Derby hooks kids at Lampe Park

GARDNERVILLE - Nine-year-old Brian Sergott of Gardnerville only had his line in the water about five minutes when it was jerked taut by a rainbow trout.

He stepped back as he dragged the catch to shore in Lampe Park and a volunteer stepped up with a net to help land the trout.

Moments later, Brian had his hook back in the water and another strike. That fish pulled the hook from his line, but the boy had another good-sized rainbow before he gave up his spot on the bank.

Brian was among hundreds of kids pulling hefty trout from the Lampe Park stream Saturday during the 11th annual Kid's Fishing Derby.

Maggie Stewart, 10, of the Gardnerville Ranchos has fished for halibut in the sounds of Alaska.

"But she's having just as much fun here today," said her grandmother, Helen Bralley of Gardnerville, as Maggie hauled in her second trout.

Fred Much of Carson City was one of the volunteers baiting hooks and netting fish for the youngsters along the Martin Slough running through Lampe.

"Fred's been volunteering for years," his wife Cindy said as she was watching their two sets of twins - Kyle and Ariel, age 9, and Mercedes and Cassandra, age 1 - working the banks. "We do a of fishing together down at Topaz Lake, but we always enjoy the kids' derby here."

Chris Moore, 10, of Carson City said his dad Dave has taken him fishing several times. But Saturday's limit of two trout was the first time he's actually caught fish himself. Chris was one of the Cub Scouts from Den 4, Pack 341, who came for the derby.

Kevin Cloutier, 13, of the Ranchos was busy slicing trout bellies and scooping out the innards over at the cleaning tables.

"I fished in the derby every year since I was 3 and somebody was always here cleaning the fish for me," said the young volunteer as he stuck his pliers into a piscine mouth to yank out the gills. "I figured it was my turn to help out.

"The fish don't want to cooperate with the way I want to clean them," he remarked as a large rainbow flopped around in his gloved hand.

Yells of, "I got one! I got one!" sounded up and down the slough's banks as hundreds of kids dropped their baits in the water.

Once they were out of the water, though, didn't mean the fish were a sure catch.

In a typical incident, one tiny boy was carrying a plastic bag when the fish inside gave a mighty flop and he dropped it.

"He scared me!" the boy wailed as Mom came up. She bent down for the bag, while carrying another toddler on her hip, but the fish slipped out as she grabbed the bag. Time to call in the reinforcements - a volunteer came over to double-bag the recalcitrant trout, which was finally hauled off to the cleaning table.

Besides the thrill of the catch, the youngsters were after dozens of tagged trout that could be redeemed for special prizes. And the catches were each weighed and recorded for a contest for the largest fish hauled in.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had an aquarium displaying three large examples of the rainbows that had been planted for the kids' derby. The three lucky trout won't be planted into the slough until after the derby Sunday afternoon, when they will become fair game themselves.

And Bobby the Boat, the Nevada Department of Wildlife's robot boat, rolled around in the Lampe pavilion educating youngsters about boating safety.

Workers from the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery had dropped 6,500 fish Friday into the ponds at the park.

The derby, which continues today from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., is free to kids ages 3 to 12, but they must be preregistered. Others are welcome to watch. Kids who haven't signed up may fish after 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Only kids 12 and under or youths 13-16 with a Nevada fishing license may fish at that time - no seniors, no adults allowed.

The annual derby, dedicated to the memory of Jim McGee, exposes the youngsters to a hobby that may get them involved in outdoor recreation the rest of their lives. McGee, who died May 3, owned the High Sierra Fly Shoppe in Carson City, was co-host of "The Outdoor Recreation Show" on the CAT-10 cable channel and was active in the Carson City Fly Casters, the High Sierra Fly Club and the Fly Fishing Foundation.

The idea has attracted a corps of dedicated volunteers year after years, like Denise and Sean Terry.

"We were just driving by one year and saw what they we doing, so we came over to help," said Denise as she cleaned fish. "We ended up over there under the trees cleaning fish in buckets because they were just starting out and didn't have all these tables rounded up."

That was the first Derby and the Terrys, who lived in Gardnerville at the time, came back each year. They recently moved to Wellington but came back to Lampe Park again this weekend to clean fish for the youngsters.