June 18, 2025 • 10 mins
Kids take center stage for a kids only (15 and uinder) kingfish tournament! Flynn Jarrett and Rob Widdows join the show to talk fishing, kids and why they need to be outside
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to North Florida.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Now my name is John Scott and I'm with Rob
Widows and Flint Jarrett with the Kids back to School
Kingfish Derby. Welcome, gentlemen. How are y'all doing?
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning, morning guys.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Let's talk about this. What is the kids back to School?
Kingfish Derby? Whoever wants to go first?
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Okay, well I'll start Rob here. This is our sixth
year that we've actually been putting on this tournament, and
Flynn and I saw a need where we wanted to
see local kids actually get out and go fish and
have a good time and a pretty much a nice,
laid back atmosphere where there's no pressure and not to
(00:41):
mention the parents, they didn't have to pay three, four
or five hundred dollars enter a bigger tournament just to
take their kids out in a junior angler tournament where
they have a chance to, you know, wind some really
great prizes. You know, Flynn, what do you think?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I think I think you touched on it there, Rob
that the tournament. The best part about the tournament is
it gives children the taste of the adult competition and
it allows the parents to participate and let the children
participate in it without feeling there's a quarter of a
million dollars on the line. It gives the same excitement
to the children that the kids feel on a big
(01:18):
money tournament, without the pressure to maybe not be one
hundred percent honest. It eliminates cheating, and it's just a
great opportunity for kids to get a taste of what
their parents or older siblings or neighbors and friends what
they're doing. But the day's just about them.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
And what age group were we talking about? Guys?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Right now? We have six and under and then we
have a seven to fifteen. You know, it sounds kind
of funny, but if you're old enough to drive by yourself,
you're too old to go fishing in the kids tournament.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I love it, so we did.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
We did the cut off at fifteen. In our first year.
We started with I believe sixty two anglers and then
now we've got we're right at the cusp of breaking
one hundred kids that come out and fish every year
with us, So we're steadily growing.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
That is, and where is the fishing going to be?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Most of the shore side activities are going to be
at the Palms Fish Camp restaurant on Clapboard Creek just
down Hecksher. We have our Thursday Night Captains meeting and
our Saturday way in at the restaurant at the boat
ramp adjacent to it. Sunday we'll be at the chem
(02:36):
Cell Club and Fernandina. That will be our awards ceremony
and annual cookout.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well that is so good. How did what got y'all?
I mean, I know y'all that the thought process was
let's get kids involved. But did it stem from something
with your kids or maybe when y'all were growing up
you wish there was something?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
How did that start?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Rob and I both grew up with a huge love
for outdoors and fishing, and it's simply became a necessity
almost to us to have this tournament because children's Every
major Kingfish tournament in the area has a children's or
(03:13):
a junior day, but it's never, actually it's very rarely
given the spotlight that it deserves. Usually it's the day
after or the day before the tournament. Oftentimes it is
it's been earmarked as Noah as their backup day for
(03:35):
fishing in case there's bad weather. We've seen that happen before,
where the Junior Angler Day is now also part of
the general fishing day, and we just really wanted to
delineate the Junior day completely from the major tournament. It
(03:56):
makes the entire weekend about the kids, not just seven
hours at the end of a tournament dedicated to the children.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I love that fact.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I love the idea about that because it is you're
not just putting the kids to the side or letting
them go first.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
This whole weekend.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It sounds like it's planned out just the way other
tournaments are, where you have the captain's meeting on Thursday
and then you're weighing them in, you're having your party
in a different location. It really is something special for
that I did this like on the golf side when
I was a kid. It was really cool, and I'll
say it was really special not just to be a
part of a golf tournament, but the juniors to be
(04:34):
the actual tournament when it came to golf.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
And so I.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Remember as a kid, how I love this and I
think this is great for the kids who are just
getting out and having some fun fishing.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Oh yeah, very much. What we want to do is
get them to the point that you know that they
have that desire, They have that drive that they want
to when they get older to buy a boat and
when they become a young adult, to give out there
and enjoy it. Because let's be honest, you know, we're
we're getting older, and the kids that are coming up
now fishing these tournaments, they're the ones that are going
(05:05):
to be replacing us, you know, a few years down
the road, right and we want to we want to
encourage those kids to, you know, let's keep this trend
going of going out and joining the outdoors. And I
can tell you this that Flynn's done a tremendous job
in regards to working out the prize structure that we
have for these kids, because every prize structure is pretty
(05:28):
much is focused on outdoor activities. We give away the
normal rods and reels and the paddle stand up paddle
boards and things like that. But we do camping sets,
we do hunting sets with compound bows, We do just
a myriad of things other than you know, a electronic devices.
