his personal experience weather is a much bigger factor if he planned the event for Long Point Bay. Personally, he has a 15-foot boat and knows there are days the wind kept him from fishing on the bay.
The participants were Bonin’s friends, but also members of a couple of fishing message boards he participates in.
“Originally I was going to do it myself and then I thought I could do more if I got more people involved,” he said. “I far exceeded my personal expectations.”
Next year, he hopes to make the event bigger and better and include activities for the whole family.