The Kids Fishing Derby is back!
It happened on a sunny and warm Sunday, Sept. 2 at the place where it all began, the Eyak River Boat Launch.
Kids of all ages, accompanied by parents and family joined in on the derby and, after registering, made their way down rivers and along shores for a day spent fishing.
“My kids loved everything,” Kadee Goss said of her four children who attended the derby. “A free shirt, a hot dog and an afternoon of fishing. It was a blast!”
The Kids Fishing Derby was founded in 1979/80 by Ed Zeine.
“The whole idea is to get the kids out to enjoy the fishing,” he said.
The derby ran for about 22 years before taking a brief hiatus.
“At that time the limit was six fish and you couldn’t fish anywhere out the road,” Zeine said.
This year Zeine was one of many volunteers working the registration booth, passing over his role as derby organizer to his grandson, Jon Morehouse.
“I was so pleased … it was just amazing to me he would even think about it,” Zeine said.
Children aged 15 and younger donned colorful fishing derby shirts, some fitting well below the knees, while the little ones battled fishing poles double their size.
“I enjoy tremendously doing it for the kids and the excitement of weighing in,” Zeine said, sharing memories from previous derbies.
“It didn’t tip the scales, but he was really excited to catch a fish,” Zeine said of a child who caught a minnow with his hands at Hippy Cove this year.
Zeine also recalled seeing a child run up to give his newly caught fish a kiss as the child’s father held it near the weighing station.
Zeine ran into fathers who once fished in the derby, who were now bringing their children to fish. “… they said they still had their derby shirt,” he said. “It made me feel like ‘Hmm, I’m really getting old!’”
Keagan Wisroth, 12, who participated in his first fishing derby this year, flew west of Cordova and spent the day fishing for cohos with his uncle and family friends.
“I caught a 9.2-pounder,” he said, the largest of the eight fish he caught that day. “… the ride out there, it was just a beautiful site and it was really, really cool.”
