2-Year-Old Wins Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association’s 2023 Fish Photo of the Year Contest

by aparodyoflife · 10 September 2023

Brandon Hornsby and Bray, his 2-year-old son and the youngest of six children, have a fish story to tell.

This was Bree’s first fishing trip, as Brandon, his wife Tiffany, and Bree went to a private pond owned by family friends in Notasulga. Bray wasted no time playing his first bass.

“We took him there one evening just to get him out of the house,” Brandon recalls. “He’d never fished before. His mother loves to fish. It’s hard to get the attention of a two-year-old, as you can imagine, so we would sit on the bank and fish.”

“It was funny because he was trying to throw the little fishing rod,” Brandon said. “He tried to cast it, and it barely fell into the water. As I was trying to put it back in place, the fish hit the worm and went off. He hooked it himself and reeled it in. That was his first one. He accidentally caught the fish.”

The happy accident led to 2-year-old Bray winning the Alabama Black Belt Association’s 2023 Fish Photo of the Year contest.

The photo, which shows Brandon and Brie just moments after he played a baby bass, received more than 1,300 votes in online voting to win the competition. As the winner of the contest, Bry receives a prize package featuring an assortment of Road Runner crappie and bass fishing lures donated by TTI Blakemore. The package is worth over $250.

This photo of Brandon and Bry Hornsby, taken just after Bry caught his first fish, received more than 1,300 online votes to win the Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association’s 2023 Fish Photo of the Year contest. (Contributed)

Designed to allow anglers of all ages to showcase how they enjoy fishing in the Black Belt, the 2023 ALBBAA Best Fish Photo Contest received 60 entries and thousands of votes online. The Hornsby family lives in Notasulga, a small town in Alabama’s Black Belt.

“This area is blessed with so many lakes, rivers and streams, and the Best Fish Contest aims to celebrate the summer fishing season and encourage people to enjoy our natural resources,” said Pam Swanner, executive director of the Alabama Black Belt Adventure Association. . “This year’s entries include people of all ages who wet a line on our abundant waterways found throughout the 23 Black Belt counties. It is a joy to see these family shots that remind us of the unbridled fun of fishing.”

“The winning photo that Bray took with his father certainly showcases family memories made outdoors.”

Alabama’s Black Belt consists of 23 counties located between the Appalachian foothills and the coastal plains – Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clark, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Dallas, Greene, Hill, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Tuscaloosa and Wilcox.

The gallery below contains a few of the 60 images submitted for this year’s contest. Learn more about the Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association at alabamablackbeltadventures.org.