Kids Fishing Derby Report : June 2007  

Saturday June 16th was the day chosen for the first kids Fishing Derby of the year
and as sometimes happens the fish outnumbered the fishermen almost 10 to 1.
Of course this is a good thing for our junior anglers that made sure mom or dad
got them to the Lake 4 dam bright and early.  

The fish were biting non-stop all morning with the surprise of the day being
the number of bullhead catfish fighting for the worms offered by the kids.
Overall better than 120 fish were caught, weighed in and released including
largemouth bass, blugills and crappie.  

Largest fish of the day was a big cat that weighed in at just under 2 pounds.

Trophies were awarded to largest fish in each species as well as most fish caught
and tackle prizes were awarded to all participants.
Maybe it was the great tasting hotdogs from the grill but all our junior anglers
(and a few adults too) ended leaving with big smiles on their faces.  

I would like to thank the members of the HLCC Fish Committee for volunteering
their time and energy to once again make things run smoothly and professionally
and most of all to thank the Mastodon Sport Shop for their generous donation
of bait for our fishermen and tackle for prizes.  
Michael Ewasko,
Chairman Fish Committee

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

....... No Fun For Worms!    

At 8AM sharp on Saturday July 22nd  the first worm hit the water at Lake #4 dam signifying
the start of the HLCC Kids Fishing Derby. Within moments the first fish was weighed in
and then released safely back into the lake.
 And that was the continuous scene for the next 4 hours
as 40 of our junior club members arrived, signed in and proceeded to test their angling skills.     The weather was just right, overcast and slightly breezy, with probable rain predicted.
A textbook perfect day for fishing and the fish obviously agreed.  Within the first hour about 30 fish
had been caught and released. Bluegills dominated the weigh-in scale with quite a few hefty ones being   landed and then a largemouth bass would be caught and witnessed by the crowd and everyone would   fish a little harder.    A sudden downpour of rain lasted about 5 minutes but didn't dampen anyones spirits.   Before long the smell of hotdogs was in the air but most kids had to be pryed from their fishing rods to   stop for a quick bite to eat. The fishing frenzy let up for only a few moments at a time, just enough to re-   bait your hook and choose another likely spot to cast.   By 12:00 PM 150 fish had been caught.  Trophies were awarded to the largest in each of the species   caught including bass, bluegill and crappie. The biggest fish of the day, a catfish, tilted the scale at   whopping 4.3 pounds but the biggest surprise was the landing of a small walleye that was just stocked   last fall.   All registered participants won raffle prizes of fishing lures and baits. A quick clean-up patrol of the area   and all was over by 12:30 PM.   I would like to thank the members of the HLCC Fish Committee for volunteering their time and energy to   once again make things run smoothly and  professionally and most of all to thank the Mastodon Sport   Shop for their extremely generous donation of worms for our fishermen and tackle for prizes.  

Michael Ewasko,
Chairman Fish Committee