2026 Paul Jadro Memorial Bass Tournament Raises $5,000 for Southern Trinity Area Rescue

This is a press release from Fortuna Rotary Club:

Pictured above – 2nd place winners Tom Helberg and Brian Barthman, 1st place winners Rusty Broadstock and Garrett Griffith, 3rd place winners Hunter and Cory Sutton. Rotary club check presenters – Jeana McClendon (Pres. Elect), Leonard Whitchurch (Pres.) Fred Flores (Sgt. at Arms)

Weather is often a factor in bass tournament fishing as was the case with the 32^nd Annual Paul Jadro Memorial Bass Tournament held at Ruth Lake on June 6^th. Wind ruled the day and proved to have an impact but even so, 27 of the 32 boats participating weighed in with 23 of them bagging 5-fish limits. 1^st place in the team division with a weight of 17.76 lbs. went to Rusty Broadstock and his youth angler partner Garrett Griffith. A very close 2^nd place was claimed by the team of Brian Barthman and Tom Helberg with a weight of 17.57 lbs. and following up in 3^rd place was the team of Cory Sutton and son, youth angler Hunter Sutton. The big fish of the tournament, weighing 5.21 lbs., was caught by the team of Sam Humphrey and Thomas Bruce who managed a 4^th place finish with 16.18 lbs.

The youth division (under 16) had 7 anglers competing for plaques, rod and reel combo packages and tackle with all youth contestants taking home a prize thanks to our many youth angler sponsors. The prestigious “smallest limit award”, sponsored by the Waddell family of Fortuna was won by the team of Jeff Noga and Bret Banducci for their limit of 5 fish weighing 5.39 lbs. (likely a record for smallest limit).

While the tournament is hosted by Fortuna Rotary, all proceeds, which included many of the contestants donating back their winnings, are directed to Southern Trinity Area Rescue (STAR ambulance Service). STAR ambulance provides time sensitive First Responder Emergency Medical Services to all that live, work and/or vacation in the immediate area as well as remote areas of southern Trinity and southeast Humboldt Counties.

In addition to the awards, contestants participated in a raffle with products and services donated by local sponsors. Fortuna Rotary would like to recognize our sponsors (shown below) which help make this tournament a success.

Ponci’s Diesel Center  –   S & H Auto Machine   –  Jeff Griffith & Rusty Broadstock   

RMI Outdoors  –  Dale & Debbie Waddell   –   Englund Marine   –  Pacific Outfitters   

Sport & Cycle  –  Humboldt Paintball Community  –  Grundman’s Sporting Goods   

Dave’s Auto Electric   –   Hummel Tire   –  Reynold’s RV Repair  –  Moonlight Catering   

Quality Body Shop  –  Billy’s Custom Baits  –  Paul Jadro Family  –  George’s Glass

John Broadstock

In addition to the proceeds from the tournament, STAR also received a $5,000.00 donation from Fortuna Rotary as one of the many projects that Rotary is involved with in support of our communities.