The 2024 Get Hook’d Lake Monroe Fishing Tournament and Seafood Festival will take place this weekend.
The festival will be on Saturday, January 13, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, January 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lake Monroe and The West End Trading Co., which is located at 214 Sanford Avenue in Sanford.
The main event will include a bass and crappie fishing tournament that starts at 7 a.m., with the seafood festival starting at noon on Saturday.
The festival will feature an outdoor stage with live music from many bands, including The Supervillains. There will also be over 30 food vendors in attendance, as well as other vendors and product demonstrations.
Winners will be announced during a tournament award ceremony, and prizes will be awarded from 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
To register for the tournament, you must attend the captains meeting at Celery City Craft on Friday, January 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Anglers are required to stay for the entire captain’s meeting. An overview of the contest and rules will be given by the tournament director, followed by a Q&A for anyone with questions. All anglers will be assigned a time slot for weigh-in at registration at the captain’s meeting. Slots will be pulled lottery-style. A one-pound penalty per minute for arriving late to weigh-in. Anglers will be disqualified after 15 minutes with no exceptions. Anglers must check out if they are not weighing fish.
On Sunday, the Hook Kids on Fishing tournament will begin at 10:00 a.m. with a conservation and fishing education seminar. There is space for 150 kids to participate in the conservation class. All kids that participate will receive a free fishing pole and parents must be present for kids to participate.
Sign-ups will begin Saturday at the Seafood Festival and kids will be able to sign up as long as there are still spots available. The class will consist of five stages, including safety, conservation, knot tying, tackle, and casting. After the conservation, the kids will fish the small pond behind the Sanford Museum.
All parents must be present while their kids are fishing. There will be volunteers to assist the children and small prizes will be awarded to kids during the tournament.
For more information, visit the The 2024 Get Hook’d Lake Monroe Fishing Tournament and Seafood Festival webpage.