Santee Blind Fishing Event

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An Unforgettable Experience

For over 30 years the blind and visually impaired have looked with eager anticipation to a special experience: the Santee Blind Fishing Event. Now managed by LVS, this memorable weekend is an all-inclusive day-long trip to the Santee Cooper Lakes region including transportation, meals, fishing supplies, and water access for registered attendees who are blind or visually impaired and their caregivers.

For participants the Santee Blind Fishing Tournament is more than a weekend on the water, it is an exciting change to a sometimes mundane routine and a chance to meet new people or reconnect with friends.

This event is the result of our shared commitment to improving vision health for all South Carolinians and to creating a healthier world where the blind and visually impaired know no limits. The event is open to any blind or visually impaired person (and their caregiver) in South Carolina. LVS is currently only able to provide transportation assistance from the Charleston area to the event.

2026 Event Information

The 2026 Santee Blind Fishing Tournament will be held at Camp Woodie on Saturday, April 11, 2026. Registration will open in January 2026.

You can pledge your support now with Sponsorship Forms.

Please check back regularly for updates.

2025 Event Recap

This year 34 attendees participated in the Santee Blind Fishing Tournament at Camp Woodie. Roughly 80 total individuals were present at the event.

Participants represented one of the most geographically diverse groups of attendees in the event’s history, with fishers coming from Aiken, Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Greenwood, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter, and York counties.

This year’s awards included:

Most Unique Catch: Karen Davis, Sumter County

3rd Place: William Shaw, Orangeburg County (61 Points)

2nd Place: Anna Vacho, York County (109 Points)

1st Place: Devon Carter, Aiken County (119 Points)

V.I.P. Fisher of the Year: Jerry Johnson, Richland County

This year LVS is pleased to sponsor Devon Carter and Anna Vacho as the first and second place winners to attend the North Carolina Lions VIP Fishing Tournament in the fall along the Outer Banks.

Costs for this year’s event were roughly $12,000. Your philanthropic support can help defray the costs of next year’s Tournament and help us as we expand the event. Give online or text “blindfishing” to 44321. It costs roughly $250 to sponsor one blind or visually impaired person’s expenses for the weekend.

We could not have done this event without extensive help from volunteers, whose names are too numerous to mention. However, we would like to especially thank the Manning Lions Club and the Lions Clubs of Zone 2 in District 32-C for taking a leadership role in this year’s event. Thank you all!

Thank you to the patrons who generously support this special event.

Sponsors

Vendors

Partners

Past Tournament Winners

V.I.P. Fisher of the Year

The V.I.P. Fisher of the Year is a special award given based on sportsmanship, character, attitude, and service. It embodies the ethos of the event.

2025: Jerry Johnson, Richland County

2024: Anna Vacho, York County

2023: Christian and Gwen Ladson, Charleston County

2022: Rita Williams, Berkeley County

An International Tournament

The North Carolina Lions VIP Fishing Tournament is the largest gathering of visually impaired in North Carolina and is believed to be the largest event of its kind in the world. The project has grown from a local tournament serving 12 blind individuals to more than 350 visually impaired persons, 130 sighted guests, and 300 volunteers.

The project brings participants from across North Carolina and around the globe together for three days of recreation, fellowship, and independent living workshops designed to help visually impaired persons (VIPs). Participants arrive on the Outer Banks on a Monday, are housed in local hotels, have meals, go fishing on two head boats and four ocean fishing piers for a day of recreation, participate in seminars and independent living training, and visit with vendors. The winners of state tournaments around the country participate in an International Tournament on Wednesday. The closing awards banquet on Wednesday offers motivation and awards. More than 300 volunteers follow the same schedule as they assist the VIPs throughout the annual event.

LVS sponsors the winner of the Santee Blind Fishing Event to compete in this International Tournament.