(05:50):
You know, you don't what you play in on the
on the xbox. We want you outside, you know, go
get dirty, go have fun. And that's that's our big thing,
is you know, because once we're gone, if we don't
have anybody to replace us, and you know, this whole
industry could suffer, you know, very much, so across the board.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
And I think more so than the industry, the kids
as grown ups would too. I mean, we got to
get out there. I mean more and more research is
just saying kids have got to touch grass, they got
to splash in the water. We got to get out
there and we got to get going. We've almost lost
a generation due to electronics and my gosh and social
media and all that crap. And then we just got
to get back out and get back, get back to
(06:30):
the land, get back to the water.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
And that's a good that's actually kind of a good
segue into to our reasoning for our for our prize
structure that Rob was getting into. Yes, so with with
with our two divisions, first, second, and third place in
each division, in addition with a couple sponsored prizes, receive
(06:52):
lifetime hunting and fishing licenses. So not only are we
making it a single day about the kids each year,
but for eight kids, we're providing them the ability to
at least legally hunt or fish in the state of
Florida for the rest.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Of their lives.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Amen, that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yeah, we think that's a pretty special angle. We're kind
of surprised that it's not picked up Steam and other
tournaments just because you are. We are now creating an
opportunity for somebody to enjoy the outdoors their entire lives.
And what Rob was saying about our prize packages that
we put together, they have to meet three criteria. First
(07:31):
is they have to be exciting to the kids. You know,
a compound bow or a stand up paddle or definitely
exciting to the kids. They have to be to make
the create an active outdoor activity. It makes kids get outside,
like you said, away from electronics and the iPads and
the tablets. But it can't be too valuable that it
ends up on Facebook marketplace on Monday morning, right.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So I like it. That's a great comp that's a
great way to look at it.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
And I think those lifetime licenses, man, that's just what
a great, great thought whoever had it, man, kudos to
both of you guys. Talking to Rob Widows and Flynn
Jarrett the kids back to school, kingfish Derby, it's for
the kids. It's there's two age groups.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Fifteen. Was that eight to fifteen or seven to fifteen
and six and under.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Yes, yeah, that's right, sixth under and seven to fifteen.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
The tournament is July twenty sixth if we haven't mentioned
it yet. And for more information, where do we want
some parents send some kids to go and find out
some more information.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
They can look us up at our website and it's
just the kids Kingfishderby dot com. And then we are
on social media with Facebook with Kids kingfish Derby on
Facebook and Instagram, so they can look us up there
and get all the information.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And that's got registration links and everything like that, right, yes,
yes it does.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
And one thing I want to touch on too that
you know, we support charities with our five to one
C three and this year's charity that we're actually probably
going to be supporting is going to be the Children's
Burn Camp of North Florida. And what it is is
they it's it's a place where kids can go between
(09:14):
the ages of at least seven and seventeen who are
burn survivors and they get to go to camp. They
get to be a kid, they get to play with
other kids who've been through something very similar that they
have for a week through donations that we're coming from,
like from our organization and through other organizations. The kids
get to go for no cost at all, and their
(09:36):
parents don't have to worry about them. They have counselors
and everything there to.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Stay with them.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
And you know, that'll be at the end of July
and the first the end of June, the first part
of July. So we're going to be more involved with
them for the next year's event. But it's going to
be a Camp Anderson down in Old Town, Florida and
the actual Children's burn camp in North Florida. Their website
is Campamigo dot com. If im I wanted to look
them up and see all the great set that they're
(10:03):
doing for kids here in North Florida.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Man, that is so cool. Bless your hearts. You guys
really really putting your passion to work and helping helping
keep this alive, giving kids an opportunity to get out
and have some fun and making it for them.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
The kids back to school, Kingfishderby, the kids Kingfishderby dot com.
Is that where we're going, Yes, it is. Go there
for all the information, find out everything. It's going to
be a wonderful week at the end of the July
twenty sixth area, A wonderful week for the kids and
rob widows. Flynn Jarrett, we appreciate your passion and thanks
(10:40):
for putting it to good use.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
My friends, well, thank you so much, and we appreciate
your time.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Yeah, we appreciate the opportunity to talk about it.
