While a heat advisory was in effect this weekend, it didn’t deter 119 kids and their families from turning up for the Jim & Penny Lancaster Annual Fishing Derby hosted by the Toledo Lions Club at the South Lewis County Park Pond on Saturday.
Young anglers pursued freshly stocked rainbow trout and competed to see who could land the largest fish. Prizes included fishing rods provided by Klineline Kids Fishing for the 50 heaviest fish. Second and third place winners also got a tackle box and camping chair along with their rod, while the angler who landed the largest got a rod, camping chair, tackle box and camping wagon.
Noah Blankenship took first prize with a nearly 4-and-a-half-pound trout while Cameron Kinzie came in second and Zane Briggs third.
The Jim & Penny Lancaster Annual Fishing Derby is held on the Saturday before Mother’s Day each year.
While attendance wasn’t as high as it had been in previous years, derby organizers and Lions Club members Mike and Kelli Stover said it was still a decent turnout despite the heat and a nearby baseball tournament going on. They are looking forward to next year’s derby.
Klineline Kids Fishing is a Vancouver-based nonprofit focused on assisting children — including those who come from low-income or under-privileged families or who live with a disability — in learning how to sustainably fish while equipping them to be anglers.
The nonprofit also hosts an annual fishing derby for kids in Southwest Washington and the Portland area. For more information, visit https://klineline-kf.org/.
