The 16th Fishing Derby

was a success...beautiful weather...good food... great fishing...happy kids...mucho fun.

We had taken the canopy tents over prior to this day and set them up IN THE RAIN.  There were four of us, and it took all morning.  Of course, it is a 45 minute drive over and then 45 minutes back, as the fishing derby is held at the Edmunds Division of the refuge.

 

This little blonde girl at the registration table became the first child to catch the first fish of the day.   The fishing starts at 9:00 am and the children are allowed to catch five fish each.  Below is her picture with that fish.

The only thing she did was reel the fish in.  Her uncle took it off as she would not even touch it.  The wiggling fish scares the daylight out of some of the kids.  They really entertain us with their giggles and smiles of delight, especially when it is their first fishing experience.  

This cute little tyke caught his five fish and was ready to go home and fry them up.





We supply fishing poles to those who do not have one to use for the day.  Wallace helped get them all fixed up and ready for use.

Prizes are given for three age categories.  Look at all the nice prizes this year.  There are many other ways to win though.  First fish caught, the total weight of the five fish and drawings throughout.

Many of the local businesses donate to this fishing derby each year.

We supply the worms to fish with...food and drinks...prizes, and of course plenty of fish to catch.  The pond was stocked with 500 trout and they were hungry.  I sure wanted to wet a hook!!!

As the sign reads...it is open only to children, ages 16 and under!!!

This young boy was the winner in his division.  I watched him.  He knew what he was doing.  A serious fisherman.

Check out the hand with the hot dog...dirty, but who cares!!!

Red wieners...only in MAINE and they really are RED.

This little cutie reminded me of my one and only granddaughter.  This was her very first fish and it was a BIG one.  Look at that gorgeous smile.  She  was tickled, and squealing with delight.  

Below is another winner.

We leave this post with other scenes from the fishing derby of 2013

This little one had a death grip on his fish and all the wiggling did not deter him, he was not going to let it get away.

At the start, they were lined up on the bank shoulder to shoulder.  As they limited out,  more room became available for casting out and less tangling of lines.

A fun time was had by all.  

This was our 6th fishing derby to participate in and I had a BLAST.

Until next time...