Hayward, Wisconsin – The Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame has received $25,000 from the Outdoor Journalist Education Foundation to manage the Lindsay Sale-Tinney Awards program by conducting an annual communications contest for youth ages 12 to 15. The awards program has celebrated aspiring young outdoor communicators since 2011. Going forward, the contest will be an outreach of the Hall of Fame, which will award cash prizes in three places for stories written about the entrants’ most memorable fishing trips of the year. Hall of Fame Executive Director Emmett Brown said, “This is great! This is right in our wheelhouse; this is what we do. We are so happy to support the youth of America and their efforts to write about fishing and the outdoors. We can’t wait to read the stories that result from this special contest.”

Stories are limited to 500 words (approximately one full page, single spaced) and will be judged by qualified journalists, photographers, and/or educators with outdoors experience. Entries for 2025 will be accepted in January 2026 and complete rules will be available this spring.

Contest Committee Chairwoman Lisa Snuggs said, “We all know that part of the fun of fishing is in the preparation, anticipation, traveling, and just being outdoors with family and friends, so we encourage contestants to include content about things they see and do before, during, and after the actual fishing.” Snuggs managed the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association for more than two decades where part of her duties included overseeing the organization’s prestigious Excellence in Craft awards program. Veteran outdoor communicator and Hall of Fame member Kenneth L. Keiser will serve on the contest committee with Snuggs and Brown. Keiser said, “Today’s kids need a good, clean outdoor experience more than ever before. They are living in a world of false news, social media, and more peer pressure at school than earlier generations could imagine. Fishing saved my life as a boy and writing about fishing gave me life. I hope and pray that every child entering a story feels the joy of describing their experiences as many of us have for many years.” Keiser also is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, The Missouri Waterfowler’s Hall of Fame and the Park Hill High School Alumni Hall of Fame.

Stu Tinney, who was inducted into the Hall in 2009, provided the original seed money for the award named in honor of his late wife Lindsay Sale-Tinney. Tinney said, “I am beyond thrilled that the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame is providing a new home for the Lindsay Sale-Tinney Award. The importance of involving young people in the outdoors and encouraging them to communicate their experiences to others is so important! Lindsay would be pleased.”