Welcome to North Florida.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Now my name is John Scott and I'm with Rob
Widows and Flint Jarrett with the Kids back to School
Kingfish Derby. Welcome, gentlemen. How are y'all doing?
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning, morning guys.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Let's talk about this. What is the kids back to School?
Kingfish Derby? Whoever wants to go first?
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Okay, well I'll start Rob here. This is our sixth
year that we've actually been putting on this tournament, and
Flynn and I saw a need where we wanted to
see local kids actually get out and go fish and
have a good time and a pretty much a nice,
laid back atmosphere where there's no pressure and not to
(00:41):
mention the parents, they didn't have to pay three, four
or five hundred dollars enter a bigger tournament just to
take their kids out in a junior angler tournament where
they have a chance to, you know, wind some really
great prizes. You know, Flynn, what do you think?
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I think I think you touched on it there, Rob
that the tournament. The best part about the tournament is
it gives children the taste of the adult competition and
it allows the parents to participate and let the children
participate in it without feeling there's a quarter of a
million dollars on the line. It gives the same excitement
to the children that the kids feel on a big
(01:18):
money tournament, without the pressure to maybe not be one
hundred percent honest. It eliminates cheating, and it's just a
great opportunity for kids to get a taste of what
their parents or older siblings or neighbors and friends what
they're doing. But the day's just about them.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
And what age group were we talking about? Guys?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Right now? We have six and under and then we
have a seven to fifteen. You know, it sounds kind
of funny, but if you're old enough to drive by yourself,
you're too old to go fishing in the kids tournament.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I love it, so we did.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
We did the cut off at fifteen. In our first year.
We started with I believe sixty two anglers and then
now we've got we're right at the cusp of breaking
one hundred kids that come out and fish every year
with us, So we're steadily growing.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
That is, and where is the fishing going to be?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Most of the shore side activities are going to be
at the Palms Fish Camp restaurant on Clapboard Creek just
down Hecksher. We have our Thursday Night Captains meeting and
our Saturday way in at the restaurant at the boat
ramp adjacent to it. Sunday we'll be at the chem
(02:36):
Cell Club and Fernandina. That will be our awards ceremony
and annual cookout.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Well that is so good. How did what got y'all?
I mean, I know y'all that the thought process was
let's get kids involved. But did it stem from something
with your kids or maybe when y'all were growing up
you wish there was something?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
How did that start?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Rob and I both grew up with a huge love
for outdoors and fishing, and it's simply became a necessity
almost to us to have this tournament because children's Every
major Kingfish tournament in the area has a children's or
(03:13):
a junior day, but it's never, actually it's very rarely
given the spotlight that it deserves. Usually it's the day
after or the day before the tournament. Oftentimes it is
it's been earmarked as Noah as their backup day for
(03:35):
fishing in case there's bad weather. We've seen that happen before,
where the Junior Angler Day is now also part of
the general fishing day, and we just really wanted to
delineate the Junior day completely from the major tournament. It
(03:56):
makes the entire weekend about the kids, not just seven
hours at the end of a tournament dedicated to the children.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I love that fact.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I love the idea about that because it is you're
not just putting the kids to the side or letting
them go first.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
This whole weekend.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It sounds like it's planned out just the way other
tournaments are, where you have the captain's meeting on Thursday
and then you're weighing them in, you're having your party
in a different location. It really is something special for
that I did this like on the golf side when
I was a kid. It was really cool, and I'll
say it was really special not just to be a
part of a golf tournament, but the juniors to be
(04:34):
the actual tournament when it came to golf.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
And so I.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Remember as a kid, how I love this and I
think this is great for the kids who are just
getting out and having some fun fishing.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Oh yeah, very much. What we want to do is
get them to the point that you know that they
have that desire, They have that drive that they want
to when they get older to buy a boat and
when they become a young adult, to give out there
and enjoy it. Because let's be honest, you know, we're
we're getting older, and the kids that are coming up
now fishing these tournaments, they're the ones that are going
(05:05):
to be replacing us, you know, a few years down
the road, right and we want to we want to
encourage those kids to, you know, let's keep this trend
going of going out and joining the outdoors. And I
can tell you this that Flynn's done a tremendous job
in regards to working out the prize structure that we
have for these kids, because every prize structure is pretty
(05:28):
much is focused on outdoor activities. We give away the
normal rods and reels and the paddle stand up paddle
boards and things like that. But we do camping sets,
we do hunting sets with compound bows, We do just
a myriad of things other than you know, a electronic devices.
