In focus: Lions Club provides fishing fun for kids at Fort Borst Pond

Raveka Childers holds her first fish of the day high for everyone to see before returning it to the water at the Centralia Lions Club Youth Fishing Derby at Fort Borst Park in Centralia on Saturday, April 27. The annual fishing derby lasted from about 8 a.m. until noon. Children ages 3 to 15 signed up for prize drawings. Volunteers provided participants with free hot dogs and milk. The annual derby coincided with the lowland lakes season opener in Washington. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife stocks millions of trout in lakes throughout the year, and opening day marks the first time people can fish many of those lakes for the catchable trout planted every winter and spring. Opening day lakes are often stocked shortly before the start of their six-month season. Anglers can visit https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/reports/stocking/trout-plants to see which lakes have been stocked in recent weeks and can sort by county or waterbody to find a nearby stocked lake.