The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) will host the inaugural Legacy Lunker Awards Banquet on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. at the North Little Rock Event Center. The evening will celebrate the first year of the Arkansas Legacy Lunker program, which has been regarded as a successful step toward enhancing bass fishing in the state.
Seventeen anglers who each submitted a 10-pound-or-larger bass to the program between January and March will have a chance to win a 21-foot Xpress boat, valued at over $75,000. The boat, donated by Xpress Boats of Hot Springs, will be awarded through a random drawing during the event. Each participating angler will also receive a free replica mount of their Legacy Lunker, provided by Harper’s Pure Country Taxidermy of Mountain Home and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation.
Tickets for the banquet are available for $50 and include dinner, beverages, and presentations. The Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, which is organizing the event, notes that individuals can still purchase tickets or sponsor a table through the program’s website at www.agfc.com/legacylunker.
The evening will feature a variety of presentations, including insights from AGFC Black Bass Program Coordinator Jeremy Risley, who will share updates on the program’s inaugural season. Rory Herndon, president of Xpress Boats, will discuss the industry’s perspective on the program’s impact, while professional angler Fred “Boom Boom” Roumbanis will offer his thoughts on Arkansas’s evolving approach to trophy bass management. Roumbanis, known for his success in the Bassmaster Classic, Major League Fishing, and the Bass Pro Tour, is an Arkansas resident who has built a career amassing over $1.8 million in winnings.
The banquet will also include a raffle with prizes donated by top fishing brands, such as PRADCO, Bass Pro Shops, and AFTCO. Attendees will have the opportunity to view the Xpress Boat already dedicated to next year’s Legacy Lunker drawing.
In its first year, the Legacy Lunker program produced more than 300,000 jumbo “lunkerling” fingerlings, stocked in some of Arkansas’s most promising trophy bass fishing locations. This effort was supplemented by 1.5 million standard Florida-strain bass fingerlings and over 400,000 northern largemouth bass fingerlings stocked across the state.
AGFF President Deke Whitbeck expressed optimism for the banquet’s future, calling it a key event for Arkansas’s passionate bass-fishing community. The organization aims to make this a yearly celebration of the program’s contributions to fishing in the Natural State.
More information on the Arkansas Legacy Lunker program and the banquet can be found at www.agfc.com/legacylunker.