(05:50):
You know, you don't what you play in on the
on the xbox. We want you outside, you know, go
get dirty, go have fun. And that's that's our big thing,
is you know, because once we're gone, if we don't
have anybody to replace us, and you know, this whole
industry could suffer, you know, very much, so across the board.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
And I think more so than the industry, the kids
as grown ups would too. I mean, we got to
get out there. I mean more and more research is
just saying kids have got to touch grass, they got
to splash in the water. We got to get out
there and we got to get going. We've almost lost
a generation due to electronics and my gosh and social
media and all that crap. And then we just got
to get back out and get back, get back to
(06:30):
the land, get back to the water.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
And that's a good that's actually kind of a good
segue into to our reasoning for our for our prize
structure that Rob was getting into. Yes, so with with
with our two divisions, first, second, and third place in
each division, in addition with a couple sponsored prizes, receive
(06:52):
lifetime hunting and fishing licenses. So not only are we
making it a single day about the kids each year,
but for eight kids, we're providing them the ability to
at least legally hunt or fish in the state of
Florida for the rest.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Of their lives.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Amen, that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Yeah, we think that's a pretty special angle. We're kind
of surprised that it's not picked up Steam and other
tournaments just because you are. We are now creating an
opportunity for somebody to enjoy the outdoors their entire lives.
And what Rob was saying about our prize packages that
we put together, they have to meet three criteria. First
(07:31):
is they have to be exciting to the kids. You know,
a compound bow or a stand up paddle or definitely
exciting to the kids. They have to be to make
the create an active outdoor activity. It makes kids get outside,
like you said, away from electronics and the iPads and
the tablets. But it can't be too valuable that it
ends up on Facebook marketplace on Monday morning, right.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So I like it. That's a great comp that's a
great way to look at it.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
And I think those lifetime licenses, man, that's just what
a great, great thought whoever had it, man, kudos to
both of you guys. Talking to Rob Widows and Flynn
Jarrett the kids back to school, kingfish Derby, it's for
the kids. It's there's two age groups.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Fifteen. Was that eight to fifteen or seven to fifteen
and six and under.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Yes, yeah, that's right, sixth under and seven to fifteen.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Very good.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
The tournament is July twenty sixth if we haven't mentioned
it yet. And for more information, where do we want
some parents send some kids to go and find out
some more information.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
They can look us up at our website and it's
just the kids Kingfishderby dot com. And then we are
on social media with Facebook with Kids kingfish Derby on
Facebook and Instagram, so they can look us up there
and get all the information.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And that's got registration links and everything like that, right, yes,
yes it does.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
And one thing I want to touch on too that
you know, we support charities with our five to one
C three and this year's charity that we're actually probably
going to be supporting is going to be the Children's
Burn Camp of North Florida. And what it is is
they it's it's a place where kids can go between
(09:14):
the ages of at least seven and seventeen who are
burn survivors and they get to go to camp. They
get to be a kid, they get to play with
other kids who've been through something very similar that they
have for a week through donations that we're coming from,
like from our organization and through other organizations. The kids
get to go for no cost at all, and their
(09:36):
parents don't have to worry about them. They have counselors
and everything there to.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Stay with them.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
And you know, that'll be at the end of July
and the first the end of June, the first part
of July. So we're going to be more involved with
them for the next year's event. But it's going to
be a Camp Anderson down in Old Town, Florida and
the actual Children's burn camp in North Florida. Their website
is Campamigo dot com. If im I wanted to look
them up and see all the great set that they're
(10:03):
doing for kids here in North Florida.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Man, that is so cool. Bless your hearts. You guys
really really putting your passion to work and helping helping
keep this alive, giving kids an opportunity to get out
and have some fun and making it for them.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
The kids back to school, Kingfishderby, the kids Kingfishderby dot com.
Is that where we're going, Yes, it is. Go there
for all the information, find out everything. It's going to
be a wonderful week at the end of the July
twenty sixth area, A wonderful week for the kids and
rob widows. Flynn Jarrett, we appreciate your passion and thanks
(10:40):
for putting it to good use.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
My friends, well, thank you so much, and we appreciate
your time.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
Yeah, we appreciate the opportunity to talk about it.
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