Founders Ryan Turner and Kyle Wright did not have a long term vision or idea of what the future held for Borracho Pescador in late 2012, when they invited a group of friends to chase Redfish for a weekend in Port O’Connor Texas. Kyle staked his flag early on in Port O’Connor, chasing Reds before most of us even had this little slice of Texas on our map. With his hospitable nature and big heart, Kyle wanted to share this oasis with his buddies and play host to a little fun fishing tournament. Like many of us, a weekend escape of the hustle of the city is the therapy we crave. As the group got together, it would soon be understood there was a chase for something bigger, but what that exactly was, at the start was not clear.

After a few years of making the weekend trip an annual pilgrimage, through a mutual connection of one of the anglers, the boys were introduced to Bill Farnum, founder of Casting 4 A Cure. Bill’s daughter Ella, suffers from Rett Syndrome. Rett is a unique postnatal neurological disorder that is first recognized in infancy and seen almost always in girls, but can be rarely seen in boys. Rett is most often misdiagnosed as autism, cerebral palsy, or non-specific developmental delay.  This destructive disorder is caused by mutations on the X chromosome on a gene called MECP2.  

 Symptoms of Rett appear after an early period of apparently normal or near normal development until six to eighteen months of life, when there is a slowing down or stagnation of skills. Rett causes problems in brain function that are responsible for cognitive, sensory, emotional, motor and autonomic function. These can include learning, speech, sensory sensations, mood, movement, breathing, cardiac function, and even chewing, swallowing, and digestion.

After learning more of Ella’s story, Kyle and Ryan shared with Bill about their annual fishing trip, now in year 5, and the desire to somehow give back. Over the years, the common ground for the group became fatherhood. Stories of kids and families with different struggles became known, and there was no hesitation for the boys from Fort Worth Texas to hitch their wagon to Casting 4 a Cure as an extension to the already successful efforts of Bill at his tournament in Colorado.

“The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions of hope.” 

 -John Buchanon 

The slogan for Rett Syndrome and many parents with similar struggles is HOPE. When Kyle and Ryan took a closer look at the weekend name of their get together of Borracho Pescador, smack dab in the middle you find HOPE.

BorracHOPEscador

It was meant to be, and moving forward a new purpose was born. As soon as the weekend in Texas became a chase for something more meaningful, the growth followed suit from 25 anglers to then 50, and so on where the tournament reached a cap of 300 in 2021. It’s not about the trophy anymore, maybe it never was, or even the prizes, that's not the chase. When Tailwaters began supporting this cause in the early years, it felt right, it felt right to put the industry guard down a bit, and to remember the fun side of fishing, the bigger picture and the beauty of the therapeutic nature that fishing can provide. BP has become a refreshing weekend, with anglers, vendors, and fishing professionals traveling the globe to attend what has potentially grown into one of the biggest tournaments in the country, and not for a trophy, but for kids, family, a cause and a damn good time.