Damien Chavez (pictured), age 9, proudly presents his catch from last year’s Kids Fishing Day.
Summer is wrapping up but that’s no reason to put away those fishing poles. The annual Kids Fishing Day is taking place on Sept. 16 for young anglers at the James Kinney Community Pond on Reinhart Lane. The free event is for kids 11 and under and there are no licenses required.
The derby, taking place a few months later than previous years to accommodate for the high waters in the Humboldt River in June, will also occur later in the day, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., to help
accommodate for school and sports activities that have already begun, according to Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) Biologist Brad Bauman.
“Typically we have this event in June but with the high water on the river we pushed it off a bit… We also realize that kids have other things going on in the fall, like youth soccer and football, that have already started and we’re hoping some of their games will be done in the morning and they’ll be available in the afternoon and evening to come out and fish,” said Bauman.
Fish will also be freshly restocked for the derby day and this year there will be special tagged fish that anglers can catch in order to receive cash, along with bikes to win and other gear that will be handed out during registration, beginning at 2:30 p.m.
“We are going to have the pond restocked about 10 days or so before the Fishing Day and this year we’re going to tag a bunch of fish with little colored tags that you can see and each of those are worth $20,” said Bauman.
This year’s Biggest Fish Contest will have three age groups: five and under, six to eight years old, and nine to 11 years old and a bike will be awarded to each winner from each age group. The bikes, according to Bauman, were graciously donated by the Nevada Chukar Foundation.
Other local sponsors include the Nevada Muleys, Big R, PacRes Mortgage, Nevada Outdoor School, the Forest Service, NDOW, Bureau of Land Management, and other volunteers that have sponsored gear and other aspects of the derby.
“Without the support of local nonprofits and businesses, typically state and federal agencies don’t have the budgets to support events like these. As long as we have these groups, NDOW is more than willing to get kids out there to fish and support a local community,” said Bauman.
The rules for the derby are simple as always: participants must be 11 years old and under and accompanied by an adult, no swimming or wading in the pond, throw all trash in the garbage cans, respect the surrounding property, no cleaning fish on the premises, limit three game fish per participant, all fishing should be done by kids, with adults only helping to bait and cast, be careful, and have fun!
Last year’s derby had a turnout of about 50 kids and well over a hundred people at the pond that accompanied the young anglers, Bauman explained, and hopes to see just as many if not more people out this year.
“We’re always urging people to get out and utilize the fisheries, this one is just convenient because it’s near town. Hopefully it gets people outdoors to spend some time away from all the, you know, digital and electronic activities that are out there and just take some time and step away from things like that. Get outside and enjoy, whether it’s fishing, hiking, hunting, birdwatching, whatever it is, some time outdoors,” said Bauman.