Catfishing, Memories, and Friends
by Ron Presley
Photos submitted
Tournament fishing has many benefits beyond trophies and prizes.
Bree Preece has been on active duty in the Navy and stationed overseas. She had not been fishing since May 20, 2023, when she joined her dad Aaron to fish the Bink Fox Fishing for Vinton County Cancer Research Group (VCCRG) tournament.
That year the tournament was capped at 85 boats and 85 boats registered. One of those boats was manned by Aaron and Bree Preece. They eventually won 2nd place. It was a memorable day for Team Preece as the father/daughter team brought 80.01 pounds to the scales to earn the second-place check and Bree was recognized as the Top Finishing Female Angler and Top Finishing Service Member. The whole experience gave Bree plenty of memories to take with her on assignment to Guam. It was a day of catfish memories. 
Fishing for charity in the name of catfish is not uncommon. Examples of charity tournaments are often found on social media. Organizing a tournament because you are a cancer survivor is less common.
James “Bink” Fox with the help of his wife Janet beat the Big C and Bink has been declared cancer-free. Bink and Janet wanted to give back to those who supported them in their journey. It was only natural that they did it through catfishing and it is only natural that anglers like Aaron Preece would not miss Bink’s tournament for anything.
The Bink Fox VCCRG event was much more than a fishing tournament to Aaron. He had seen his oldest daughter for only about a week since November of 2021 when she left for the Navy. So it was more about a father and daughter making memories.
Fast forward to September 2024 when another opportunity arose for Aaron and Bree to fish a tournament. This time they would do it with their old catfishing friend, Bink Fox.
“Janet and I first met Bree when she was just a little thing,” recalled Bink. “She tagged along with Aaron wherever he went. He would bring her to the captain meetings at Cabelas King Kat tournaments. Following her recent visit, she is going for more training in California and will then be stationed in Virginia with the Marines.”
So a friendship that developed through catfishing was soon to be instrumental in yet another memory-making event. One friend with a problem was going to approach another for help.
Aaron explained that his daughter Bree had been overseas in Guam for almost 2 years and recently came home to visit. With the last tournament of the year coming up for the Kanawha River Catfish Club he wanted to fish it with Bree. The problem was that his truck was in the shop for repairs.
“I called Bink and asked if he could take Bree and me fishing,” explained Aaron. “Like any good husband does, he said he would check with Janet to see if she had plans. That sweet lady gave her blessing even though they just had their 35th anniversary that week.”
The camaraderie that was about to occur is not unusual in the catfish community. There are hundreds of stories where one angler helps out another. Bink recalled the phone call.
“A week or so ago Aaron called me up and asked if I could fish a tournament with him and Bree,” confirmed Bink. “His truck was down and they had no way to fish. She was flying home from Guam where she was stationed in the navy. He thought she would really enjoy fishing the tournament.”
Bink responded in the affirmative and they set a time to meet at the ramp. They went over a quick game plan and went fishing. 
“As the sun started to peek over the horizon there was a beautiful rainbow in the western sky,” recalled Bink. “It set up the great day that was ahead of us. It was more of a catch-up and relax type day but we caught some good fish as a bonus. Of course, they were a little shy of what we needed in weight for the win.”
Not winning didn’t bother Aaron one bit. He didn’t even catch a fish, but he was one happy dad.
“There are plenty of benefits and honors in the catfishing world,” noted Aaron. “We can catch personal bests, win tournaments, or just enjoy fishing. One of my biggest honors came recently when I spent the day on the Ohio River with James Bink Fox and my daughter. Bink and his wife Janet are the kindest people I’ve met.”
“We ended up catching 7 fish to cull for a 4 fish limit,” concluded Aaron. “We won 4th in the tournament. Of course, Bree caught all the fish but one and Bink caught it! The best part of my day was spending time with these two people and seeing them laugh and smile.”
Final Thoughts
Bink Fox beat cancer so now he’s paying it forward through his tournament for Vinton County Cancer Research. Next year’s tournament will be posted on Facebook when it becomes available. If you are interested in supporting the event contact Janet or Bink Fox.
For more information on the Kanawha River Catfish Club visit their Facebook page.
