Fishing derby reels in younger set

NORTH CANAAN – The sun beamed down on more than three dozen young anglers on Sunday, May 17, at the Northwest Connecticut Rod and Gun Club’s annual junior fishing derby.

Bicycles lined up as prizes for winners in various age categories, while a table overflowed with smaller prizes for everyone who came out to fish.

Jim’s Bait & Tackle in East Canaan donated the bait, with more than 1,000 worms and 36 dozen minnows.

As the morning fishing got underway, there were hoots and hollers from across the pond whenever anyone hooked a fish, which included bass, trout, perch and blue gill. The occasional turtle found itself at the end of the line.

“I caught a turtle,” said Kelsey Barth, 6, of Torrington. When asked which bait she preferred, the answer came quickly and in brief. “Worm.”

Many of the 15-and-under competitors preferred worms, based on an informal survey.

Families lined the pond at the club’s location just south of the Becton Dickinson & Co. plant on Route 7 South. Parents and grandparents bounced in and out of lawn chairs to lend a hand when a line got entangled, or when a minnow wouldn’t comply with the hook.

Many young anglers took the hint and parked in a folding chair to wait it out in between casts.

“We love to do this every year,” said Holly Hunt, a member of the club who ran the event with many other volunteers. “It’s our future,” she said. “These children will keep coming back.”

Volunteers cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and some circled the pond to take fish measurements whenever there was a successful catch and release.

Winners by age groups were: Ellie Dionne, age 4 (bass, 15 inches); Oliver Ralph, age 3 (bass, 14.5 inches); Fiona Pattison, age 7, (bass, 13.5 inches); Lucas Treadeaux, age 9 (bass, 14.5 inches); Destini Hiller, age 15 (base, 10 inches); and Ben Sprague, age 11 (bass, 15 inches).