Fishing Derby starts Saturday

More than 5,000 fish ranging in weight from 2 to 9 pounds were planted at Lampe Park Thursday morning for the 17th annual Kids' Fishing Derby.

Among those were 300 brood stock (males) from Lahontan that weighed between 5 and 9 pounds and a number of tiger trout.

"The Tiger trout will count as prize fish this year, so anyone who catches one should bring it to the prize table," said Derby board member Teresa Clark. "They are very distinctive from rainbow trout, with big black spots."

Nearly 1,800 children are registered for the event, although there is still a little room left. The last day of registration is today. Tickets for the free event are available at the Douglas County Parks & Recreation

Department, located at 1327 Waterloo Lane in Gardnerville. All children must be pre-registered.

Clark also strongly recommended that parents write their children's names on the tickets, as the tickets will be placed in a raffle drawing later in the weekend.

Volunteers are still welcome.

"We could always use more help," said board vice president Steve Hamilton. "The Volunteers get something out of it because they are giving something back to the community, but the kids get a ton out of it. That's our whole thing is trying to get kids away from video games and getting them into the outdoors."

The Mason Valley, Lahontan and Susanville fish hatcheries were the major doners of fish to the event. After the derby, board members and volunteers will be pulling out the remaining fish and planting them in Davis Creek.

Fishing begins at 8 a.m. both days

A presentation for community sponsors and the derby logo winner is Saturday at 11:45 a.m.

Breakfast of pancakes, sausage and biscuits and gravy will be on sale in the morning and hamburgers and hot dogs will be on sale for lunch.

Logo T-shirts will also be on sale for $12 with T-shirts from past years going on sale for $8.

Coolers, chairs and tackle boxes will not be allowed in the fishing area, but the derby organizers will provide everything necessary to fish, including loaner poles in case children don't have one.

For more information on the derby, or to volunteer, call Pam Rodrigues at 265-1795 or Trent Dowell at 267-2724.