MINNEAPOLIS, Minn – Bass angler and YouTube star known as Fat Cat Newton helped reel in record support as an emcee for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® during the 20th annual Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic from May 4-6 in Minnesota’s Wabasha Municipal Harbor.
About 200 bass anglers (92 teams) from across the Midwest who competed in the fishing tournament on the Mississippi River raised $660,294 this year, exceeding their goal by 81 percent and making it one of Minnesota’s biggest charity fishing tournaments. Participants have raised approximately $3.3 million since the tournament’s inception in 1999. The funds support the St. Jude mission: Finding cures. Saving children.®
Thanks to the support of generous donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Representing St. Jude patient families at the event was patient Mason and his dad Matt who became fast friends with Fat Cat Newton. Not only do they share a love of fishing but also, they learned Newton is a childhood cancer survivor himself.
Two Wisconsin teams tied for top fundraiser recognition with each raising $37,000 for St. Jude kids.
- · Dave Mansell and Josh Miller from the village of Roberts
- · Jamie Gibson of New Richmond and Lonnie Peterson of Chippewa Falls
Tournament winners are as follows:
- · First place: Brian Harmon of Mondovi, Wisconsin, and Cory Hauk of River Falls, Wisconsin, total weight of fish caught was 46.98 pounds;
- · Second place: Dave Mansell and Josh Miller of Roberts, Wisconsin, total weight of fish caught was 46.64 pounds; and
- · Third place: Joe Hall of Lake City, Minnesota, and Aaron LaRocque of Wabasha, Minnesota, total weight of fish caught was 45.69 pounds.