Jacksonville readies for annual Kingfish tournament

The 45th Annual Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament will be returning to the Jacksonville area in mid-July.

A portion of the event proceeds will go to Jacksonville Marine Charities Inc. which supports, marine preservation, science research and education.

Registration for all tournaments will be July 9th,10th and 11th.

Fishing begins July 12th with the Kingfish Kickoff Beach Tournament beginning at 6:30 am, and the site will have raffles, liar's tent, boatique and exhibitors daily.

The Youth Dock tournament will be July 15th from 8:30 am to 11:30 am. Lunch and awards will follow. The Jr. Angler Offshore Tournament will be July 16th when fishing will start at 7:30 am. On Thursday, July 17th Jr. Angler Awards will begin at 6:00 pm.

The General Tournament fishing begins at 6:30 am on Friday. The awards ceremony for the Kickoff Beach and General Tournaments will be at 6:00 pm on Saturday, and the raffle drawing for the Nosara Costa Rico trip will take place during the awards ceremony.

Winners that receive large prizes such as the $230,000 worth of prizes in this tournament often have pictures taken at the ceremony and the photos are often sent to local printing services to put in the local paper, and advertising brochure printing for the tournament.

This year's Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament will take place July 9th through the 19th at Sister Creek Jim King Park and Boat Ramp.